“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” – Albert Einstein
“Our brains are no longer conditioned for reverence and awe. We cannot imagine a Second Coming that would not be cut down to size by the televised evening news, or a Last Judgment not subject to pages of holier-than-thou second-guessing in The New York Review of Books.” – John Updike
Sport is not dead, but one of the things that made sport truly great and inspirational, surely is. I’m an older guy than some of you. I’m old enough to remember feeling a sense of awe and wonder at the accomplishments of an athlete or group of athletes. I can remember when it was possible to think, “He did it! He did the impossible,” and feel the gooseflesh rise along my entire body as I contemplate with amazement, the ability of a human being to overcome a seemingly unconquerable obstacle through superhuman will, skill, and determination.
Now, when I see a feat of superhuman athleticism, I don’t wonder with amazement at the power of the human will, I rather wonder whether the athlete in question is using performance enhancing drugs.
It makes me sad that there will never be another Miracle on Ice or another Babe Ruth. I remember how amazed I was at witnessing the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team win the gold in 1980, and how pure that moment was. When Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France, coming back from cancer, I thought that maybe anything really WAS possible, but now I know it’s not. At the time, I didn’t think that maybe these moments were attributable to PEDs, but now, there’s no question that I would.
This A-Rod fiasco is, of course, only the latest of these assaults on wonderment and awe. He didn’t do anything that anyone else didn’t do, but there was one, little voice in the back of my head that wished he would break the home run record to cleanse that most hallowed of all benchmarks. Maybe I was naive to think he might be clean. Yes, the guy’s a little strange, but I kind of thought (or maybe just hoped) that he was clean.
I don’t think I’ll be naive anymore. For me, this is sort of the last straw. I just don’t believe anyone anymore. Every act is suspect, every deed is questionable, and no feat of greatness is ever truly pure. That era is dead forever, and a significant part of what I loved about sports is dead, too. Man, these guys make it hard to root for anyone or anything.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
9 Responses to Sport is Dead
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
Guess no more sports for you. that’s too bad.
Lol. But seriously, I do get where Tom is coming from. There is a certain awe about athletes that we have growing up, that they are close to gods or something. I mean, I still would be nervous just talking to a pro athlete. But a lot of that sheen has worn off- many people dont view athlete as being “above it all” anymore. In fact, they are being viewed more along the lines of being the LCD of society, cheaters and criminals all. It is sad. I wont go on to say that sport is dead, bc I dont believe that. But idolizing athletes? That ship has sailed, and this is just one more push in the wrong direction.
It’s an examination of how I feel right now. Many of the feelings won’t last, of course, but I definitely feel sad that no one will ever really be able to feel that entirely unalloyed feeling of wonder and awe at great feats of athleticism. I never said no more sports for me, I merely said that part of what I love about sports is completely dead and I think it’s sad. Many people will grow up and not even know what they’re missing and I think that’s sad, too.
This is a very good article of the steroid that ARod was tested for. It is very informative and would explain why he chose this drug.
http://www.bugsandcranks.com/the-clubhouse/steve-hulkower/how-are-so-many-people-upset-about-something-they-dont-even-understand/
The problem with the article is that it ignores the fact that he tested positive for testosterone as well. Stacked together, they apparently make for an extremely effective and potent combo.
This revelation had zero effect on my love of sports, nor of my perception of Arod’s talent.
How do any of the people so saddened by Arod’s story feel about the fact that the HGH problem in the NFL dwarfs anything in baseball, and that the NBA is likewise up to its ears in PEDs?
oldpep, I feel like that is just the typical little kid defense of, “everybody else is doing it!” The bottom line is that this is a new era and sports will never be quite as enjoyable for anyone, ever again, and that’s kind of sad. No one can ever enjoy greatness for the sake of greatness and not wonder whether that athlete is doping or not.
The ‘little kid defense?’
I heard the same hair-shirt stuff when Bouton’s book came out and especially when cocaine use was the ‘ruination of baseball.’ (Why no hue and cry about the use of other illegal stimulants, while we’re on the subject?)
If guys like Dykstra, Caminiti, Alzado, and the rest didn’t kill sport, Arod shouldn’t either. And if cheating ruins a sport, they were ruined long before either of us was born.
Not sure you’re reading my whole comments, pep. I’ve said twice now that I’m not saying that sports are going to die, but that, “I merely said that part of what I love about sports is completely dead and I think it’s sad. Many people will grow up and not even know what they’re missing and I think that’s sad, too.” I think we’re not talking about the same things.