Most modern tennis commentators seem to agree that we are witnessing the greatest tennis player who ever played the game in Roger Federer. If this is true, then Andre Agassi must be the next greatest.

At 35 years old, with a bad back, bald head and married with kids, Agassi outplayed rising youngsters and seriously threatened to defeat Federer in the finals of the U.S. Open this past weekend.

Federer is obviously special, but something tells me that in the next 10 years, he probably will not be around to strike Agassi-like fear in tennis players who are now 16 years old and who in a few years will be world-class professionals seeking a high world ranking.

Which brings me to the main point of this article. At noon Saturday at UL's Cajun Courts, Lafayette will get to witness a facsimile of the Federer-Agassi classic when the current men's tennis team plays against the 1988 USL tennis team in a dual doubles match as a part of the reunion of the '88 USL tennis team. There is an old adage in sports that speed kills, and I have found this to be true.

Unlike Agassi, the 1988 USL tennis team may experience the truth of this phenomenon.

A few months ago, Paul Reekie (USL four-year tennis letterman from 1985-89 and current Merrill Lynch stockbroker) declared that he would be physically and mentally prepared to compete against and possibly defeat the current UL tennis team in singles and doubles matches in one afternoon of competition, and he spoke confidently in his belief that the 1988 Cajun tennis team could defeat the younger, more talented, stronger and better current UL tennis team in this grueling format.

Unfortunately for Paul and any former Cajun tennis player who shared this level of unwarranted confidence, this belief in one's physical ability based on what was done in the past is classic "temporary myopic geriatric insanity" or TMGI.

It's a disease in which an athlete who is well past his/her prime thinks he/she still is good enough to dominate younger, fitter and better athletes of a current generation. Some of the world's greatest athletes have been stricken by the disease (e.g. .Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali and O.J. Simpson).

This Saturday, members of the 1988 UL team will travel from across America and return to Lafayette for a weekend of fun and nostalgia as they celebrate being a part of the greatest tennis team in UL history. (I am happy to report that Paul has recovered from TMGI and has agreed that we should only play doubles against the current UL tennis team.)

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Curtis Hollinger
Guest columnist