What can we believe anymore?
The world of sports has become so corrupt that it is almost impossible to filter what is real compared to what is a lie.
First you have the widespread steroid use in Major League Baseball. Sure that was years ago but it is being rehashed now because those players are not eligible for the hall of fame. None were selected. None were even close to being selected.
Second you have Lance Armstrong. He was the one person every athlete pointed to and said ‘I want to be like him’. Armstrong did things the right way. He raised millions of dollars through his livestrong brand. Now we find out he lied about the whole thing.
Armstrong, throughout his career, sued those who claimed he used performance enhancing drugs. He won several of those suits. Now he goes on Oprah to admit he cheated. (I have a real problem going to Oprah instead of a real journalist but I’ll reserve that column for another day.) So many people were cheated by his cheating. But, at least, that money did go to cancer research. That much I pray is real.
And third, the story came out today that the death of Manti Te’o’s girlfriend was fake. Te’o, the linebacker for Notre Dame, sat down with Sports Illustrated and told them his story. How he lost his grandmother. (That is true, unfortunately.) He also claimed that his girlfriend was in a car accident and then diagnosed with leukemia. The reports have come out that not only did this ‘girlfriend’ not die but she did not even exist.
Notre Dame issued a statement saying Te’o was scammed. But Te’o said that he talked to her on the phone at night. Yet another lie.
And who can forget the lies of Bobby Petrino? No need to go over that again.
There are so many good things about sports. We all love a great story.
But when do all the lies take away from the greatness of athletics? Sadly, I think we’ve reached that point.
