Publisher's Note: The following blog entry contains graphic details about the wonderful game of tennis. Please read all the way to the end for the writing tip.

I love tennis. I love it. I do. And Andre Agassi has always been "my guy." These days, he's an old man in the tennis world. At 35, you have to begin to realize that retirement is in your near future. But last night in the Quarterfinals match at the U.S. Open, Agassi was young and brilliant again... and I missed it.

The previous match went very late. Lindsay Davenport lost to Dementieva but they didn't get off the court til 10:00pm! When Agassi and Blake stepped out, everyone knew it was going to be a long night. But didn't everyone know I had had a lonnnng day? As much as I love tennis, how am I supposed to be expected to stay up til the wee hours of the morning without my eyelids getting heavy?

The first set went quickly. James Blake (currently nursing his own courageous comeback story) won it quickly and Andre looked sluggish. In the second set, Blake won again. I like Blake, but (as previously mentioned) I love Agassi. So when Agassi started to lose the third set, I couldn't watch anymore. I went to bed.

In tennis, the first person to win three sets wins. Blake was well on his way to doing that. And I gave up on "my guy." I hate to say it, but I did. It was so late! I was so tired! And I didn't want to witness yet another fall of my long time hero.

Anyway, to make a long story short (too late), Andre ended up winning the match in a glorious five set comeback. Basically, he pulled himself together, about five minutes after I hit the sack, and he won the last three sets. He played brilliantly and now he's going to the semi-finals on Saturday.

Here I am, feeling like a deserter, wallowing in self-loathing, and wondering how I could have chosen sleep over tennis. It's not the end of the world, obviously, but still I wish I could turn back time.

After six paragraphs though, I do feel a little better. It's true! Writing always cheers me up. It's therapeutic. Why beat yourself up over something dumb when you can get your frustrations out in on the keyboard? It's kind of like taking a deep breath. The pouring out and organization of your thoughts is the inhalation. You can exhale at your final word—at the final period

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Andre Agassi defeats James Blake in the U.S. Open Quarterfinals
3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (6)