Sports and the World of Lies

My family wasn't really into pro sports or college sports when I was growing up. We did watch some NFL games over the years, but I was never a super fan like some of my classmates. I'd watch some Browns games when they were good, but I didn't care at all about the other big pro sports in the US, like baseball---yawn---and I don't think I ever watched a single NBA game. As an adult I watched the NFL off and on for years. Sometimes I would get really into it, but eventually I just completely tuned out.

One of the things that killed my interest in pro sports was the doping scandals in cycling in the 1990s and early 2000s. I followed bicycle racing back then, mainly because I was doing local bike races myself. The sport was plagued by rumors of systematic doping the whole time I watched. Then eventually the reality of the sport spilled out into public in a pretty ugly way, all the details came out. That is the details of the medical procedures and mechanics of cheating tests spilled out into the news.

I realized pro sports was basically a huge medical experiment. Chances are really good that world class, or professional athletes in every sport are on some kind of medical program. There might be a handful of true "natty" pro athletes out there, but all the famous people are basically a prize cow that's managed and controlled by a team of doctors and trainers.

The very interesting thing about pro sports and doping is the reality of doping and the medical angle of sports has to be ignored and pushed out of the public consciousness. It's been a mystery to me for years why that's the case.

Sports is a part of the entertainment industry, and ultimately is all about selling corporate crap. It's as crucial to keeping the status quo in power as religion or politics. Why can't pro athletes or pro sports organizations acknowledge the importance of hormone treatments and medical programs? Why do they have to pretend it's all natural? It's really quite interesting.

The narratives of pro sports are basically folk stories. The whole pro sports industry reinforces and reflects the beliefs of the public who venerate athletes. The athletes are role models for children for example, that is the fictional character athletes portray are heroes and role models. The folk belief is good and admirable qualities of the athlete lead to success. Also, people believe the sports stars are basically blessed by the gods. People want to be like their heroes or want to make their heroes happy so they buy shoes they endorse, or drink sports drinks they sell, etc... The medical reality really clashes with that narrative.

Many people prefer to live in the fantasy land. Lots of fans insist, for example, that pro cycling today is "clean" by magic testing programs, and that the super stars of the sport are all natty even though they are faster than mega dopers of the 1990s up mountains in bike races. Fans regurgitate the same type of PR lies that were promoted about Lance Armstrong back in the early 2000s about contemporary star cyclists.