But he won eight slams. And he played forever. And he was so good for so long.

Think of him as tennis’ Nolan Ryan. A power player to the end, always capable of being the very best on any given night.

And he’s definitely the most accomplished person in any field ever to marry somebody more accomplished in the same field. Indeed, even pondering Agassi gives way to an entirely new appreciation for Steffi Graf.

• I’ll be honest. I didn’t get up early enough or stay up late enough to watch any of the Americans’ efforts at the world basketball championships. But a couple of things on that, anyway. Bronze is actually a step in the right direction. And if only confirmed by the players’ quotes and the storylines coming out of the team, it’s clear Jerry Colangelo’s USA Basketball is an improvement over what came before.

Before, the only story was who was playing. Finally, everybody understands just showing up, no matter who shows up, is not near enough to win.

• The NHL preseason is less than two weeks away, which means the NBA preseason can’t be far off, which means the NBA season can’t be too far off. I have no idea if one team, two teams or no teams will be wanting Oklahoma City after the coming season, but I know the circus is coming back to town and that can’t be a bad thing.

• You want to know how long Agassi was in the game?

Not only do I remember watching him play when I was in high school. I remember him being on the same Davis Cup team that played a Mexico team with Raul Ramirez.

Now that’s a long time.

Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com