where is the love?

I'm incredibly disheartened at the facts now emerging about Lance Armstrong, and his alleged (or as it appears, not so alleged) doping. I don't idolize the man, but I always thought of him as an incredibly athlete. I cheered when he won the Tour de France, and marveled at his ability to overcome cancer and make a Cinderella-like comeback for more wins. He was, in my esteem, one of the greatest athletes in my lifetime.

And now this.

Although I can't say I'm surprised anymore. Is there any sport left unmarred by performance enhancing drugs? What is this doing to the young athletes of America who aspire to be like the big guys they watch on TV, or cheer at the ball fields? It's absolutely disgusting. I am a product of an athletic past, and I love what playing sports did for me and brought to my life. I am a better woman for it, no doubt. For every gain I made playing sports it was directly attributed to how many hours I logged training. I practiced ALL THE TIME.  And I got to be very skilled. Why can't the big guys just leave it at that? My suspicions? Money. Money and politics. Let's contemplate for one nanosecond what would happen if professional athletes could not make money on endorsements, and their salaries were capped at a quarter of a million dollars?  Frankly, $250k is pretty damn generous.Would that change if anything?

So much is lost in the quest for a bigger paycheck among athletes and civilians alike. No doubt Lance Armstrong was prey to fame, glory, and dollar bills. I still believe he is probably an incredible athlete sans the boost of performance enhancing drugs, but now he's just another one of those guys. Another Conseco, another Bonds, another McGwire, another Marion Jones.

And so yet another house of cards comes tumbling down.