There comes a time in every sportsman's life, when he must decide for himself... to be or not to be... To listen to the mind which says FIGHT, or listen to the body which says I CAN'T... There comes a time in every sportsman's life, when he decides to call it a day.
But there in no sportsman worth his salt, who would like to step into the oblivion without giving giving himself one last chance. One last chance to re-live those magic moments which will be there no more. One last chance to rewrite history.
See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you
Last night, as I watched the US Open, I saw Agassi go for that one last chance. There was not a person in the entire stadium (including the opponent, Benjamin Becker, I'm sure), who, in some small corner of his heart, did not want Agassi to win. The crowd cheered every stroke of his. They cheered every mistake Becker made. What must it feel like to have 23,000 people willing you to go on? What must it feel like to have 23,000 people hoping you lose? What makes a man go through so much pain?
Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
For a man who has played tennis for more than 2 decades, and remained at the top for a larger part of that time, the emotion was understandable. Three match points down, Agassi had tears swelling up even before he faced the final service. Another minute or so while he completed the handshaking formalities, and then the dams burst open. 23,000 people at the stadium gave him a standing ovation. Many more at home must have done the same. I suppose his entire career must have flashed before his eyes, much the same way your life is said to flash before your eyes just before death.
My hands are tied
My body bruised, she's got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose
This US Open was not about who won and who lost. It was not about Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It was not about which player wore what. It was about Andre Agassi. Everyone wanted to know what time his matches were. Everyone wanted to be there for his match. Everyone wanted to give him his swansong. Agassi himself said before the match, "I dont want to go out limping." 3 hrs later, he was still standing, physically and emotionally drained.
And you give yourself away
And you give yourself away
And you give
And you give
And you give yourself away
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you
With or without you
From a wild-child that he was to the class act he now is, it has been a memorable journey. Truly, some men go on to become just another statistic. Others go on to become legends...
8 comments:
Heh. Inspiration is the truest form of flattery ?
Neat one dude.. was going to post something similar right now meself.
and with that.... tennis's last star takes a bow....
oh well... when is the sharapova game? :P
I loue it.
I thuoght it would be about M schumacher. Nice post.
BTW, what you upto these days?
nice one....slightly out of context question....which is that advertisment that has the kid playing and then agassi and steffi graf coming to pick the kid up....???
hey nice post... especially like the way you wove the lyrics of U2's "With or Without You" into the post... goes right with the flow....
Come on dude! Post some more.... been ages.... 2007 is your last post!
very nicely written. so much so tht one gets schpillkas about mundane life.
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