Flunking Tests

Well now isn't this a can of worms? After all the years of complaining about Lance Armstrong and the possibility of his having used performance enhancing drugs to win the Tour De France it seems that the rumors have finally come to pass. Fortunately the multi-year winning rider isn't the one who is guilty or accused this time. Floyd Landis who won a stunning come from behind victory apparently flunked a drug test earlier today when high amounts of testosterone were found in his system. For years the watchers of this storied race had accused the Americans of using such drugs to ensure their victories.

Armstrong had to endure these stories for years after winning his second and subsequent races. It was like the accusations against Ferrari in earlier years where they were accused of using driving aids to help their racers out race their competition. But whereas it's a bit easier to hid things in a complex machine like an Formula 1 car, it isn't so easy to do in something even more complex, the human body. Now I don't know whether or not Landis did or did not use drugs and therefore I won't applaud the discovery nor will I damn him for this revalation.

What I will do instead is shake my head in disappointment. All too often these days, there appears to be a growing trend where doping appears to be the way for many athletes to get ahead and make a name for themselves. Baseball players who shoot substances into themselves with 'no knowledge of what it is'. Football players shooting up for that added strength and endurance. It just doesn't seem to end. It's not a good trend. I didn't live in the good old days where a players vice was typically tobacco or an excess of food or alcohol. But these days it's sad how often these accusations are coming true.

If the findings against Landis are true then I will have to hang my head even lower. Despite having been found to have done nothing illegal; the spotlight will again focus on Armstrong and doubt will remain as to whether or not he did indeed use drugs to ensure his record-breaking victories. I have confidence and faith that he hasn't, but it doesn't really matter. The public tide goes one way or the other and often we are just swept up in the fervor. What many of these athletes often fail to realize is that the people looking up to them are kids.

It's a cliche I grant you, but it's a true cliche. Hard work has been something many of us try to avoid. Some more skillfully than others. But when we reach a point where we feel that a little bit of a boost, whether it be drugs or something else, is needed, then we not only cheat ourselves but we cheat those who look up to us or depend on us. I certainly hope that the accusations against Landis are false. Like it or not, America isn't on the good side of many other countries, and it would be a shame to give another reason for people's opinion to sink lower.