Well, I wasn't intent to make that my post for the day above, as something very special was delivered to me by a fellow forum member. I have posted it prior that like others here, I search eBay basically daily with the search words "Nike Agassi" and to find out if anything old pops up. Sometimes good things do. I grabbed his royal satin shorts from the Zoom Challenge II era NWT last summer. Well my grail was to somehow, hopefully find the "Tennis Sucks" skull & cross racquets hat. It has eluded me ever since I missed it back in 95 (heck I bought everything else he wore that summer but the hat). So I search & search to no avail.
That is until I got a very amazing message from fellow forum member
nismot
. He told me, he has the hat and forgot he did. Was moving some stuff and found it. Basically brand new. And he would be happy to send it my way for nothing!!! I was completely floored by his amazing generosity!! In times like today with people fighting with others due to the world's problems, for someone to send me something for free, knowing he could easily sell it online and get good money for it (and believe me, I offered to pay), shows how good of a person he is. This is what arrived today...
And here is with the rest of my set from that summer (the shirt is still in my possession, but strangely I thought I had it here when I moved out of my folks place. It's at their house and I know where it is. Just gotta go grab it and a few other Agassi line clothes).
When I opened the box, and saw the hat, in as new condition, I actually got choked up a little. It brought back SO MANY memories for me. That year (summer of 95) was when I graduated from high school, but continued to play almost 3 times a week with my high school tennis teammate in the morning before I had to go to work. I got pretty darn good that summer and the following years. I'd say I was an easy 4.0 USTA rating, maybe a 4.5 on some days. He would win some, I'd win some. We'd play best of 3 sets all the time. And this was with me dealing with having severe Ulcerative Colitis for 2 years (such an AWFUL disease). I'd actually stop mid point, concede it to him, and run to the restroom at the park, it was that bad. Eventually needed surgery to remove my large intestine and eventually after that a liver transplant.
But seeing this hat brought back happiness and reminded me again why I love this game so much and why I'm such a fan or Agassi. He got be into tennis summer of 89 when I saw the Hot Lava outfit. He showed me tennis isn't all stuffy white clothing and rich snobby country club types. I still play today, albeit it with my Lobster machine as I can't really find anyone to hit with.
But for
nismot
to send me this hat, I will forever be grateful to him!!! I've met some good people thoughout my life dealing with all my issues, and he is DEFINITELY one of the good guys! Enjoy the photos everyone. I'm gonna wear this hat tomorrow with a smile on my face! Thanks Tim!!!