Andre Agassi deserves every bit of the criticism he is receiving for using crystal methamphetamine and misleading authorities to weasel his way out of a positive doping test result. He has added to the growing disillusionment many have with stars who once were admired without hesitation.

However, Agassi does not deserve the criticism from players and outsiders who question his right to open up about the past. Rather, Agassi should be admired for revealing a dark secret he could have taken to his grave.

Athletes are ripped for refusing to address the past (e.g. Mark McGwire), but now also for revealing every painful detail?

Can't have it both ways. Someone should tell that to the players.

"To me it seems terrible," Rafael Nadal said. "Why is he saying this now that he has retired?"

Martina Navratilova's response was even harsher. It was "not as much shock that he did it," she suggested, "as shock he lied about it and didn't own up to it. He's up there with Roger Clemens, as far as I'm concerned. He owned up to it (in the book), but it doesn't help now."

Someone needs to brief Martina. Last time we checked, Mr. Clemens hasn't owned up to, well, anything, and probably never will.

Roger Federer -- who also joined in the criticism -- Nadal and, to some extent, the retired Navratilova depend on the sport's credibility for their livelihood. When that credibility is damaged -- and Agassi definitely left tennis with a black eye -- they are also damaged, and it's never clear what consequences will follow. That scares them.

It shouldn't. Nadal needs to have more faith in the fans. Fans don't assume the whole sport is dirty because of how one player behaved. They don't think it's totally clean, either. No sport is.

The sport will survive. If anything, Agassi's revelations may help tennis and its players. There will be those players in the future, facing pressures only they can understand, who might now avoid making the numerous mistakes he made. That is how we learn, not by keeping the truth hidden.

A player's parents may learn, too, that treating their talented son or daughter the way Agassi's father allegedly did may work in the short term on the court, but could harm them in life more than they could ever imagine.

It doesn't mean we should rush to give Agassi the Pulitzer or forgive his actions. He is no saint for coming clean. But he is no villain, either. He is, when you strip away the talent and packaging, a flawed man who is sharing those flaws.

Fans can appreciate that.

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