New book to obsess about: Patrick McEnroe's

Out in a couple of weeks. Filled apparently with candid remarks about other players - let's see if we can see the opprobrium a few people have aired repeatedly towards Agassi for his candid remarks applied equally to Pat Mac....

Two specials for datacipher:

Insidetennis's story today includes among its book's "insights":

* That Andre Agassi was “one of the most insecure, moody and easily rattled of all great players.”
Hhm. This would be an insight if Agassi hadn't just spent 400 pages explaining that very pattern himself.

• That, like Agassi’s controversial assertion in his bio, “Open,” Sampras was “cheap — very cheap.”
Gosh. Perhaps that's actually true.

Many others - here's the link to today's article in insidetennis...
http://www.insidetennis.com/2010/05/pmac-brother-big-insights/

Now what do we think McEnroe's motive was in publishing his book?
 

bluetrain4

G.O.A.T.
Trashy tennis tell-alls is just what we need, lol. Seriously, it's always fun to hear behind the scenes comments, but I hope he offers more than just Agassi (moody) and Sampras (cheap).

And, I hope it's not all trash. Hopefully he'll opine on who he really respected in the game, give us some insight into the tour, the competition, etc.
 
Trashy tennis tell-alls is just what we need, lol. Seriously, it's always fun to hear behind the scenes comments, but I hope he offers more than just Agassi (moody) and Sampras (cheap).

And, I hope it's not all trash. Hopefully he'll opine on who he really respected in the game, give us some insight into the tour, the competition, etc.

Yeah, the cheap gossip sells, and it's undeniably appealing to human nature...but insight into the TENNIS....that's what many serious fans wish for. (there just aren't enough of us out there....the tennis celeb/fanboys outnumber us considerably)

Having said all that...not much of a PMAC fan....I remember when he seemed like a polite, softer-spoken Mcenroe.....now he seems to me like the more quietly obnoxious Mcenroe. He's the first person who ever made me feel sympathy for Drysdale!

Pmac does not seem like the kind of guy who will be terribly objective. He comes across as being quite opinionated and quite dismissive of say...other commentators. He may be even more so in private. Still I wonder if he can speak as freely as he'd like, given that it could harm him as a broadcaster, and in USTA roles.
 

Chopin

Hall of Fame
I strongly suggest you try playing some actual tennis, instead of simply posting about Agassi and his book. GET OUT THERE.

Most of my posts have nothing to do with Agassi's book. Nor do I bring the topic up. Your posts speak volumes to your knowledge.

And YOU'RE ALREADY trying to spin this into a defense of Agassi. GOOD LORD. What is wrong with you?

PS. It DOESN'T matter if Sampras is or is not cheap. Don't you get that?
1.it wasn't relevant to Agassi, or any topic in his book
2.Agassi had ONE 2nd hand story about Sampras being cheap
3.yes, if somebody puts in a cheap shot insult into their book, with no meaningful reason, one could and should critically think about why it's there, and think about what this tells you

Finally, if you insist on this tennis celeb worship, at least get truly informed about them, don't base your ridiculous assertions off ONE autobiography; and, yes, we all know you're bitter because I pointed out your illogic, ignorance, and bias. Get over it. Mcenroe's book has nothing to do with it. You're just polluting the board when you work in trolling angles into threads like this.

Data, I see your point about how AA should have omitted the tipping incident, but after having read the book, I don’t think it’s nearly as big a deal as others have claimed. Still, I see your point, old friend.

But, let me propose an alternate reading: the tipping incident was actually relevant to the story AA was telling in more than one way. AA makes it a point of discussing how his father and family lived on tips, and he even talks about how the first time he went to New York, he was amazed with how many people there were to tip and, of course, AA is a generous tipper so this was a big deal for a young, cash-strapped AA. Furthermore, AA brings the Sampras tipping back into play when he’s describing losing the final to Sampras and says he felt like he was there to park Sampras’ car in the big matches, as usual. It was a nice little metaphor, meant to show how different he and Pete were, but also how he was shortchanged from winning the big slams by Pete's game. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.

And let’s put it another way: if Sampras were a good tipper, he would have not gotten so offended by the book (though, apparently he didn’t read it, and doesn’t read at all).

There were some things in the book that I thought should have been omitted (some of the personal details with Brooke), but the tipping incident, at least mechanically, works well in the book and seems to tell a lot about AA's character. Now, if I were writing a book, would I include something like that? Probably not--but I did feel the need to point out that the tipping story wasn't as wanton and arbitrary as some here have claimed.

Kind regards,
Chopin

P.S. Looking forward to the interview.
 
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robow7

Professional
I've got my doubts since Bodo co-authors but hey, I'll probably end up reading it next winter. Pmac's an intelligent tennis guy.
 

Chopin

Hall of Fame
Yeah, the cheap gossip sells, and it's undeniably appealing to human nature...but insight into the TENNIS....that's what many serious fans wish for. (there just aren't enough of us out there....the tennis celeb/fanboys outnumber us considerably)

Having said all that...not much of a PMAC fan....I remember when he seemed like a polite, softer-spoken Mcenroe.....now he seems to me like the more quietly obnoxious Mcenroe. He's the first person who ever made me feel sympathy for Drysdale!

Pmac does not seem like the kind of guy who will be terribly objective. He comes across as being quite opinionated and quite dismissive of say...other commentators. He may be even more so in private. Still I wonder if he can speak as freely as he'd like, given that it could harm him as a broadcaster, and in USTA roles.

I met him when I was younger. He was very nice to me actually. Took the time to sign something and didn't act like he was rushed or annoyed at all. Smiled, even thanked me for the support. It could have just been the day, but I get the sense he's friendlier than John (though John must have a trillion people bothering him on a constant basis).
 

Raphael

Semi-Pro
PMac was a mediocre tennis player, probably best known for losing in the first round of the USOpen in 1991 (?) to Connors after being up 2 sets and 3-0 in the 3rd. (I went to that match, I'm just not sure of the year)

If he were not the brother of such a great tennis player, he wouldn't even have a book to write.

Why bother with this book when there are books by GOOD and GREAT tennis players to read?
 

pc1

G.O.A.T.
PMac was a mediocre tennis player, probably best known for losing in the first round of the USOpen in 1991 (?) to Connors after being up 2 sets and 3-0 in the 3rd. (I went to that match, I'm just not sure of the year)

If he were not the brother of such a great tennis player, he wouldn't even have a book to write.

Why bother with this book when there are books by GOOD and GREAT tennis players to read?

Because he is very knowledgeable about tennis and being a good or great player is not a prerequisite for being an excellent author.

It may be a good book or perhaps it could be awful but he's being around the tennis scene for years and I'm curious what he has to write.
 

EKnee08

Professional
I met him when I was younger. He was very nice to me actually. Took the time to sign something and didn't act like he was rushed or annoyed at all. Smiled, even thanked me for the support. It could have just been the day, but I get the sense he's friendlier than John (though John must have a trillion people bothering him on a constant basis).

I had the great luck, fortune and pleasure to sit next to Vitas Gerulatis during the US Open in the early 90s when he was mentoring Johnny Mac as a broadcaster. Vitas had asked to sit in my box since there were empty seats and I had the pleasure of speaking with him for some hours as we watched matches in Louis Armstrong. (By the way, It turns out that I knew some of his friends he grew up with at Port Washington Tennis Academy). Vitas was everything people said about him-a warm, outgoing great guy!

At one point, he introduced me to Mac who was not overly friendly even though I was a family friend of one of his good friends from his childhood. I asked him very politely for an autograph which he refused. Vitas just shrugged at this and apologized.
My take on this is that perhaps Mac was nervous as he started his tv career and needed a break from the booth.

Fast forward more than 10 years. I attended a benefit for the Arthur Ashe Foundation and Johnny Mac was the guest speaker. What a difference. He was a completely different person. I saw a completely different side of him. He was very nice, gracious and gave me a signed hardcopy of his book. We even talked about a mutual friend for a minute or two.
 
PMac was a mediocre tennis player, probably best known for losing in the first round of the USOpen in 1991 (?) to Connors after being up 2 sets and 3-0 in the 3rd. (I went to that match, I'm just not sure of the year)

If he were not the brother of such a great tennis player, he wouldn't even have a book to write.

Why bother with this book when there are books by GOOD and GREAT tennis players to read?

Actually dude made it to like the top 32 in the world. Thanks for playing, try again.:shock:

He also wrote another tennis book...Tennis for Dummies...sounds like your cup of tea.
 

hoodjem

G.O.A.T.
Out in a couple of weeks. Filled apparently with candid remarks about other players - let's see if we can see the opprobrium a few people have aired repeatedly towards Agassi for his candid remarks applied equally to Pat Mac....
I hope he didn't feel the need to follow Agassi's lead.
 
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