Cheating: A sporting culture

If only Armstrong would have failed in his arduous struggle with cancer, he would’ve perhaps died adorning our sporting history as yet another controversial but celebrated hero. Legions of fans would have stood testimony to his victorious conquests and volumes would have been penned to pay homage to his sporting genius. In hindsight, his greatest punishment in death would have been his perfect boon.

But today, ironically, it seems like his miraculous return to life, fighting death itself is his biggest curse when he stands ashamed as a guilty criminal.

Sport is indeed the most populace modern theatre; a stage where the life of its precious artist is magnified and transient roles become inspirational figures.

Legends in sport as they say are a myth that once played in the lane of impossible and breathed miracles. They come rarely in an era of the blessed and provide the script of folklore, leaving behind a mythical legacy of surreal divinity. As much as we’d wish to rebel those grand claims from such privileged eras not our own, denied or obliged, such history can’t be erased!

Although thankfully, our era seems to have been that blessed era save the inimitable Don who was more than compensated with an ageless charming Sachin Tendulkar. Micheal Phelps is a water-mark, synonymous with a shark in the pool. Bolt is an instant metaphor to human speed. Michael Schumacher is the superlative adjective to racing. Roger Federer stands apart as an ageless symphony of elegance in the realms of tennis. Jordan is the human image of an eagle rising to the sky. Martina Navratilova is the enduring figure of an ageless champion in women’s tennis.

In short, there is a rare flower in every garden of sport that leaves behind a lingering scent of adoration for eternity.

But are all these monumental tales of invincibility as magnificent by the virtue of their achievements or the achievement of virtue?

Not too long ago, in the same bracket as the aforementioned sporting heroes, there were some more whose deeds screamed for attention.

Tiger Woods was perhaps a once in a lifetime spectacle of accuracy to grab a golf club. Marion Jones was the face of American pride in athletics. A charming teenage sensation, Martina Hingis was among the potential queens of modern tennis. All promising conquerors in sight of the throne, until the lack of virtue undid their crown. Indeed, champions (well not quite in hindsight) amongst us who had it all, and yet deserved none.

And this brings us to the question of society’s stance with sport. ‘Are all these shameful cheats in news, because they cheated resorting to immoral means or rather cause we followers felt cheated?

In this context, I was more appreciative of the heart beneath the mind of a writer in labeling Armstrong as no Robin Hood!’

For, as much as Lance is an outlaw treated with disdain, he is a mirror to our subdued grey persona that needs to be acknowledged, even if it’s an inconvenient truth. Over the ages, amidst all the talk of human evolution, we have managed to retain and indulge in these errors as unshakable habits. Mistakes; often the most despised attribute of a human, are ironically today, the first aspect that reminds us of our mortality.

The root of the problem is thus essentially at the core of our psychology. The modern era is a society that is obsessed with fame and pedestal. Everyone demands a rank atop. Each seeks a mind habituated with robotic perfection, even at the expense of creativity. The market wants numbers and performance, often engaging the mortal beyond its limit, assuming its timely generosity to the purse as sufficient to calm the agitated individual.

Isn’t a child then taught to chase the crown at the expense of anything, even death and morality? It’s probably his curse to grow into a world that lives on the principle that ‘winning is all that matters!’

Such mindless traits handed for generations was destined to eventually end as an inevitable culture. The curse of cheating all life to beat competition was certain to show up at the one place it mattered most – a sporting arena where the thin line between forgotten history and historical future was a victory!

One glance around and it seems like our sports are filled with faulty routes to success. Faked falls to earn a penalty and innumerable tripping tackles or pushing to attract a yellow card or red card in football, countless styles of fouls in basketball, and the list goes on. In short, have we been licensed to cheat?

This happens to be one end obsessed with fame, while the other end of the spectrum is a contrasting dishonor in willing to sacrifice (if such a honorable word could be loosely used) anything for money. The pride of representing the country, god given talent, honor in playing, justice to their selection, and lastly even the joy of winning mean nothing ahead of an ignoble transient purse to them.

While both the choices are basal, I’d say the objective of the latter is worse!

It is time the world woke up to the need of the hour. The Armstrong episode isn’t yet another cheating scandal that is merely news for the craving media. It’s a cruel reminder that we are still living in the old phrase – ‘to err is human.’

It’s a call for a change in our approach to game and life as such. For in the final analysis, long after we have entered our twilight past retirement, while most would lose sleep over our achievements, it’s most important that ‘We’ better not lose sleep over how we got there. Probably explains why the fugitive behind this battling winner in Armstrong stands meekly in surrender today. Like as they always have said, ‘A clear conscience is the softest pillow!’