The Arrogance of the Athlete

With this whole Alex Rodriguez situation unfolding around us, punctuated by the fact that I just read a great book titled Wheelmen, that could only be described as a "companion story" to It's Not About the Bike and Every Second Counts, Lance Armstrong's two "biographies", I can't help but think about the role that doping plays in our sporting society, and it plays a larger part than I think many people realize. Doping is prevalent in every sport, regardless of the mainstream status of that sport. Don't think so? Just read this article. 

This is not meant to be an argument for or against drug testing - at this point, it's a part of our sporting culture regardless of whether or not you think it's a basic violation of personal rights or that it's creating an atmosphere of "guilty until proven innocence". And frankly, if you aren't doping then you have nothing to lose by submitting to a drug test and everything to gain. If you aren't doping, then you should welcome drug tests for the simple fact that they catch the cheaters - or at least they do in theory.

As a college athlete, drug testing was an inevitable part of my five years (yep, five - thanks medical red shirt!). I signed waivers declaring that I was okay with being tested - and I was. As a women's lacrosse player, I hardly ranked high on the drug tester's list of "people who are possibly doping" - you were more likely to bust college athletes playing sports like lacrosse, field hockey and volleyball for recreational drug use than you were for doping. It was a necessary evil, but one I didn't think much about because of the sport I played.

However, now that I'm out of college and competing in triathlons, drug testing has taken on a whole new meaning. I went from playing a sport that was low on the totem pole of drug testing because, let's face it, lacrosse players are more concerned about where their next thirty rack of Natty Light is coming from then meeting their dealer for their latest ass injection of HGH, to one where performance enhancing drugs are a true factor. I like knowing that the major players in triathlon are being drug tested, and not just during Olympic years. Athletes at the elite level in all major triathlon disciplines - sprint, Olympic, half and full Ironman distances - are tested if not regularly, then at least randomly enough to not know exactly when and if they will be tested. Even though I am not now, nor will probably ever be, on the same level as those competing at the professional level, it's nice to know that it's not because they have better drugs than I do.

But are we heading in that direction? Triathlon, and professional triathletes, are still relatively new compared to other professional "leagues". It takes money to dope, and the more money that professionals earn - through sponsorships and race winnings and appearance fees - the more disposable income they have. This might translate to flashier cars and bigger houses, but it could also easily segue into doctors and doping regimens, especially if those sponsors expect you to podium and those appearance fees hinge on your race results. It's frightening to think, but it's not an unlikely trend, especially for events as physically punishing as the Ironman distance race.

After reading about what can only be described as the biggest sports conspiracy and cover-up if not ever, then at least in our generation, it's hard to separate the two very different, very polarizing faces of Lance Armstrong. On one hand you have Lance Armstrong the cancer-survivor and subsequent cancer-crusader, the incredibly dedicated and highly regimented endurance athlete and by all accounts great hands-on father to his five kids, with Lance Armstrong, the narcissistic, pathological liar, the arrogant playboy and the willing cheater.

He's wiping away the tears of sadness brought on by getting caught. 

Arrogance at its' finest. 

The lengths he went to defend himself from his detractors is almost absurd in hindsight, and his fall from grace has been neither elegant nor remorseful. You could even say that he is more arrogant now that he has finally admitted - or at least acknowledged - his past drug use than he was in the years leading up to it. His lack of contrition when it comes to his past drug use to win the Tour de France is appalling, and his half-hearted apology on Oprah was stilted and indifferent. To say he lacks remorse over his discrepancies is giving him more credit than he deserves. (For a more detailed look at Armstrong's transgressions, read the USADA's cycling investigation and reasoned decision here.)

And that's what I don't get about Alex Rodriguez - how he can look at the downfall of so many popular athletes who have lied about using performance enhancing drugs, only to be found out later and subsequently demonized:

Marion Jones was stripped of three gold medals and two bronze medals - two of those medals (one gold and one bronze) were earned for her role in relay competition, meaning that all three of her teammates on those relays were forced to return their medals as well. Imagine the excitement of winning a medal in the Olympics, only to have it stripped away for something you had no part in years later. Talk about a slap in the face to her teammates - the very people who stood by her. At least in Armstrong's case, his teammates were probably doping right along side him for his seven victories and are thus equally guilty (I won't get into the discussion of whether or not those teammates were forced into doping or did it willfully to stay on the team - that's a whole other story).

The story is still out on Barry Bonds and his steroid use, but I would imagine that, as a whole, the general public with some knowledge of the situation believes that he is guilty of abusing steroids during his career. However, the very fact that it was never proven that he took steroids and yet he is still considered a cheater should raise very large, very bright red flags.

Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers faced a 50 game suspension for an elevated level of testosterone in 2011, fought it, won on a technicality in 2012 and then two years later was found out to still be using steroids! He got off on a technicality and then had the audacity to continue using performance enhancing drugs and was suspended for the remainder of the 2013 season.

I could continue for another ten athletes just off the top of my head, but would rather not. You can look up doping scandals here if you have five hours to kill - or are just looking for something to do while pretending to work.

In the case of Alex Rodriguez, all the facts are against him, and while he doesn't have the smoking gun of many of his former teammates turning against him and providing insider details, there is the testimony of Tony Bosch - founder and owner of Biogenesis. You can argue that Bosch isn't exactly the best character witness, considering the numerous times his story has changed, but when you are dealing with illicit and banned substances, is anyone really a good character witness? How many morally, upstanding citizens do you know that deal in illicit drugs? Lance Armstrong was considered the savior of cycling, the hero of America and we see how that's turned out. Even the most seemingly upstanding people have their flaws.

See kids, this is what a cheater looks like!

There is also the fact that Alex Rodriquez himself isn't exactly clean. He denied for years that he used performance enhancing drugs before finally admitting it on national television (Armstrong must have thought this was a good idea, seeing as how he went on Oprah to "confess"). And really, if Bosch is such a bad guy, why was Rodriguez so involved with him? Why were they in constant contact with one another? Upon hearing the outcome of the arbitration panel, Rodriguez claimed that it relied on the "hearsay testimony of a criminal" - but Rodriguez himself is an admitted drug user! Here pot, I'd like to introduce you to kettle. Rodriguez, you have admitted to using performance enhancing drugs - which are illegal in the United States - in the past, so does this not make you a criminal as well? Why are you so much better than Bosch? Because you play baseball? Because you are the user and not the seller? I don't understand.

Throughout the Communist Era, the East German athletes were on drug programs that were unheard of in American sports. While steroids were a known entity to athletes around the world, the East Germans doped in a way that could only be called systematic and extensive. As world records fell and medals accumulated, suspicions rose but no proof of wrongdoing was ever uncovered, meaning that many of the medals earned during that twenty year period from 1968-1988 were never stripped. Are we, as Americans, turning into a society like the East Germans during this period, where every victory, every medal, every championship, is cheered and celebrated, with a blind eye turned to how it was earned, just so long as it's ours?

Here lies the biggest issue with performance enhancing drugs: you can't create a test for a drug that doesn't exist. This means that drug users and doping will always be one step ahead of those who wish to compete clean, to race unaided. However, until we as a sporting society choose to change, until we choose to turn our backs on champions who have turned out to be villains, until we choose to celebrate those who try and yet fail cleanly, rather than worship those that try and succeed under false pretenses - we cannot complain when our heroes let us down. They were only doing what we expected of them.