A World Without Heroes
On Monday, September 30th, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced a four-year ban for Oregon Project coach, Alberto Salazar. Growing up in the ’80s, Salazar was my favorite distance runner and role model. As a coach, the results and the success of the Oregon Project were impressive. The team was a force and their dominance just seemed inevitable. But then the whispers started and the secrecy and the guarded answers. Isn’t this the familiar pattern that we’ve seen over and over for the past 20 years? At least that’s been the fate of the people who I’ve admired for their accomplishments and performances.
I guess that I’m fortunate that the white Oregon Project cap with the logo stitched in silver for $45 was sold out because I just can’t condone cheating in any form. To wear that cap would be telling my youth track team that everything that I told them about sportsmanship is negotiable. Don’t cheat means everyone…even the person you once respected as an athlete and as a coach.
While Salazar has said that he would appeal the decision and a person is innocent until proven guilty, the information released is pretty damning. And so goes the pattern of denial, evidence, appeal and eventually admission of guilt.
“A world without heroes
Is like a world without sun
You can’t look up to anyone
Without heroes”
My first true disappointment was Marion Jones, the North Carolina athlete who exploded onto the track circuit. She was a fresh face with a bubbly attitude and an infectious smile. And boy, did she dominate the competition. From her lone 100-meter gold medal in the 1997 World Championships to 5 medals (3 gold and 2 bronze) in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Jones was fun to watch.
The whisperings began when her then-husband, C.J. Hunter tested positive at the Sydney Olympics where Jones had a dominant performance. Then, in 2004, the BALCO scandal broke and given Jones’ ties, people began to suspect her of performance-enhancing drug use. Although Jones said on many occasions that “she had never tested positive for performance-enhancing substances”, she eventually admitted in 2007 that she had in fact used banned substances AND lied to a grand jury that was empaneled to investigate BALCO.
“And a world without heroes
Is like a never ending race
It’s like a time, without a place
A pointless thing
Devoid of grace”
From the time I can remember watching college football, a short, elflike, bespectacled man with a blue windbreaker seemed to always be on the sidelines. While I was never a Penn State fan per se, I grew up respecting the work of Joe Pa. He lived in the same house and worked for the same school almost his entire life. He was an icon of humility and consistency…a maker of men. Joe Paterno’s work was so respected that he was being considered for the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the time the Sandusky scandal broke. On October 29, 2011, his career came to an end because he turned a blind eye to child sex abuse. We Catholics call that a sin of omission.
“Where you don’t know what your after
Or if something’s after you
And you don’t know why you don’t know
In a world without heroes
In a world without dreams
Things are no more than they seem”
For seven years spanning 1998 to 2005, I watched in awe as Lance Armstrong dominated the Tour de France. He was a man among boys. During this improbable run, there were whispers of performance-enhancing drugs. There were frequently the well-chosen words, “I’ve never tested positive for a drug test.” when responding to the question, “Have you ever taken performance-enhancing drugs?” Armstrong was as relentless with his accusers as he was with his competitors. He laid waste to anyone who would challenge him.
In 2012, a USADA investigation concluded that Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs. Then in 2013 on national television, Armstrong confessed to Oprah that he had in fact used banned substances over the course of his career.
“A world without heroes
Is like a bird without wings
Or a bell that never rings
Just a sad and useless thing
Where you don’t know what you’re after
Or if somethings after you
And you don’t know why you don’t know
In a world without heroes”
From the time my wife first met me, she told me that I had “rainbows in my pockets.” I always wanted to see the good side of people and wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s starting to become difficult to give people the benefit of the doubt when the pattern starts…whispers…well-chosen words in response to allegations…and secrecy. By now we should be accustomed to the other shoe dropping…the evidence…more denials…an appeal. And then finally…the confession and apology. When an athlete’s performance seems too good to be true, we now tell ourselves that it probably is. And that’s a very sad thing. Because a world without heroes is very sad indeed.
Lyrics from: World Without Heroes
Songwriters: Lou Reed, Bob Ezrin, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley
Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
