Andre Agassi learned an interesting lesson some time ago on Parents Day at his childrens school. Cheap Jets Jerseys . After describing his tennis career, he realized neither the parents nor the kids in the audience were very interested in hearing the way he was able to return the rumbling power of Pete Sampras serve or how he completed a career Grand Slam.They were more mesmerized by the gold medal than anything else, Agassi told ESPN.com on the 20th anniversary of his 1996 Summer Olympic Games triumph in Atlanta. It has this power. Thats why some athletes who have one carry it around with them. Because so many people just want to see it. Some display it. Others hide it or put it in a safety deposit box so it cant get lost or stolen.An Olympic gold medal is the ultimate athletic talisman. It is the unqualified symbol of a competitors victory at a moment that will forever be protected. Theres nothing beyond it.Gold is among the heavier elements, but Agassi still reaches for his medal as if it were a buoyant lifesaver as his darkest days approached. For that reason, his win in Atlanta is as important to him as any of his eight major titles.Early in 1995, Agassi had beaten Sampras in the Australian Open final, and in doing so, he snared the No. 1 ranking for the first time. Agassi flew wild and high that summer, amassing a 26-match winning streak at one point.He finished the year with a sterling 73-9 record and bagged seven titles, but it was one loss in late September that gutted him for years to come. Agassi had navigated his way to the US Open final, but the fearsome ball striker fell to rival Sampras in four sets. A summer of celebration had turned into anguish. Agassi crashed. He had nothing left.By the end of 1995, Agassis life was unraveling like gut strings in a racket that had been played for too long. Demons that lay dormant were coming awake and closing in as the next season began.The bottom was starting to come up at me and my [first] wife [Brooke Shields] in 1996, Agassi said. I took the loss to Pete at the Open hard. My achievements didnt cure the disconnect I felt from the game. I was struggling with meaning and purpose.Agassis youth was a handsomely illustrated catalog of conflicts and poor decisions. But even as a rebel and wild child, he had the patriot gene, as his Davis Cup exploits attest. He always held the Olympic Games in like regard. So while his resentment of tennis by mid-1996 was at a fever pitch, he clung to his Olympic ambitions. He found the will to train for the intense heat of Atlanta with laser-like focus.I was really clear, Agassi said. Difficulty is guaranteed, but clarity is gold. It was the first time I felt passion and focus after my struggles started in 95.Still, various burdens coursed through Agassis nervous system like strains of virus as the Games began. Agassi did not always handle pressure well, at least not in his early years. He was a vulnerable top seed in Atlanta.Olympics is in its own category, Agassi said, noting that its the only time a tennis player truly is competing on behalf of his country as an individual.Agassi and Croatian?Goran Ivanisevic were seeded Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in Atlanta. The treacherous nature of Olympic tennis kicked in immediately as Ivanisevic was eliminated easily in the first round.Agassi foundered, barely getting by Jonas Bjorkman, always a tough out on hard courts, in two close tiebreakers. In the third round, Agassi was down a set and a break before he recovered to beat Italian Andrea Gaudenzi. Wayne Ferreira of South Africa served for the match in the quarterfinals, but Agassi came up clutch. In the best-of-five final, Agassi ran Sergi Bruguera to the ground in signature fashion, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.Some critics will note Sampras, Boris Becker and a host of other Grand Slam contenders did not play Atlanta for various reasons. Most of them never won Olympic gold, either -- even when they chose to compete. Bear in mind, Nicolas Massu has a singles gold, and so does a Swiss player not named Roger Federer. Marc Rosset won the singles competition at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Thats Olympic tennis.I never needed an opponent to lose, Agassi said. But there were also times that it didnt matter who I played. I was going to win. My pride in getting over the line in Atlanta isnt affected by any considerations.Agassis gold medal sits at the very center of the display of his Grand Slam trophies, in the gym he built in Las Vegas some decades ago with great friend and long-time trainer Gil Reyes. Invariably, aspiring athletes visiting the facility wonder where the medal fits into the greater scheme of things.How somebody perceives the challenge or importance of the Olympics is kind of their business, Agassi said. I just look at that medal and say, I wish every person in the history of our game who was great at what he did had one. Dale Hawerchuk Jersey . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Marko Dano Jersey . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. http://www.nhljetsauthority.com/authenti...le-jets-jersey/ . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique. WASHINGTON -- Besieged by starting pitching injuries, the Los Angeles Dodgers are looking for solid outings from the starters they have left.Bud Norris gave them a maddeningly inconsistent one Wednesday night in an 8-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. Norris (5-8) struck out eight but allowed six earned runs on seven hits, including three home runs, before getting pulled in the sixth inning.Five innings, got some strikeouts, but its tough to win (when) they hit the ball out of the ballpark, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.Norris got the start after South Korean left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu was put on the disabled list with elbow tendinitis. The Dodgers are also without three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw because of a herniated disk in his back and wont have lefty Alex Wood for eight weeks after he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his elbow.Unlike many of the Dodgers other pitchers, Norris is healthy, but he was still victimized on home runs by Bryce Harper, Ben Revere and Jayson Werth. Harpers two-run home run was a 451-foot moonshot into the third deck in right field at Nationals Park in the first inning.Harper put a good swing on the ball in the first inning, Norris said as the understatement of the night. Roberts said Norris threw the 3-1 fastball into Harpers nitro zone.With the Dodgers scoring only one run on a single by call-up Charlie Culberson in the second off the Nationals Gio Gonzzalez (6-8), Norris didnt have much margin for error. Jacob Trouba Jersey. He did strike out Harper and NL batting leader Daniel Murphy before an RBI double by Wilson Ramos ended his night.But it was back-to-back homers by Revere and Werth in the fifth that Roberts said did the Dodgers in.Unfortunately in that fifth inning I thought I made a pitch that could have been really close, Norris said. I guess I had a mental lapse there.TRAINERS ROOMDodgers: Roberts said surgery was more of a possibility for Kershaw after a setback with the herniated disk in his back. ... Roberts said All-Star SS Corey Seager could be back in the lineup Thursday after missing two games with a stomach virus. ... RHP Chris Hatcher was placed on the disabled list with an oblique injury.KENDRICK KEEPS IT ALIVEWith his double in the eighth, Dodgers LF Howie Kendrick extended his hitting streak to 12 games. A fly out left him stranded.CALL HIM TREY TURNERNationals 2B Trea Turner made it back-to-back games with triples when he hit one into the left-field corner in the sixth inning. He then stole home on a botched pickoff attempt, the Nationals first steal of home since Harper in 2012.UP NEXTLHP Julio Urias (1-2, 4.95 ERA) is the next man up for the Dodgers, and hell face Nationals RHP Stephen Strasburg (13-0, 2.51 ERA). Cheap Soccer Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Hockey Jerseys Nike NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys China Wholesale Baseball Jerseys China Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Wholesale Jerseys Near Me Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap NCAA Jerseys Authentic Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic MLB Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Throwback Jerseys Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '