We have been hearing about Barry Bonds and his alleged steroid use for some time now, isn’t it getting sticky in sport these days? Today I was reading a story about the literally dozens of baseball players being investigated in light of the “Mitchell Report”.

Senator George Mitchell gave a report that lambasted MLB owners for turning a blind eye to steroid use and drug testing resistance. The Senator called for year round, unannounced steroid testing. I am wondering if sport in general will ever recover from all this tarnish.

What Is Real?
Barry Bonds recently broke Hall of Fame great Hank Aaron’s home run milestone, which was set in a time when steroids were a rumor in the bodybuilding community. So much has changed in sports, it appears as a shadow of its former excellence to me most of the time now. The list of Hall of Fame bound players implicated in this scandalous affair include: Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, David Justice and other notables.

According to Mitchell: “For more than a decade there has been widespread illegal use of anabolic steroids and other performance - enhancing substances by players in Major League Baseball in violation of federal law and baseball policy.” I have to wonder if Aaron’s record is the real one or if we are supposed to accept some convoluted reality? I like Barry Bonds very much as an athlete, but if he did “cheat” , as I would call it, then I do not understand how he can rationalized this.

When Hype Imitates Greatness
In the era I grew up in there were small scandals here and there - rumors of a few people fixing games and of course Pete Rose and the gambling scandal. It was however a rather magical time for sport - a time for some of the greatest athletes who ever lived to showcase superior human endeavor to the world. Names like Babe Ruth, Wilt Chamberlain, Jim Brown and Pele where whispered reverently in every school yard and at the local pub. People all over the world were being introduced to “the possible”, and human effort taken to its most excellent conclusion. We were mesmerized by the true excellence played out before us - in a time when anything seemed possible and when it could happen at any moment.

Fast forward to today, where “gangsta” basketball players attack fans or a defensive end celebrates a tackle as if it were winning the Super Bowl. Michael Vick fights dogs in his house and tortures the losers to death, and now baseball’s finest athletes “dope” themselves in order to compete with the true athletes.

Back in “the day” we had a sport that was this cheap and equally pitiful in its excellence - it was called NWA Championship Wrestling. This is what sport, and to be honest a lot more has come down to, hype in place of greatness. There is no simpler way to be excellent than to run one’s mouth and convince everyone rather than actually “being” great. From one sided NBA Championships to showboating skiers who lose it at the end in the Olympics (and the dopers too) we are witnessing a façade of sport.

A Crying Shame
Having been a player, a fan and also being fortunate enough to play against some truly remarkable athletes - sport today really sickens me. I remember my High School football couch teaching us to play fair no matter the cost, he used to say: “Let the others cheat and then beat their asses any way - you will be the better for it.” He was so right, and many proved this ideal correct following this path.

I never saw Jim Brown celebrate a touchdown beyond receiving a pat on the back - he just did his job and let the scoreboard and his own accomplishments tell the tale. Wilt Chamberlain (the greatest player of all time) wrote the NBA record book under the stigma of being called a loser his whole career! A loser! Now Michael Jordan and the “beat some nobodies” Bulls sit atop an underserved pinnacle. We cannot even define loser still - my good God.

Could Have - Should Have
It is not that there are no great players any more - it is simply that we do not demand greatness but only the impression of it. Jordan was a superb and dedicated athlete deserving of Hall of Fame status , but certainly “set up” to be a poster boy. I feel for the hard working and honest players who have to tolerate the “dog and pony show” that has become athletics. The average person has no idea how many lonely hours, weeks, months, days and years it requires to achieve this level of competition. Now we have these people spitting on the legacy set before them. I do not blame then however, it is the system and the money that has soured the sweet taste of true excellence.

The even sadder reality is that new fans and those who did not witness “true” greatness, do not even know what it looks like. So then, it is all our fault too - for accepting the untruth of hype in leaders, athletes, executives, companies and in ourselves. We are and did sell out at some point - and that is all I have to say about that!