Agassi reveals another secret -- more shocking than drug use!

S

scotus

G.O.A.T.
In People magazine, excerpts from his autobiography reveals that as early as 1990 (and probably even earlier), he wore hairpieces to hide his baldness.

It talks about how his hairpiece came loose, which sent him and his brother searching all over for bobby pins the night before the French Open final.

At any rate, kudos to Brooke Shields for convincing him to shave his head.
 
BreakPoint

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
So this was a wig? :shock:

Agassi_1990._300x410.jpg
 
D

Datacipher

Banned
This seems so hard to believe, as I posted in previous threads. By 1995, his hair had clearly begun to recede, but it wasn't THAT far gone at that point. He had been hiding it under hats for 2 years previous to that, and in 1991, began combing it forward a lot. Seemed very natural, and I have pics of him with wet hair from a pool in 1989, AND his highlights grew out at times during 1988-91.... Very strange! But oh well, I think I have now spent enough of my life analyzing his hair. lol.
 
jimbo333

jimbo333

Hall of Fame
Hoodjem is the best poster in the "Former Pro Player" part of the TT forums!

And I agree completely with his GOAT list:)
 
N

NBM

Rookie
martin said:
Very honest of Agassi. If you write an autobiography you should tell everything and he does.
Click to expand...

I really dont think he tells everything.....i mean, he's got/or had the Barry Bonds head as big as your Halloween pumpkin steroid head going on. tennis has been remarkably exempt from any sort of MAJOR steroid controversy....if he's going to spill his beans, he should divulge steroid use as well..now THAT would shake things up a bit.

Really dont care to get into some sort of steroid back and forth here and the ensuing insults. if people dont think Agassi used PED's, thats fine w. me....i think otherwise. If people think that PED's arent prevalent in pro tennis <when they are in other less physically demanding sports>, thats fine with me..i think otherwise.
 
M

martin

Banned
NBM said:
I really dont think he tells everything.....i mean, he's got/or had the Barry Bonds head as big as your Halloween pumpkin steroid head going on. tennis has been remarkably exempt from any sort of MAJOR steroid controversy....if he's going to spill his beans, he should divulge steroid use as well..now THAT would shake things up a bit.

Really dont care to get into some sort of steroid back and forth here and the ensuing insults. if people dont think Agassi used PED's, thats fine w. me....i think otherwise. If people think that PED's arent prevalent in pro tennis <when they are in other less physically demanding sports>, thats fine with me..i think otherwise.
Click to expand...

At least he's honest about his hair loss. It's a delicate subject for a lot of men.
 
U

urban

Legend
BJK lobbed Bobby a lot, maybe she knew, that he was afraid to lose his hairpiece. It was even worse than AAs.
 
D

Datacipher

Banned
NBM said:
I really dont think he tells everything.....i mean, he's got/or had the Barry Bonds head as big as your Halloween pumpkin steroid head going on. tennis has been remarkably exempt from any sort of MAJOR steroid controversy....if he's going to spill his beans, he should divulge steroid use as well..now THAT would shake things up a bit.

Really dont care to get into some sort of steroid back and forth here and the ensuing insults. if people dont think Agassi used PED's, thats fine w. me....i think otherwise. If people think that PED's arent prevalent in pro tennis <when they are in other less physically demanding sports>, thats fine with me..i think otherwise.
Click to expand...

That is one area, I truly wish he had come clean about. I do think he used PED's...AND, I am sure, their is widespread usage on the ATP. (as other players have mentioned) Now, I am sure Agassi would not want to name names, and may have no physical proof of other players as well, but he certainly could out himself. That would be the ultimate step though. it's one thing to admit you wore some supplementary hair, that's just a HA HA. It's one thing to admit you tried crystal meth, and lied to the ATP, that's just an OOPS, I'm human revelation. It's another thing to call into doubt all your titles, accomplishments, and be labeled a cheater. Sadly, the other players, instead of coming out of the PED closet themselves, would hypocritically call for his scalp.
 
A

Aces09

Semi-Pro
it was probably the meth use that made him go bald.

Have you seen those posters of meth users? they're disgusting, people like, melting and turning into zombie freaks. Andre was lucky he only got smacked with hair loss.

LOL, that was probably his karma punishment for lying to the ATP. The karma deity was like.."I sentence you....to....HAIRLOSS!! Bwahahaha! is image still everything Andre?! Now that you're BALD!?

xD

(it's just a joke, I really respect andre and I don't give a damn how many times he got ****ed up on meth, he's still one of the all time greats and I truly hope the tennis community stops over-reacting. I'd hate to see Andre shunned from commentating or playing senior events just because he made some mistakes 12 years ago. <3 you andre)





Sampras ftw. :)
 
Love Game

Love Game

Talk Tennis Guru
Mick said:
wow he got so much hair elsewhere except on the top of his head.
Click to expand...

they call it male pattern baldness because it's related, not only to the recessive baldness gene expressed primarily in men, but also to the level of testosterone. Men w/more testosterone have more body hair and head hair loss at an earlier age.
 
S

Spinz

New User
Datacipher said:
That is one area, I truly wish he had come clean about. I do think he used PED's...AND, I am sure, their is widespread usage on the ATP. (as other players have mentioned) Now, I am sure Agassi would not want to name names, and may have no physical proof of other players as well, but he certainly could out himself. That would be the ultimate step though. it's one thing to admit you wore some supplementary hair, that's just a HA HA. It's one thing to admit you tried crystal meth, and lied to the ATP, that's just an OOPS, I'm human revelation. It's another thing to call into doubt all your titles, accomplishments, and be labeled a cheater. Sadly, the other players, instead of coming out of the PED closet themselves, would hypocritically call for his scalp.
Click to expand...

Great post.

It is my opinion that it is impossible to make it in the pros (top 100 and up) without doing something. What that something is depends upon the person, what they need, how much money they have and how sophisticated their team is. I think tennis though has let this get way out of hand, so now it is going to be an even bigger problem from a media perspective.

Sometimes I wish I was a naive like a lot of people on this site. I always struggle with these threads because the omerta is so strong I feel disloyal somehow even typing something like this.
 
R

rod99

Professional
Aces09 said:
it was probably the meth use that made him go bald.

Have you seen those posters of meth users? they're disgusting, people like, melting and turning into zombie freaks. Andre was lucky he only got smacked with hair loss.

LOL, that was probably his karma punishment for lying to the ATP. The karma deity was like.."I sentence you....to....HAIRLOSS!! Bwahahaha! is image still everything Andre?! Now that you're BALD!?

xD

(it's just a joke, I really respect andre and I don't give a damn how many times he got ****ed up on meth, he's still one of the all time greats and I truly hope the tennis community stops over-reacting. I'd hate to see Andre shunned from commentating or playing senior events just because he made some mistakes 12 years ago. <3 you andre)





Sampras ftw. :)
Click to expand...

get a clue. he didn't use meth until 1997. he was going bald as early as 1990. do the math.
 
D

Datacipher

Banned
Spinz said:
Great post.

It is my opinion that it is impossible to make it in the pros (top 100 and up) without doing something. What that something is depends upon the person, what they need, how much money they have and how sophisticated their team is. I think tennis though has let this get way out of hand, so now it is going to be an even bigger problem from a media perspective.

Sometimes I wish I was a naive like a lot of people on this site. I always struggle with these threads because the omerta is so strong I feel disloyal somehow even typing something like this.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean, and that's one of the reasons I wish this was all on the table...in all sports. Let's not delude ourselves about pro sports, or the olympics....and face up to reality, and decide how to procede. It's not as though it can be eliminated even if we acknowledge it...but ignoring it, or burying our heads, that just makes us....morons!

I once head a former scientist involved in testing talk about the only method he could see working...give up trying to detect the drugs...they're(the atheletes) too far ahead of the tests...and go with a baseline physiological monitoring system, where the norms and baseline from the athlete become established so that marked deviation can be noted, rather than trying to detect the substances themselves. Problem; nobody will go along with his system. The only way would be a paradigm shift through sports and a serious commitment to go drug free. Of course, this might mean going backwards a bit in terms of performance! Not what pro sports wants to hear!

As for tennis, I'd still like to believe top 100, or even top 10 is possible drug free...this is ONLY because of the very high skill component in tennis. I don't think this is the case in the VAST majority of pro sports now. On the other hand, increased speed, strength, endurance, recovery etc.....wow, a 5% increase in one of these means a LOT in pro tennis. Billy Jean king talked about a woman who used back in her day, now we know Mcenroe used, Becker implicated Lendl and Muster, Rusedski, Korda, Coria, and about 50 others have actually tested positive, entire teams disqualifed in the tour de france, track and field coaches admitting they doped every athlete they ever worked with....you really have to be a true believer to think it doesn't happen in tennis....A LOT....why? The honor system? All the psycho tennis parents, players driven since age 5 to be a pro, journeymen struggling to eat from all over the world...and they aren't using because they've all independently decided it's "cheating"? LOL. The premise is laughable. The mind set for many athletes is that: not taking would be cheating themselves. Why should they lose their chance when others around them are using?
 
Kobble

Kobble

Hall of Fame
Datacipher said:
I know what you mean, and that's one of the reasons I wish this was all on the table...in all sports. Let's not delude ourselves about pro sports, or the olympics....and face up to reality, and decide how to procede. It's not as though it can be eliminated even if we acknowledge it...but ignoring it, or burying our heads, that just makes us....morons!

I once head a former scientist involved in testing talk about the only method he could see working...give up trying to detect the drugs...they're(the atheletes) too far ahead of the tests...and go with a baseline physiological monitoring system, where the norms and baseline from the athlete become established so that marked deviation can be noted, rather than trying to detect the substances themselves. Problem; nobody will go along with his system. The only way would be a paradigm shift through sports and a serious commitment to go drug free. Of course, this might mean going backwards a bit in terms of performance! Not what pro sports wants to hear!

As for tennis, I'd still like to believe top 100, or even top 10 is possible drug free...this is ONLY because of the very high skill component in tennis. I don't think this is the case in the VAST majority of pro sports now. On the other hand, increased speed, strength, endurance, recovery etc.....wow, a 5% increase in one of these means a LOT in pro tennis. Billy Jean king talked about a woman who used back in her day, now we know Mcenroe used, Becker implicated Lendl and Muster, Rusedski, Korda, Coria, and about 50 others have actually tested positive, entire teams disqualifed in the tour de france, track and field coaches admitting they doped every athlete they ever worked with....you really have to be a true believer to think it doesn't happen in tennis....A LOT....why? The honor system? All the psycho tennis parents, players driven since age 5 to be a pro, journeymen struggling to eat from all over the world...and they aren't using because they've all independently decided it's "cheating"? LOL. The premise is laughable. The mind set for many athletes is that: not taking would be cheating themselves. Why should they lose their chance when others around them are using?
Click to expand...
I see it the same way. Pete Sampras also went from skinny to pretty well muscled. Sure, you can do this with 2 years of weight training. However, people forget, the tour is tough. I think people use steroids just so they can recover and get by without injury. Players have been complaining for years, and they have to survive somehow.
 
D

Datacipher

Banned
Kobble said:
I see it the same way. Pete Sampras also went from skinny to pretty well muscled. Sure, you can do this with 2 years of weight training. However, people forget, the tour is tough. I think people use steroids just so they can recover and get by without injury. Players have been complaining for years, and they have to survive somehow.
Click to expand...

I find this a bit odd...frankly, Sampras was never very muscled, when you saw him with his shirt off. He did have fairly wide, square shoulders when he filled out around 20. I never noticed much change after that, except a very gradual thickening that often happens with age.

Having said that, you can't tell by looking, in most cases. Sure, people have forgotten that it is VERY difficult to get as big as even a male model and RIPPED at the same time. (i"ve even read male models confessing to steroid usage...no surprise), but, for tennis players, it's hard to say. Federer? Sampras? Who knows?
 
S

Spinz

New User
You definitely cant tell by looking because depending upon the sport and the athlete, visible size isn't what matters most. There are lots of enhancers that have nothing to do with making the athlete big. I remember reading about Kelly White's experience with modafinal as an example. Traditional 'roids are more for the model types just looking to get big for the photo shoot or acting job. In a sport like tennis, I think you definitely still need the actual skill to get up there, but to make that skill work on a daily basis - to the level where it is sustainable for weeks on end - there is no way it can be done 100 percent natural. The reason I think you still need the skill is that a lot goes on at the lower levels and these players still dont make it. Without the shot expertise, forget it. But if you have that and access to some additional help, getting that post match IV, blood transfusion, whatever you need, it can change things considerably.

Most, if not all, athletes are in a sort of denial about what they do. They put the decisions and the administration off on someone else, such as a trainer or trusted advisor. Then they dont really have to face up to it all, even to themselves. You just start with the vague comment of "I wish I was faster and/or could play just as well as I did on Thursday on Sunday" and someone else takes care of how you get there. Speaking of Becker, I got a laugh out of reading his book when he talks about all of his medical "treatments", injections and mysterious doctors at health clinics that enable him to play tennis and in the very next chapter, talks about how bad doping is.
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Love Game said:
they call it male pattern baldness because it's related, not only to the recessive baldness gene expressed primarily in men, but also to the level of testosterone. Men w/more testosterone have more body hair and head hair loss at an earlier age.
Click to expand...

Which is the source of the rumor that bald men are more virile. Probably first started by a bald man.
 
M

meumar

New User
Datacipher said:
That is one area, I truly wish he had come clean about. I do think he used PED's...AND, I am sure, their is widespread usage on the ATP. (as other players have mentioned) Now, I am sure Agassi would not want to name names, and may have no physical proof of other players as well, but he certainly could out himself. That would be the ultimate step though. it's one thing to admit you wore some supplementary hair, that's just a HA HA. It's one thing to admit you tried crystal meth, and lied to the ATP, that's just an OOPS, I'm human revelation. It's another thing to call into doubt all your titles, accomplishments, and be labeled a cheater. Sadly, the other players, instead of coming out of the PED closet themselves, would hypocritically call for his scalp.
Click to expand...

I always thought Agassi used PEDs too but now that his book is coming out I'm not so sure. It would be incredibly stupid/naive of him, I think, to reveal that he did recreational drugs and nothing else if he had actually been using PEDs too.

His book revelations invite tons of scrutiny -- I'm sure that he's going to be directly asked now if he ever did PEDs, and if he did, he'll have to directly lie while at the same time saying that he's being completely honest about his life. Why would he want to risk putting himself in that kind of position?

He's also pissed off the ATP as well as other people with power in tennis, giving them incentive to leak any info that they have on him. I have a feeling that there are already investigations on his career going on. If he did do PEDs, I think it will come out eventually now - he's very naive if he doesn't realize this.

Plus if his motivation for the book is to air his dirty laundry in preparation for an eventual career in politics, then I think that also seems to indicate that he hasn't done PEDs, or at least that there is no evidence of it.
 
T

Texastennis

Rookie
I don't think he's naive at all. The message boards are full of people criticizing him for being calculating in releasing the story at all, or in a book - but lots of those people say oh he might have been doing peds anyway as if he's enough of an idiot to mention one without the other. Makes no sense. (Not that sense is required for posting on message boards...) I agree he's a very savvy operator these days, and his team are savvy enough to know this is the moment to dump into the public domain whatever bad news there is. So although he seems to have done plenty of rec drugs to excess in the first phase (pot and alcohol as well as crystal meth), no reason to think he did peds and isn't mentioning it...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top