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On Track #3: Doping

Ok, so sorry I missed posting this one last week. But that just means that you, dear reader, get a treat this week: double posts of the On Track series!

The first one looking at why track isn't popular is an easy one: doping.

If you've paid any attention to sports in general, you know doping is a big deal. And especially for track (just like with cycling), doping is definitely a big black eye. Just mention names like Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, Lasse Viren, Rashid Ramzi, etc. and any self-respecting track fan will cringe.

Thanks to the media, thanks to science, whatever, the present and past doping escapades of athletes are no secret. I mean, everyone knows the Easter Bloc athletes of the '70s and '80s were all dirty. Same thing with sprinters in the '90s and early '00s. With such a track record (pun intended), how can any spectator take world records and Olympic Golds seriously? Doesn't each positive test diminish the accomplishments of other?

We say in our country that you are innocent until proven guilty. But with athletes it is the opposite. And even then, just any connection to doping, no matter how loose and trivial, is enough for many sports fans to have reasonable doubt.

I'm not going to even try to argue that doping isn't really that bad. But what I will argue is, how is it any different from Baseball?

Baseball faced the same crisis at the same time with their Steroid Era. So why is baseball on the rise again, but not track? I guess that's more of a rhetorical question than anything.

But how come, in our sports consciousness, in baseball all is forgiven, but in track (as with cycling) the doping legacy continues to taint the sport? Isn't that a bit of a double standard?

(Don't even get me started on football. There's no way those guys are clean. Have you seen how unnaturally big those guys are? The sport is designed for 'Roid Rage. Of course, the NFL -- and we the fan -- like it that way.)

I guess my point is, doping is definitely a taint on track. But if you say you're a sports fan and you still like baseball, then doping is not a legitimate reason to shy away from the sport of running, jumping, and throwing.

Coming Next Week: This Is Sportscenter

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