Monday, August 16, 2010
A-ROD Ain't No Baby Ruth
To dope the racer is as criminal, as sacrilegious, as trying to imitate God; it is stealing from God the privilege of the spark.
Roland Barthes
Is there anything Roland Barthes hasn't commented on? In this instance, Barthes makes a very prescient observation regarding the competitive environment of athletics as it would unfold in the decades that followed. Barthes is quoted (above) in 1964, speaking about performance enhancement in relation to athletes. One of the reasons elite athletes are culturally revered is their 'super-human' or Demigod-like abilities; they can do things physically that the average person cannot and for this, we praise them. They elevate the games we played as children to such great heights they become an art form, rather than mere child's play. Most of us don't care whether our bodybuilding next door neighbour is juiced, or whether Sly Stallone injected his butt with steroids while training for Rock IV, but our sports heroes? God forbid!
Now, let me preface this by saying I am very much not a fan of Alex Rodriguez. Though he finally won a championship last year with the New York Yankees, for me, he is an incredible player who put his own personal/statistical accomplishments ahead of his team's success. I believe he would have been a great player without his use of PEDs, but he abused his privilege as a professional baseball player and for that, his statistics should be documented with an asterisk. Would George Herman Ruth be the historical figure he is today, had he abused PEDs in the 1930s? Imagine that, The Babe, a mere mortal.
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