Across the pond

Author: Adam Clayton

As far as politics and sports go, the recent steroids drama unfolding in Congress, one that brought about more embarrassment and outrage than alleged torture by the CIA, illustrates how deeply ingrained sports are in American culture. Roger Clemens' fall from grace has caught the attention of those who, like me, don't really follow baseball. After all, it's kind of strange to see one of the sharpest partisan divides in government emerge over a man's alleged use of substances to gain advantage in a game. Or is it just a game? When the Justice Department and federal investigators are on the verge of launching a criminal investigation into a person, my common reaction is that guy must have embezzled, killed or done something of great moral perversity. But the reality is Clemens, albeit stupid and a cheat, doesn't merit even a visit to the House committee. Such silliness overshadows the more pressing dilemmas facing society, and tends to ignore the more-than-general consensus that Clemens is guilty, and his name and career should be tarnished for life as punishment.

So what can we take out of this circus revolving around Clemens, or even the Bonds fiasco of the past few years? Ideally, we wouldn't need laws or punishment to encourage our idols and rolemodels to behave in a virtuous way, but unfortunately sports tend to attract those who place competition and success above all else - including integrity. So settling for slightly less we hope that the laws and scorn brought down on those unfortunate-enough-to-get-caught serve as enticement for other players to stay on the straight and narrow. Yet, sometimes, it seems this is not what we really want, but merely the façade society presents to reassure itself. After all, the congressional hearing did not address the delicate issue that MLB ignored, or even condoned, the use of performance enhancements to enhance the appeal of the game. Did MLB wake up one day to realize that some of its best players had been abusing the rules for years? Are they really taking any steps beyond those required to maintain an appearance of respect for the game? Sure, you can create a few scapegoats and make them appear to be rogue players, but it's almost given that we've barely touched the surface of scandal. The commissioner and executives alike are seemingly more concerned with avoiding what happened to cycling and the Tour de France than truly being agents of rule and equality.

At worst, and probably more likely, these events will be seen by the performance enhancement industry and players alike as motivation, if not subliminal urging, to be more subtle and secretive.Common misperception is that anabolic steroids are the most widely used drugs in sports and will continue to be. But when sports such as chess adopt world anti-doping regulations, one has to wonder what drugs they are looking for. Popping a Ritalin before a game seems innocent enough, but what if you suddenly found yourself with the focus of Kobe, or the fearlessness of Ben Wallace, after taking one pill? The synonym 'nerves of steel' could soon be replaced with 'nerves of product 1wxy005'. Yet, given the desire of the human race to pursue the bigger and better, regardless of consequence or cost, one could reasonably predict the outcome - public outrage, focused vilification and a nostalgia and sadness that things have changed, but damn that was a sweet game last night!