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Thursday, July 26. 2007
It’s Okay
My how things change …The Spaniard on Team Discovery Channel is now the proud owner of the Tour de France yellow jersey. If he continues to lead the tour for another three days, the rookie Tour rider will win this most prestigious tour of bicycle racing.
Some might question Alberto Contador’s title, but the young man worked for his position in the tour – worked damn hard – and any inference that the yellow jersey wasn’t earned is completely false. As it turns out, Michael Rasmussen, who had worn the jersey, failed to show up for two doping tests – in May and June, claiming he was training in Mexico – and his team, Rabobank, kicked off the tour. All Alberto had to do was stave off all the other challengers to the jersey and the honor was his. He did so. The man right behind Alberto is Australia’s Cadel Evans, riding for the Predictor-Lotto team, and Contador’s team leader Levi Leipheimer.
Cadel Evans of Team Predictor-Lotto
Cheating is the major issue in sports today. Baseball’s Barry Bonds, the man about to break the home run record of 755, set by Hank Aaron some 30 years ago, has widely substantiated rumors of having used banned substances to increase his size and strength. Will there be an asterisk beside his name when it goes into the record books? That’s up to the league to decide, but it’s quite clear the commissioner, Bud Selig, isn’t too thrilled about attending the games that might feature Bonds’ feat. Hank Aaron refuses to even get involved.
An NBA official is now alleged to have bet on games and to have even “fixed” games to satisfy debts owed to mob-controlled bookies. Jeez, can the league handle that kind of scandal? Big questions remain to be answered: how many others were involved; officials, players and coaches? Many commentators in the past have questioned officiating in games and this latest scandal now adds weight to the once unsubstantiated claims of game-fixing.
Basketball lost its allure with me years ago when it began turning into a haven for thugs. The brawls, riots and people like Latrell Sprewell really make basketball unappealing. To his credit, after Sprewell was ejected from the league, and then reinstated, he changed his ways and became a popular and successful player. But what does it say about the league that he was reinstated at all? He dragged his Golden State Warriors coach, P.J. Carlesimo to the floor by his throat and choked him for nearly 15 seconds. Fighting, apparently, is okay in the NBA. Has been since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar punched Kent Benson and later that same season (1977) Kermit Washington busted Rudy Tomjanovich’s face with a punch.
Then there’s Michael Vick and the allegations of running a dog-fighting ring. If that wasn’t bad enough, he’s also alleged to have killed dogs, in gruesome and painful ways, that didn’t measure up to Vick’s “standards.” People are saying that regardless of the outcome of his trial (Vick pled not guilty), he will never play in the National Football League again. Maybe the NFL has more integrity than the NBA and bicycle racing, maybe not. Riders are getting ejected or suspended from the sport over the cheating.
Vick’s charges aren’t about cheating, but all of these problems are a symptom of a larger malady, gripping not just the sporting world but society in general. Win at any cost and screw anyone or anything that gets in the way – with the notable exception of the San Antonio Spurs, the current NBA champions known for their great demeanor and strict adherence to the principle that it’s all about the team, not the individual.
As fans we condone it by continuing to watch and support the games; I love watching baseball, football and of course the Tour de France. The point is, at least in America, we approve of breaking the rules, rebelling against authority and doing whatever it takes to make it, as in become rich, flamboyant and famous. It’s a national obsession and the proof is in the number of “reality” shows that now constitute television programming.
On a personal level, how many times have we tried to prevent someone from cutting in front of us on the freeway, or, better yet, rationalized driving 10-20 MPH over the speed limit (or more here in California) because A) everyone else is doing it and/or B) I’m in a hurry and I’m a good driver so the law doesn’t apply to me. We elected a president based on our collective belligerent attitude – “bring it on” – and now we find ourselves stuck in a quagmire called Iraq that has no good solutions.
How many have called the homeless and unemployed lazy or worse; how many people said the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans 9th Ward had it coming because they were/are too lazy and/or stupid to leave.
All we can really do is hope that the decent athletes in these sports prevail, but that really won’t happen unless we as a society change our attitudes about cheating and bad behavior; remember that war and violence are always the last options and not the first and that to remain united as a nation, as a society, we have be loving and tolerant of others, regardless of who makes it to the next exit on the freeway first.
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Melody
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