Graham Blog: You Cannot Erase or Change the Record Books in Sports....Unfortunately
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Mon, 10/22/2012 - 12:49pm
Event Date:
October 22, 2012 (All day) I agree with the message different authorities are trying to send with sports, but some are doing it in the wrong way. You cannot erase accomplishments no matter how they were obtained. You cannot erase what actually happened. I do not agree with erasing the books, in any sport, at any level.
Cheating in sports has skyrocketed in the last two decades drastically. What is in the center of all of it? Money. Some may say fame, but I think it is more with money. Starting from amateur all the way to professional. The amateurs feel they must cheat in order to make it to the big show. The professionals feel that the talent they already have can be bigger, better, and can lead them to the big “cha-ching” contract they so desire.
In the last day or so, the cycling world already knew that Lance Armstrong was most likely going to be stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles. He was looked at as an ‘All-American Hero’ by many around the world. To me, there is nothing anyone can do to actually take away his titles. In actuality he won them, and there is nothing anyone can do to change that. Yes, they can take you out of the books and say that you did not win, but they cannot change reality. You cannot change the highlight reels, he will always be the one crossing the line with that yellow jersey on.
Not all of the cheating has dealt with drugs. The NCAA has taken away championships, wins, and awards from the likes of USC, Penn State, Michigan, just to name a few. Again, I do not agree with ‘taking away’ things that actually happened.
With the most recent case in Penn State, I agreed with some of the punishment but not all of it. In this case it wasn’t cheating, but just a serious violation by so many in the entire University. One of the things I did not agree with is the vacating of wins that the NCAA put forth on the Penn State Football program. Again, you cannot take away actuality. You cannot change the fact that those teams and players won those games and that they won that championship. The NCAA has a problem with penalizing innocent people and this case shows it.
With the USC case, USC football was forced to vacate the final two wins in 2004 and all of their wins in 2005. Reggie Bush voluntarily gave up his Heisman Trophy because of violations that happened off the field with him accepting gifts, a very low form of ‘cheating’ in my book. His physical performance was not enhanced in any way, but the NCAA decided to take away that honor. I do not agree with that. He did not cheat in any way with his physical performance on the field which is what that award is solely based on. It is just another case where the powers-to-be feebly try to change actuality. Did vacating the award do any good for anyone? No. Did erasing Reggie Bush’s name change what he did for USC? Not even close. The NCAA failed on this punishment.
For Michigan, the NCAA and the University itself punished the basketball program for violations that the famous ‘Fab Five’, among others, committed off the court for accepting money from a booster. They vacated wins and an NIT title that Michigan won during that time. But again, you cannot change what happened on the court no matter how much you would like to.
Does anyone actually think that Reggie Bush or any other player involved in any of these situations care? No, I don’t think so. They walked away, they have their professional contracts, money, and THAT is what they truly care about. Changing or erasing the record books does not do anyone any good.
In baseball, there are a lot of people that would love to see the names of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, and more removed from the books because of the PED scandal.
Now, trust me, I would love to see them banned from the game, but even I know you cannot change what they actually did on the field drug induced or not. To me, Roger Maris still is the single-season home run king, and Hank Aaron is still the all-time home run king. But, as much as I hate to admit it, you cannot take back the numbers of 73, 70, and 762 because they actually happened.
If you must, put an asterisk by any of these numbers or awards I just mentioned above but you cannot remove them, you cannot erase what actually happened. That is why I say, if an individual is cheating by enhancing his or her physical performance, ban them right then and there from their respective sport and do not allow them to be honored any further.
Leave the books alone.
