Chris Sesno Posts

Dear Annual Giving Office,

Recently, I received a letter in the mail asking to contribute to the annual giving office to help alleviate the financial hardships the school has undergone in the current economic recession. This marks my first donation request as a Middlebury Alumnus -- a time that should be a happy and joyous occasion celebrating the long journey from acceptance to graduation to joining a proud group of Alumni who contribute to the school to ensure the College upholds its high standards of learning.

Yet, this is no such time.

Before I decide to donate some of my hard-earned dollars to the College I love, I would like to express a few grievances about the financial allocations process, mainly about the absurdity of providing funding to Harry Potter wannabees who trounce around with brooms that don't fly between their legs and put my beloved Middlebury on the national radar for its Quidditch 'team.'

A reflective Andre Agassi gave his first TV interview on CBS' 60 Minutes since the shocking excerpts from his autobiography were released to the public less than two weeks ago.

Katie Couric pressed Agassi on many of the revelations from his book, including the pressure he felt from his father, his secret sentiments toward the sport that made him famous and the admission that he frequently used crystal meth with his trainer in 1997.

"I have to call it like it is," Agassi said when asked about the motivations behind revealing his past. "And hating tennis was a deep part of my life for a long, long time."

Agassi was visibly emotional -- saying he was scared, isolated and "living a fraud" during his years in the tennis spotlight.

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Pardon the pun, but the Morgan Middle School football team just gained a huge advantage over future opponents when 7-foot-4 Brendan Adams joined their team.

At just 14-years-old, Brendan is listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest teenage boy in the world. Brendan told Melissa Luck, an executive producer for KXLY4 in Spokane, Wash., "It was my 12th chromosome that broke in half and flipped over and reattached," although doctors have not yet diagnosed what exactly caused his rapid growth after birth.

While Luck's story does go into the medical details of Brendan's condition, he also told her that football is his favorite sport despite his mother previously prohibiting him from playing the game.

Serena Williams was just two points away from a semifinals exit from the U.S. Open back in September when she began her now infamous tirade at the lineswoman who helped make her departure a reality by calling a foot fault that sparked the meltdown.

Now, nearly two months later, the ITF has announced they will make a ruling on her further punishment within two weeks. She was originally fined $10,500 -- $10,000 maximum on-court fine allowed plus $500 for racquet abuse -- but potentially faces more fines and a possible suspension from the WTA.

"It's in the hands of the Grand Slam administrator, who I believe has now completed his investigation and will be making a ruling within the next two weeks," United States Tennis Association President Lucy Garvin told The Associated Press on Friday. "That's what we have been told -- that Serena would hear, we would hear."

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Every high school has a rivalry. Every rivalry has bitter moments in history. In Jefferson County La., this is one of those moments.

Twenty-five Male High school students -- including six football players -- were suspended Friday for their involvement in a school prank against Manual High that involved six toilets, a lot of waste and many cans of spray paint.

Gross you say? Well, the prank was in response to one supposedly pulled by Manual students who dumped a truckload of manure in the parking lot and spray-painted curse words on the football field.

Let's just say the manure really hit the fan for the 25 suspended Male students, but what about those responsible for the manure pile in the Male parking lot? So far, they have not been able to prove who was responsible.

Serena and Venus Williams have plenty of experience playing against each other. But you wouldn't have been able to tell that by the way the two played when they faced off for the 22nd career time on Wednesday in the WTA Tour Championships in Doha.

It took Serena almost three hours and a full three sets (including a third set tiebreak) to top her older sister 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(4) in a somewhat sloppy match. They didn't play well at the same time until the last three games of the match, where the two finally seemed to put forth their best effort.

With Serena trailing 5-6 in the third, both players turned on the jets and provided the fans in Doha with a brief glimpse of what they were hoping to see throughout the match. Asked what changed for her late in the third, Serena said, "I just tried to relax. Whenever I relax, I play better." Seems simple enough.

Five days and eight injury retirements later, the Shanghai Masters semifinals are set.

In the last quarterfinals match on Friday, Ivan Ljubicic pulled out of his match against Rafael Nadal in the third set with noticeable pain in his left thigh. He joined an absurdly long list of players to withdraw due to injury in Shanghai, including reigning U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro and world No. 6 Andy Roddick.

Ljubicic withdrew in the first game of the third set and handed Nadal a spot in the semifinals where he will take on fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who topped the No. 9-seeded Robin Soderling in straight sets on Thursday.

On Monday, Andy Roddick spoke out against the ATP for the lack of a normal tennis offseason. On Tuesday, he retired from the Shanghai Masters with knee pains.

Fast-forward to Thursday, the injury count at Shanghai has grown to seven after just four days of play. The latest additions are Gael Monfils of France and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who retired from their matches earlier today.

The Shanghai injury list includes reigning U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, Tommy Haas, Jose Acasuso and Mischa Zverev. Not included are Roger Federer (fatigue) and Andy Murray (wrist), who opted out of the tournament before it began to recuperate.

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The soon to be No. 1 women's tennis player in the world says she wants to play in the Fed Cup finals against Italy next month. But before she can commit, Serena Williams wants to be sure sure she is healthy enough.

Serena is holding off on making a decision until after the season-ending championships in Qatar.

"I definitely want to play again. I am just trying to get there," Williams said. "It's just really hard to see how my body is going to be after Doha, (Qatar) -- if I am going to be walking or if I am going to be in a wheelchair."

There are a lot of professional athletes these days who try their luck in Hollywood -- as an actor, fashion designer or other form of entertainer outside the realm of sports. After seeing his attempted freestyle improvisation of 'We are the Swiss', Roger Federer should quickly abandon any hopes of becoming tennis' next John Riggins and really focus on tennis.

Federer -- the No. 1 men's tennis player in the world -- was gathered at a celebration with the Swiss Davis Cup team and members of the French media when he was encouraged to break out in song. It is fair to say, hilarity ensues.

Check out the video after the jump.