McEnroe, whose brother John topped the world rankings in the 1980s, agrees with Roddick about the attractions of other sports, but is not going to make it an excuse for failure.

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With these resources at hand, a problematic student-athlete has no excuse for failing to make reasonable progress towards their degree attainment.

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But for a smaller group people, knowing they are running late for work does absolutely nothing except stimulate their creative juices in order to make up the latest excuse as to why they are late for work -- again.

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Without the 7-1 defeat to Colchester, nobody would have had any need to make such a ruthless decision, even if they were waiting for an excuse.

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