Drugs, Pettite, and The difference between baseball and track and field fans
Andy Pettite a role model?
You wouldn’t think since he is an admitted drug cheat, but according to my local paper that is exactly what he is. Sure he came clean and is a “good guy” according to just about everyone, but the fact is he only came clean after he had to. He lied and lied and lied about his drug use and only when his hand got caught in the cookie drawer when the Mitchell report came out did he tell the truth.
But wait. He did NOT tell the truth then. He said he only took HGH two times (and made a big deal about how only 2 days of his life shouldn’t define his career), but later, under oath, he said he took HGH another time. So, let’s get this straight, it takes him getting caught or threat of perjury not once, but twice to get him to (maybe?) tell the truth.
Sounds like a real role model to me…
Yet almost everybody in the baseball community is crowning him as some sort of saint for coming clean.
Let’s compare this to the sport of track and field. Most athletes make up some excuse after getting busted for track and most track fans pretty much condemn them to hell for testing positive. Every once in a while, a drug cheat comes clean after they get caught, just like Mr. Pettite did. What happens to these track athletes? Well, for the most part they are still condemmed to hell. Take the example of Cathal Lombard. He came clean after testing positive. Is he welcomed back as a role model or saint or even just welcomed back? No. There have been articles in the Irish papers about how he shouldn’t be allowed to compete. There are threads on the message boards demonizing him.
This is not a commentary on whether that is right or wrong. Personally, I hate all drug cheats and think if they cheated once, there scum. Why? Because in a way there cheating directly affects my running. It makes me look slower, it makes it harder to qualify for events, and it makes it frustrating to try and succeed in this sport.
The question is, what does this say about the fans of track and field and the fans of baseball? Do track fans have more hatred for cheats, more negativity, or are we less forgiving? I don’t have the answer, but I think how we accept or do not accept cheats back into our sports says some interesting things about fans of the two sports and how they are viewed.
Perhaps no one but minor sport fans really care about having a clean sport with an even playing field?
Log:
2/13/2008
morning-5 easy
hurt my groin
2/14/2008
groin hurt
2/15/2008
4
treadmill
easy, 6:40ish pace
2/16/2008
8mi
1mi easy, 7mi solid pace (5:25avg. split 7:49 for 1.5mi towards end)
2/17/2008
10mi at a decent pace
2/18/2008
AM-5mi easy
PM-9mi of
2mi w/up, 3×800, 5x10sec hill sprints, 3×800, 5x hill sprints (2:25,2:22, 2:19… 2:20, 2:17, 2:15) last one on each set into wind. 1.5mi c/d, Strength Endurance session. Hit splits I wanted, a little fast on 2nd set. Done in flats on bayou.
2/19/2008
AM-9 easy
PM-5mi of
4.5mi steady (5:50s) + 10x100m (2E,1G)
2/20/2008
AM-5mi easy
PM-8.5mi of
2mi w/up, 4x(1200, 300) 2 min rest and 5min rest(500m of it jogging), first 3 sets outside in pouring rain w/ flats, windy, last set indoors (3:30,43.4…3:30,43.6…3:30, 43.5…3:22..41.3), 2mi c/d
Felt flat outside because I had no traction in my flats since the track was covered in puddles. Felt a lot quicker and easier once I put the spikes on and ran indoors. Good session. Needed the toughness from running in the storm.
