PEDs WILL TARNISH THE GREATEST OF LEGACIES

Tour De France Champion Alberto Contador of Spain faces a barrage of cameras at the start of a press conference Thursday in Pinto, Spain.

Sports fans seem to forget a basic fundamental about being a fan - they are more passionate about their favorite sport and team than the players that step out onto the field or court. After all, the word fan is an abbreviation for fanatic. It’s the deeply rooted “love of the game” that drives grown men to paint their faces and go topless in sub zero weather.

Fans tend to believe that loyalty to the team and an appreciation for the history of the game still exists among most of the athletes they praise. They tell themselves that sports are still pure, even though the medicine cabinets of their beloved athletes are packed with syringes, pills, and creams - all designed to boost performance.

I have yet to meet a fan, or any person, who doesn’t love the Lance Armstrong story. Lance is the All-American boy from Texas who overcame the grim testicular cancer diagnosis of his doctors to win the grueling Tour de France an unprecedented seven consecutive times. Each year he pedaled to victory, he beat his former French team who year earlier turned their backs on him while he literally was staring death in the face. It’s a great story, right? I have no doubt that it will eventually become a blockbuster movie one day, however, let’s examine the facts and reality of what Lance has accomplished.

First and foremost, cycling is perhaps the “dirtiest” sport in the entire world. I am not aware of any other sport in the world (outside of the Olympic Games) that drug testers are in full force every day of competition. With that in mind, consider who Lance beat out on each one of his victories. Every legitimate contender that was a threat to Lance’s incredible streak of Tour victories failed at least one drug test. It happened again today with 2010 Tour champion Alberto Contador. In other words, we are telling ourselves that every cyclist but Lance was cheating. Do you actually believe that every elite rider in those races was on a performance enhancing drug (PED), but the guy who was winning year after year was not? Lance wasn’t doing it el natural and the evidence that he was on PEDs is mounting at an alarming pace.

The odds are stacked against him unfortunately.

Believe the facts and don’t lie to yourself because it’s a heart warming, fairytale story – Lance cheated. It will be years before a trial or decision is finalized to determine the fate of his records and titles, but that day will eventually come. Just don’t be shocked when it’s proven that he was doping.

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Baseball was the first sport to truly expose the rampant use of PEDs and it always seems to be the one sport that can never escape the link to the drugs. No sports records are more hallowed and respected than baseball’s, which is why the public and Congress are so quick to add another player’s name to the long list of cheaters that were part of the infamous Steroid Era in baseball.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Raphael Palmeiro and other legends of America’s pastime have had their legacies marred with a permanent black eye after they refused to accept the indisputable evidence that they were using PEDs. A few smart players like Andy Pettite and Mark McGwire have stepped forward, admitted their mistakes, and moved on with their lives. Their names no longer grace the dockets of Congressional investigative hearings.

It’s the pride and arrogance of Bonds and Clemens that will forever change the way we look at not only their individual accomplishments on the field, but the legacy that their era left behind for the young players in the big leagues who are playing clean. Ball players have put themselves in a guilty until proven innocent position. Did Rickey Henderson steal all those bases with a little boost or was he clean? Did Cal Ripken Jr. earn the title of Iron Man by his own toughness and grit or by the tip of a syringe? We may never know the legitimacy of any of the records set within the last thirty years.

That’s the reality of being a sports fanatic in the 21^st century, you care much more about the purity of the sport than the players you cheer on to victory.

UTES REMAIN UNTESTED

It’s hard to believe that one third of the 2010 college football season is in the record books. It blew by faster than a Shaky Smithson punt return, but it’s had less flair than Jordan Wynn’s mustache.

We know the Utes can score efficiently and quickly. We know who the starting quarterback is. We know that the backup is just as he is. We know that the goal line defense is nearly perfect. We know that the special teams play gets better every quarter of every game. We know that the coaches out-prep and out-scheme the opposing coaching staffs. However, what we don’t know is if the Utes are really any good this season.

The Utes have won their last three games by an average of 41 points. That grabs the attention of poll voters and bowl committees, but two of those victories were over New Mexico and UNLV, who were ranked No 3. and No. 9 in ESPN.com’s Bottom 10 of College Football. The two pitiful teams met Saturday in Las Vegas in what some national college football blogs labeled as the “Boredom Bowl.” The Utes’ dominance over one-win San Jose State, whose sole victory came against Division I-AA Southern Utah, was another yawner and by midway through the second quarter I was more interested in the other games around the country than the game being played in Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Like a 100m race between Usain Bolt and I, it was over before it began.

The first half of the season has been a Sunday stroll around the neighborhood for the Utes. They are making the most of it by racking up style votes for big win margins, after all coach Kyle Whittingham has repeatedly said, you can only play your schedule and make the best of it. But didn’t we create the schedule? Granted nobody knew that the bottom teams of the Mountain West Conference were more like pee-wee football teams than collegiate squads.

Those anemic offenses and vulnerable defenses have made the Utes look as dominating as their BCS busting seasons, and maybe they are just as good, but they have yet to play any elite team that will test their skill and swagger. Nobody knew that preseason ranked No.15 Pittsburgh, who was picked by experts to dominate the rest of the Big East Conference and merit a BCS Bowl invitation, would fall off the map following their season opening loss to Utah on Sept. 9th either.

Following this week’s bye, Utah will be served up three more softballs to crush out of the ballpark. Iowa State has three wins to their record - against schools that have better agricultural programs than football teams. Utah should handily beat Iowa State, Colorado State (No. 8 ESPN.com Bottom 10), and Wyoming before the season really begins on Oct. 30^th when the Utes will take on an impressive Air Force team in Colorado Springs. It should be noted that the Falcons are flying high this season and will more than likely be nationally ranked by the end of October. They not only throttled BYU but nearly upset the Oklahoma Sooners in a thrilling 27-24 loss in Norman.

The final weeks of this season, Utah will play TCU (AP No. 5), Notre Dame, San Diego State, and BYU. Considering what happened Saturday in Provo, BYU will be the easiest game during that stretch, especially since the Holy War game will be play at Rice-Eccles this year.

If the Utes deserve a Top 15 ranking they will earn it by winning against high caliber talent and elite coaching, like they will see the second half of the season. But the first half has been more like a casual stroll than an exciting race to the finish – which is why it has passed so quickly. There hasn’t been any opposition.