By Sean Bradley
© Mark Howard, Beverly Balowsky


(December 26, 2010) For Wayne Odesnik, life has been akin to that convicted murderer – days and nights thinking about the repercussions you have caused, who you have slighted, why now, what to do?  Well, the answer was simple for Wayne: rat everyone out.  Obviously the only reason that Odesnik is getting his suspension suspended (really, that’s what it is being considered) is because he cooperated in the ITF’s investigation.  I’ve watched plenty enough episodes of CSI to know that cooperation with an organization means being a snitch.

But that’s fine!  I mean, you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do right?  But more importantly, it weeds out the cheaters among them.  I would much rather have a sport free of cheats and sneaks than one with ripped-muscle linesmen absolutely pulverizing balls.

We’ve cleaned up baseball, snowboarding (you’re next Shaun White!) and now tennis.  I look forward to the coming months where more and more players get suspended and made examples of.  It’s not that I enjoy the downfall of tennis players, but more that I’m interested in a chemical-free less fabricated sport. 

Because face it – if I was getting pumped up with HGH, I would undoubtedly be blasting my strings out during every match; absolutely destroying every player from Cincinnati to Paris.  But that’s just me.

Until I hear of a player in the top-50 having actually done HGH, I am reluctant to call this an all-out conspiracy and more of a case of one small, weaker man trying to be a big, stronger man.

It still has yet to be seen whether or not he has actually done (or how much he has done of) the performance enhancing drug though.  Odesnik was caught with 8 vials of the drug and little speculation has been made on how much of this was for personal use, or if he had intent to distribute.

Odesnik is super excited to be allowed to play tennis again and his lawyer issued a statement saying, "I am thrilled that I can return to the game and compete in the sport about which I am truly passionate. I have learned a lot during my time away from competitive tennis and I know have even a greater appreciation for what a privilege it is to be a professional athlete. I want to take this opportunity to thank my family, true close friends and fans who have stood by me during this difficult time; I am deeply grateful and humbled by your support."

All I know is that there will be some heated locker room discussions (read: fights) if Odesnik starts dropping names and keeps playing tennis.  The day that tennis becomes hockey is the day that I start hosting tennis parties.  I welcome that day.