A Time And A Place

So, um, that was awkward.

Don't get me wrong - I think Hit for Haiti is awesome. This one was definitely not the pure distilled radness that was the first one, but hey, it got it done. It made the big monies for charity and the crowd had fun times. And I think just about everyone reckons Navratilova, Graf and Davenport could make some pretty sweet comebacks. Navratilova especially. She has got it going on.

And then we had the dudes. And it started out well - I mean, hello, it had Tennis's Greatest Bromance out there with Roger and Rafa, and there's obviously bromances between Roger and Sampras and Agassi as well...

...but it is pretty obvious, no matter how many 'I love you, man's get thrown around, that there is some unfinished business between Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. There is a whole lot of anger and bitterness and it's pretty clear that they just don't like each other much, end of story. Which is fine. They have every right not to like each other.

But Hit for Haiti was not the place to start making caustic remarks at each others' expense. It was pretty clear that Roger and Rafa found it really awkward, and the crowd found it awkward, and hell, everyone that watched it must have seen it was awkward.

The money still got raised and it's not going to make a difference in that sense, but dudes, time and a place. Hit for Haiti - not that place. I don't think it was ever going to be as awesome as the first one - you just couldn't fake that joyful spontaneity - but at least the players there just got into it and had a blast. Roger and Rafa kept those grins plastered on their faces throughout the whole Andre/Pete exchange, but there was no blast being had there.

C'mon, Pete. C'mon Andre. This is weird to say, considering the dudes you were playing with/against are younger than you, but grow up. Roger and Rafa are exemplary for the sport. Pete and Andre... great humanitarians, both of them, obviously... but this was not the right time for dirty laundry.