I've debated with myself as to whether I should make comment on the recent 'shock' revelations that Australian Football Codes have been linked to systematic doping and the like.
The sad fact is I for one am not surprised. You can't honestly tell me that there is a sport in the world that is untouched by 'cheats' and 'dopers'. The glass half full girl in me likes to believe that these incidences are in the minority, but also as a realist I believe that perhaps it is not as infrequent as we would like.
Bottom line is that whenever there is money and superiority involved there will be those who feel the need and the pressure and be able to justify that it is okay to cheat. Competition in the sporting world is fierce, as is the pressure to perform consistently and successfully.
Basketball, baseball, football, athletics, swimming, cycling - no sport is immune.Up until now though it seems that most sports have been able to sweep things under the carpet. Cycling seems to be the only sport that is constantly in the spotlight, for the wrong reasons.
These revelations in Australia bring a somewhat sickly smile to my face. My first thought was sarcastically 'So it's not just cycling!' my second thought, more seriously was one of bewilderment. The glass half empty girl in me wonders if any sporting success or achievement can be really taken on it's merits, which saddens me for the (hopefully) majority of clean sports men and woman the world over.
It is a complicated issue involving money, greed, selfishness and the longing for success and adoration within ones self. Can the money and greed side of things ever be changed? Can human nature ever change for those who can justify doping to themselves? Complicated questions, with no real answers.
Where will be in ten years from now? Who knows....
