Hypocrisy of American Sports Vs. The Tour

Okay, I must respond to the the attached article by Jemele Hill which was forwarded by my teammate Ryan D:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/070731&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

Here goes the response...

Do you remember studying the Salem witch trials in American history class? After the defendant maiden drowned in the river, the accusers stood along the lakeshore scratching their heads and declared that she wasn't a witch afterall. "Mea culpa!" might have been uttered if they spoke French.

Call it my American indoctrination (and hyprocrysy), yet I am repulsed by the "guilty until proven innocent" approach of the Tour's "dopey" counsel. I read Armstrong and Ulrich's biographies, and its just unbelievable how the testers can barge into the private lives of these athletes, demand they alter their plans to accommodate "random" testing, and make public accusations although test results were mishandled and completely suspect. I'm so disappointed that many of the cycle greats chose to walk away from the Tour and the sport, remarking they no longer want to deal with the unfairness of the dope test harassment.

Prior to reading the article by Ms. Hill, I read this morning on AP that Alberto Contador, the winner of the Tour de France, has been accused of doping. Oh, what a surprise! Is this really possible? Again? Didn't those pro cyclists learn to stay clean when Landis was stripped of the "winner" title last year? BTW, that decision to strip Landis of the title is still pending a final ruling, but few seem to track the status of such a charge after the headlines report the doping scandal. There was a time when I eagerly tuned in each day of the Tour for athletic inspiration. I didn't this year...only saw a few highlights and read limited articles, trying to avoid those re doping accusations.

This article by Ms. Hill makes an assumption that the dope officials' actions are fair, accurate, and promoting good for the sport. It fails to address the politics, test result inconsistencies, interference with people's lives and incriminating damage to the professional reputations and careers. While I'm certain that the dope nazis cleaned things up a bit in the sport of cycling, I'm bewildered by the level of hardship and stench they were willing to cause the innocent and the sport.

Perhaps I'm a bit naive about the prolific use of illegal drugs in professional sports, yet I still believe we have some amazing athletes who can perform beyond the boundaries of yesterday's records without illegal chemical assistance. Don't we? I certainly hope that if or when American professional athletic orgs decide to "clean up" their act, the process is conducted with more civility and fairness, minus the Inquisition tactics of the cycle dope officials and hopefully causing less destruction to athletic inspiration.

Whew, I feel better now. Thanks for reading although I sound like a haughty hypocritical American...my apologies to Ms. Hill.

G