Lance Armstrong’s Doping Ruined Sports is like Saying Gays Ruin Marriage

Well last night Oprah had it. The Big Story. The Big Reveal. The one that had Lance Armstrong finally coming clean about his doping during his time as a professional cyclist where he won an astonishing 7 titles in the Tour De France (1999-2005). His excuse was his drive to win and that it was a level playing field, everyone was doing it. And actually Lance is not far off from the truth.

In the years of Armstrong’s run at the Tour Title there were 94 cases of doping (not including Armstrong) in cycling. (1999-5 cases; 2000-5 cases; 2001-12 cases; 2002-15 cases; 2003-13 cases; 2004-22 cases; 2005-22 cases) And those are the ones caught. To say there is more might be a stretch but it is possible that when Armstrong testifies (and yes he is going too. Why else go on Oprah and talk about doping if he did not want to compete again in sports). But as it seems that Armstrong was the crème de la crème when came to passing dope tests, however I am banking on one or two more big names falling. But if we want to put it in a real contents, the number of cases almost double from 22 in 2005 to 42 in 2006. And by that time Lance Armstrong was done with cycling and had retired. So I say again: Armstrong is not far off from the truth.

And while the 2000s for cycling is going to looked at as the 90s were fo baseball and the steroid debate and use where we saw a number on top ranked players fall from grace or had their images and legacies tarnished forever by being linked to steroid use. Many of the players, while they beat the probes into their lives, are still being punished today and being excluded from the Hall of Fame. In fact doping has been an issue in sports since people found a way to make money at playing them. The Olympics for decades has been dealing with the fact of doping. Some of it done by the actual country that the puts forth their athletes. (East Germany anyone? And lets not forget North Korea or China). On a side note we are going to have to face the fact the NFL (National Football League) allows quite a bit of doping to go on the sidelines during the game. They say that they (NFL) are make strides into making the game safer for the athletes that play the game but the league allows actual doctors on the sidelines to administer pain meds to players so they can get back on the field. And if we are serious about wanting to rid doping from sports and make the games that are played safer then that is something that is going to have to be discussed.

In the end Lance Armstrong has done nothing that has not been going on for years. He did not ruin the sport of cycling or sports at all for that matter. He is just another scapegoat in a long line of scapegoats with many more to come in the realm of the sports world. Because sports today are driven by the almighty dollar. And tougher, faster, stronger athletes are going to be the most sought after even if they think that they might be doping. Just don’t get caught is the motto of sports today. That and we are going have to figure out one day that these people are not role models. Sure many do something good; give back to the community so to say. But many do not. Many are just thugs and assholes And besides, it is just a game.

To say that Lance Armstrong (and people like him) have and are ruining sports is as about as ridiculous as saying that gay people marrying is and will ruin the sanctity of marriage. Because lets face it. They have not. Sorry. We all have a hand in it whether you like it or not.

Boba Fett Plays for the New Orleans Saints?

Bounty Hunting. Those two words conjure up images of tough men on a mission the likes of which of Boba Fett and a man who calls himself Dog, but the NFL? Now, unless you have had your head shoved so far up your ass that sound is muffled you have had to hear about the BOUNTY scandal that has plagued football for the last few weeks.



The NFL (National Football League) has actually dealt with this problem pretty swiftly and hasn’t taken a backseat when it has come to handing down fines and suspensions. Hell, they suspended two time Super Bowl winning coach of the New Orleans Saint, Sean Peyton, for all of next season and former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the alleged apparent mastermind of the program, an indefinite one. And those in charge of the League say that they are not done. If and when they find more players and, or, coaches, they will meet the same fate. Bully for them. It is not very often that you hear about a sports league saying that they don’t care who the person is, what they do, or how popular they are that they are not safe from prosecution. That’s why it boggles my mind that now DA’s (District Attorneys) want to pursue criminal charges against any found to have taken part in the Bounty Program. I mean, really? One, it is going to be hard to prove, unless there is an actual transaction noting that the player in question actually received money for intentionally hurting another. Hell, even with their name is on the check and the check states that’s what it is for I still think they’re going to have a hard time getting thing other than more fines.



Not only that but now it appears that Senator (DEM-Il) Dick Durbin wants to convene a hearing in Congress on the recent National Football League scandal involving bounties for brutal contacts and is arranging a Judiciary Committee to examine whether or not a federal law had been broken in offering bribes and awards to harm players. Durbin declared in a speech from the floor of the Senate, "This disclosure involving the New Orleans Saints goes to an outrageous level that none of us ever anticipated. And I think it's time, whether we're talking about hockey, football, baseball, basketball or any collegiate team contest, that we have clear rules that what happened with the New Orleans saints never, ever happens again.” Durbin, who claims to be a sports fan like many so in Congress, in the past has successfully pressed to keep chewing tobacco out of sight in Major League Baseball.




What the fuck? I think someone should remind good-old-Dick that the NFL is a PRIVATE organization and not a public one. And that maybe he should concern himself more on the welfare of the country and how we are still in a recession that is being hurt daily by high gas prices because he and the other cronies that work in DC have zero ideas when it comes to anything looking like an Energy Bill or have any ideas when it comes to really fixing the Economy and creating REAL jobs.

But never mind that.

No. He has to stick his nose into matters that DO NOT and SHOULD NOT concern the American Government. I know he just loves to get on his soap box and say how these people (sports stars) are ROLE MODELS for the young, but there in lies the problem. Sports Stars should not be elevated to that standard. And maybe good-old-Dick should concern hiself -if he must- in matters where they are not looked upon as role models. I mean, it is JUST A GAME no matter how you put it. And the unfortunate part of the game and the players involved now is that most of the people in it are not there for the love of it. Rather for the large cash rewards that are given to the talented that play them.

So why should we (especially good-old-Dick) be surprised that teams pay players to put an extra hit and hurt on the best player of their opponents? If the nature of the game is winning and being paid large amounts of cash to win then we as an audience shouldn’t be surprised at all. It is now part of the game. Same as steroids are part of the game for Baseball. Another no-brainier when it comes to what happens off screen, off field, and in the locker rooms. If adults want to destroy their bodies with that shit fine. It is their life. But on the other hand don’t come back and blame the game you are part of for making you do anything. You knew the risks when you got into it and no one held you down and forced you to do anything. That is what free will is all about.

And on another note, to say that placing bounty’s on players is new and strictly a Saints problem couldn’t be further from the truth. Truth is that bounties have been around a long time in the NFL. Back in the 1980’s, former Green Bay Safety (1986-90), Tiger Greene, was a rookie for the Atlanta Falcons and the Falcons players had what they referred to as a “RATING SYSTEM” where each player chipped in about $300 before a given game and the pot would be distributed via ratings on the hits they gave out. If someone had to be carted off the field or had been knocked unconscious that player would take the entire pot of cash. And when you are a rookie and not making as much as the others, well, that could be a pretty big extra add on to your paycheck. And in 2007 the Packers we sighted for violations to the bounty rule stating that defensive linemen were getting $500 from teammates for holding running back Adrian Peterson to fewer than 100 yards. When brought to the attention of Mike McCarthy, coach of the Pack, he addressed the situation swiftly and it didn't linger .

And I’m thinking that they aren’t the only ones that had and, or, have programs up and running. Only they just haven’t been caught. It is not unlike the Spying scandal from a few years ago involving the Patriots. As with that problem, the NFL won’t be to tarnished by this and in a few months will quietly disappear as well.