Emotional about Irwin, Agassi

I'm emotional. The world lost two legends this weekend.

Andre Agassi ended his spectacular tennis career yesterday. I was watching when he got his four minute standing ovation after dropping his fourth set at the US Open. He made a beautiful "thank you, fans" speech. I could barely stand to watch, but I also could not look away.
Andre, you brought the game to new levels and you are a class act. I wish you a happy and fulfilling retirement with your beautiful wife and children.

Now today, I find out that Steve Irwin, the infamous Crocodile Hunter, is dead at 44. It happened suddenly in a freakish accident with a stingray, whose barb pierced his heart.
I never cared much for him, or so I thought. He was needlessly reckless. His goofy facial expressions and exaggerated Aussie accent grated on my nerves. When he fed an alligator in 2004 with one hand and held his new baby son in the other, I thought I completely lost respect for him. I am ashamed to admit, I even mocked him at school just the other day, while comparing him to my favorite wildlife geek, Jeff Corwin.
But now that he is gone, I realize I liked him a lot more than I let on. Despite the things I didn't agree with, I definitely appreciated his love of wildlife and passion for conservation. He saw beauty in all of God's creatures and would go out of his way to save any animal, no matter how intimidating their teeth. He taught several generations to respect nature. He risked his life to bring an important message to mankind.
Darn it, I will miss you, Steve. You made this world a better place.
To his wife and children, I'm very sorry for your loss.