Pennywise the Clown - 11/21/2009 3:08 AM

I agree 2 wrongs do not make a right. And I agree that no one mentioned was using genuine performance-enhancing drugs (the argument that all narcotic substances somehow make you handle the pressure more are complete baloney - anyone who knows anything about narcotics realize that they would categorically 'harm' your performance, not enhance it any more than cigarettes and alcohol do). That makes a small but crucial difference. It means the users (Agassi, McEnroe etc) didn't believe they were cheating. They knew they were taking something they weren't supposed to (aside from the fact they're illegal drugs), but I don't think any one of these guys thought they were gaining some kind of advantage by taking these drugs. I don't think this is what I call cheating - it's immoral, illegal and downright stupid, but it's not cheating.

But I feel we the public, or fans of tennis, should take this in to account before condemning Agassi and talking about stripping away all his future titles. If McEnroe and co 'got away with it', does Agassi deserve all this vitriol, because he openly confessed to it? In fact, that point should distinguish him from the likes of McEnroe who never properly admitted it but instead kind of subtly gestured to it (actually pretty smart, when you consider how Andre's approach has gone down )