Andre Agassi, cashing on on the world wide market for a juicy story, hits upon a weakness of the anti-doping fight: The ability of star power to overcome the rules. Where is Agassi's image now - as he says 'Image is Everything" -- when he reveals himself as a drug user and a liar to his sports authorities?
Agassi's new book reveals that he submitted a urine sample tainted with meth that should revealed to his suspension for a drug of abuse, not a PED. However, Agasi lied about the meth, a lie which was bought by the tennis anti-doping establishment.
Stories abound about star power tainting the doping fight:
1. Barry Bonds and other MLB stars appear to have been tipped off by someone with deep knowledge of MLB steroids testing
2. Willy Voet's book -- Breaking the Chain -- documents the skill in the cycling stars to avoid doping tests in events such as the Tour de France.
3. Star Russian track athletes including world champion Yelena Soboleva were tipped off to doping tests, prior to the olympics.
One wonders the extent of the cheating based on star power throughout sports (and society in general). Obviously the playing field is not equal. Little guys are going to face more sanctions that the stars (generally speaking). The truth of the corruption (which it is) often doesn't come out, as the stars reap the rewards.
Kinda like the man said about the NCAA...
Of course there's no guarantee the NCAA will step in and do the right thing in any of these cases. Tarkanian best summed up the NCAA's approach to justice 14 years ago, after a package from the Kentucky basketball office to the father of a recruit popped open and $10,000 fell out. 'The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky,' Tarkanian said, 'that it's going to put Cleveland State on probation for three more years.'" - by John Feinstein, Washington Post, "A March Into Madness," March 11, 2003.
What's ironic is that Agassi had no problem confessing to using meth but kept quiet about what propelled him to his unlikely comeback at an
age when he should have been unable to compete.
Posted by: Chris Hensel | 11/05/2009 at 07:48