Agassi's admission

In his recently released autobiography, eight time grand slam winner Andre Agassi has written about taking crystal meth while still a player on the tennis circuit in 1997. What's more, he spoke of how he lied to officials after the drug was discovered in a dope test, by claiming that he had unwittingly consumed a spiked drink from one of his associates. Agassi says that he asked for leniency from the ATP (Association of Tennis), who clearly obliged by never making the incident public. http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=4600027

Now Agassi has spilled his guts. It is not clear whether his doing so is just Oprah-styled TMI (too-much-information) or genuine public catharsis. One has to wonder if the beloved tennis star set about to fuel book sales with this particular controversial tidbit. Could the risk of permanently tarnishing his legacy be recouped from making a few extra millions dollars - money that he perhaps doesn’t even need? Who knows!

To be optimistic, one could view this out-of-left-field drama as a teachable moment. Sports stars are not perfect and recreational drug use is popular, if not common-place. Olympic swim champ Michael Phelps was caught bonging weed a few months ago and former tennis number one Martina Hingis retired in cocaine disgrace. In the absence of any anti-social or performance enhancing effect, should we really care that much about the drug habits of athletes (or anyone else, for that matter)? Is social drug use a legitimate “character” issue for assessing sporting greats?

The ATP’s cover-up, however, is a troubling matter. How do anti-doping officials decide who gets the stick and who doesnt? Pity the athlete who does not find favour in their eyes. On this point, I think that a book by track and field motor- mouth Carl Lewis would provide helpful insights, if he made detailed personal revelations. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2003/apr/24/athletics.duncanmackay

Open letter to Buju Banton

Dear Buju,

You claim to be a target of gay rights activists
around the world. Your management now considers that your ability to perform outside of Jamaica and earn a living is under serious threat. Things must be pretty bad, since you recently posed for pictures in San Francisco with some of your biggest gay detractors. I noted however, that you still refuse to apologise for penning "Boom Bye Bye" and promoting homophobia in your music.

Cobbling together your responses over the years, your argument seems to be that you are expressing a unique [cultural] attitude. From the torturous publicity picture of your San Francisco meeting, your continued defiance is clear. In your head, you are a victim of a campaign by reprobates who wish to emasculate you and your culture. The Jamaican PM, Leader of the Opposition and prominent churchmen agree with you. You covet your premier role as an emblem of Jamaican character - up there with Bob Marley for reggae music and Usain Bolt for track and field. The onslaught on your earnings through concert cancellations after gay protests, affirms your sense of righteousness in the face of evil and wickedness.

For my part, I am committed to your never earning another penny through music again. If I had the chance, I would force you to shave your locks in front of a live TV audience.

I do not credit you with inventing homophobia, because you didnt. But with "Boom Bye Bye", you styled and sexed up the rallying cry for gay murder. Your original intention - that all battyman fi dead [all gay men must die] - is reaffirmed everytime you and your many imitators are given airplay. You have chilled the spine of gay people inside and outside Jamaica. No one can begin to measure the psychic toll of your hate anthem. Above all - and far from being metaphorical - your call to arms has literally been answered time and again. There is a trail of blood that leads to your pen and pipes. For all these sins, you have not begun to pay. You should never be allowed to sing again.

Sincerely,

Bun fi Bun

Lead us Diane !

I have never liked Diane Abbot more. The ubiquitous black woman MP from Hackney, can get on my nerves most of the time. But she was brilliant last Thursday, in the midst of the furore over the BBC hosting Nick Griffin, the leader of the racist BNP party.

Diane’s argument was sharp and incisive. Putting a holocaust- denying, black-hating, promoter of repatriation for coloured people on the BBC’s Question Time, was simply bad judgment. No, no rules were broken. Indeed, free speech entitles everyone – even the bigots among us. Abbot’s position was that giving Nick Griffin prime time on a politico-entertainment show would only serve to sanitise the bastard. His repugnant views would never truly stand any chance of being tested.

As it turned out, Diane Abbot was spot on. There was great outpouring of disapproval for Griffin on the show. Everyone affirmed their disgust in the name of British multiculturalism. Jack Straw – the Labour Justice Secretary who disapproved of women attending his constituency clinics in burkhas – led the expressions of antipathy towards Griffin. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, conservative Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion opined that the BNP won seats in the European parliament because of fears about immigration.

Nick Griffin sat there, buffeted by the questions, but appearing a little smug too. His triumph was that he had burned his way into the mainstream of British political discourse. And for this, we have the BBC to thank, partly.