Boris Becker Heads to Poker

  Usually when the term "love" is thrown around in the world of sports it means that Maria Sharapova is either doing another shoot for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit addition, or Tom Brady has struck again, and will be giving a large percentage of his paycheck to yet another model who is baring one of his children. Choosing the Sharapova option would actually be closer to the true meaning of the word in regards to sports. Love is how score is kept in the game of tennis. In this it is very much like the show "Beauty and the Geek" but there is more running and sweating involved in tennis.  In the game of tennis, one of the biggest names to ever play was Boris Becker. He has won just about everything that a guy can win in a game that involves little white shorts and hitting a ball over a net. This includes a number of titles, and an ex-wife who has the sort of looks that would inspire some really creative letters to Penthouse forum magazine. Well now that he is retired, the wife is gone, and ESPN no longer worships him like a god, he is doing what any other celebrity who is on the downside of their career does: he is going into poker.  Why is it every washed up media personality sees poker as a means of resurrecting their place of prominence? Though it is true that the game is immensely popular, many former celebrities treat the game like it is so easy that a few months of playing will put them on par with Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth. That shows an almost insulting level of misunderstanding regarding the nuances of the game.  Mr. Becker claims he is currently working with PokerStars and claiming that he is training for some really big tournaments. Though he is probably training in earnest, most of it probably involves getting used to sitting still for eighteen hours at a crack.  Boris may legitimately love the game of poker, and may have what it takes to succeed, but at the moment he looks like just one more media figure trying to buy another fifteen minutes of fame on the back of poker's popularity.