Forgotten Pleasures

It's ironc, isn't it, that we have the capability to forget how much joy certain things bring to us. How is it that our mind can let go of pleasures of the past? Why do we move on, even when we still experience pleasure from the very things we're moving away from? Perhaps it's growing up, perhaps it's shifting priorities. I don't know. All I do know it that last night I was reminded of one of my forgotten pleasures--tennis. Not playing it, watching it. In junior high I discovered tennis through an 18 year old tennis sensation--Andre Agassi. He was so cute, and little dangerous. He was, after all, the bad boy of the sport at the time. He wore his hair long, he had a pierced ear and his clothes were colorful and wild--unheard of in a sport that was dominated by white shirts and shorts. Even the previous owner of the "bad boy" title, John McEnroe, would never have dared to wear the outfits Andre wore. And I loved him. I loved watching him play his rival Pete Sampras, I loved his two handed backhand, and I loved his smile! I especially loved that smile! The walls of my room were plastered with Andre posters. At a time when New Kids on the Block reigned supreme, only Andre would do for me. Ok, that's not true, I liked NKOTB, too--but not as much as Andre! They never made it onto my walls, and I never saw them in concert, but I consider seeing Ande Agassi play at the US Open to be one of the most exciting things I've ever gotten to do.
As some of you may know (though everyone should know this!) the US Open, which is underway right now, is Andre's last tournament. He's retiring. It's been a long time since I really sat down to watch professional tennis. I probably haven't watched since my early college years ten or eleven years ago. I always want to, but circumstances rarely permit it. This year I had to make an exception for the US Open. Fortunately Andre's matches have been at night so far, but even if they were during the day I would risk Kaitlin's boredom and whiney behavior just to see Andre play. I had the opportunity to watch him win his match last night against Marcos Baghdatis. It was an exciting match! It lasted five sets, nearly 4 hours--well until after midnight Eastern Standard Time. Not only did it last five sets, but it went almost as far as it could, with the score of the final set ending up 7-5. Both Agassi and Baghdatis managed to stay on serve the entire set. It wasn't until the final game that Andre managed to break Baghdatis and his 125 mph+ serve. Even though this was only a second round match, it had an epic feel. Andre is unseeded in the tournament. He beat the 8th seed, who also happens to be 15 years younger than he. People have dubbed this year's US Open the Agassi Open, and according to rumor, nobody seems to mind. It's exciting to see my personal favorite and one of the all time greats exit on such a wave of respect and admiration.