|
We'll never know. Because all the top contenders were cheating.
I'm not condoning what he did in any way, shape, or form. But I think some of the piling on can be hypocritical or at least is happening around some glass houses.
I used to race bicycles. I got caught up in the mtn bike craze of the late 80's and raced both road and mountain (cat 3 road, sport class mtn). I *loved* the sport, and remember watching LeMond and his heroics. Then later Armstrong. I was a spectator and competitor (until a training crash in '92 ended my serious riding). Cheating disgusts me. But I recognize that it is pretty much part of the game. Look at football - every lineman cheats on every play. It is just a question of whether or not they get penalized.
It is a complicated topic. I used to love playing sports, and by extension, watching sports. I was a decent athlete, but never competed at top levels so that type of cheating wasn't on my radar. But even city league softball had cheaters. And poor sports. At some point professional sports began to breed poor sports by the truckload. Not sure when it started, but certainly the last few decades have been ugly. Yes, there were cheaters and poor sports way back when (Ty Cobb comes to mind - he loved to go in spikes up when sliding). But it wasn't institutionalized, in part because there wasnt the amount of money and celebrity associated with it. So to distill it down, to me $ is to blame. And greed is another human failing...
|