The more I read, the more I wonder the answer to the question of whether the sports world is held in the same esteem as it once was. It seems that the athletics that used to be competitive and good natured have now turned into an arena filled with speculated deception and cheating, giving the average sports fan a bad feeling about the sports they love.If this were like the isolated incidents of the last century that happened every so often, then it would be easier to swallow, but it is not. It has been going on far too long. Even when allegations began with Ken Caminiti admitting, in a 2002 report by Sports Illustrated, that he took steroids and continuing with such events as the BALCO scandal and Jose Canseco’s book, the question was and is still a mystery to many as to how long drug usage has been going on.
I know it would be very easy to throw this all on baseball, but it has also occurred in other sports, such as cycling and track and field.
Lance Armstrong has won the Tour De France six straight years. At first nothing was said of it, and it was a great story that a cancer survivor had overcome cancer and was able to come back and win an event like the Tour de France.
However, when he continued to win Tour after Tour, allegations began to spring up that he was doping and what not to help him win the race. I do not know if it’s true or not, but I certainly hope it isn’t. The point is, it’s a shame success is scrutinized, even if it was achieved in an honest manner.
This is what disappoints me the most about sports, because I know that there are honest athletes out there who work their tails off everyday and refuse to lower their standards to achieve fame and glory.
It seemed like this past summer there was almost as much talk about doping and allegations of it in the Olympics as there was about the great athletes who participated. The Olympics are supposed to be an event matching the greatest athletes in the world against one another, while also giving them the opportunity to represent their country with pride. It is not by any means meant to be a doping forum.
Where have all the athletes like Jim Brown, Babe Didrikson Zaharias and Jesse Owens, who all competed with dignity, gone? Why can’t we have more speculation about who’s the hardest worker in the weight room than who has spent the most time in the bathroom stall shooting themselves up with steroids?
Athletics used to be a part of this world that everyone could be proud of. The defining moments like Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points in a single basketball game, integration of baseball and the glory days of Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers are some thing we can look back on now and be proud of. Those were the days when athletes had more respect for themselves and the game they played.
Now it’s almost a win-at-all-cost attitude where people will do anything to get a competitive edge over one another. Drugs and methods of getting past drug tests have been substituted for hard work.
It’s a shame that going into spring training the hot topics in baseball are Canseco’s book and who is possibly using steroids instead of focusing conversations on something more positive.
Reading an Associated Press story on Barry Bond’s press conference when he arrived at spring training just made me more infuriated at the way he responds to questions about his possible steroid use and the way he blames his race as a part of the reason he is being watched so closely.
“Because Babe Ruth is one of the greatest baseball players ever, and Babe Ruth ain’t black, either,” he said. “I’m black. Blacks, we go through a little more. … I’m not a racist though, but I live in the real world.”
Ok, before I even comment on this, let me state that I am in no way racist. I respect all people and treat all with dignity and respect, but this allegation is just crazy. I can understand his point that because he is nearing a record he is being watched more closely, but to say that his race is one of the reasons that he is being criticized more for approaching this record is just ludicrous. If this were the case, the same could have been said when Bonds broke Mark McGwire’s single-season home run record.
Nobody ever said you weren’t one of the greatest baseball players either Barry. I mean come on, 703 home runs is not anything to look down upon. However, race has no bearing in this issue.
Does Bonds honestly think his problems will go away when he passes Ruth and has Hank Aaron, major league baseball’s all-time home run leader, as the only obstacle in his way? He cannot use race as a scapegoat when he closes in on Aaron’s 755 home run,s because Aaron is black too.
On the collegiate level, the picture that appeared in the newspaper last week commemorating the 20th anniversary of Bob Knight’s chair throwing is just embarrassing to college sports. I mean seriously, who would want to remember something like that. I could go outside and throw a chair, and I would not get any national attention. But I’m also not Bob Knight, and for that, I am truly thankful.
It’s also sad, because last week I read in the USA Today that the Dallas Morning News reported that athletes on another high school football team told their coach that an athlete on the USA Today’s No. 1 ranked football team, Carroll High School, in Southlake, Texas, allegedly used anabolic steroids. Two other Texas high schools are also accused of steroid usage in the report released by the local school district.
What’s next? Will there be steroids or other methods used on the high school level? Or could it possibly be that this type of behavior could move even further down to little league, Biddy Basketball and Pop Warner?
It’s a scary thought but not impossible. I just hope the “evils” plaguing the sports world can be eradicated, returning athletics to the once proud state where achieving feats weren’t questioned.
