Mr Nasty: Part 3

[stotty]

Nasty Charm

Nasty had one quality Mac didn't: charm. Meant he could get away with murder.

My mum loved Nasty...I rest my case.

[don_budge]

The Ultimate Player...

Well I know that his behavior was inexcusable. But come on...even those guys that he antagonized couldn't help but forgive him. Innocent by reason of rascality. Poor Ille...he just couldn't help himself once he got started. He didn't have any control limits. I just love those pictures where he turns his hands up in the air and shrugs his shoulders..."come on you guys...you should know that I am just a poor Romanian trying to make a living".

This guy was a player. As in actor. He knew his role. He was the bad guy...the evil villain. He didn't spare the horses that's for sure. Dark magic. Swarthy looks. A recipe for disaster if the genius' game was off just a whisker. The opponent was damned. It really didn't matter who was on the other side of the net. That wasn't the point. He was destined too...to play his role. We can't all be good guys.

"People want excitement"...it is true. They got what they were paying for when they went to see this guy play. The Mercurial One.

Give Steve a lot of credit here in capturing some of the more interesting facets of this personality...without the judgement. It would be easy to cast some "holier than thou" judgement here rather than just painting the picture and letting the viewer judge for themselves. Personally, I loved the guy. He was from the wrong side of the tracks...at least as far as the tennis establishment was concerned. Steve also gets some credit from the website...tennishasasteroidproblem. Apparently he is one of the only journalists to broach the subject of PED's in the sport of tennis. Nastase aficionado...unafraid of inconvenient truths. A man after my own heart.

[John Yandell]

Let's get your thoughts on Steve's latest: "Mr. Nasty: Part 3"