Tearing Down, or Equipping?

Story written by EPelle

More discussion about Victor Conte, Marion Jones and BALCO

I have been accused by the moderator of an American-based message board of hijacking threads to spread doom and gloom to anybody -- and every person -- who wanders there to read about events which make up the sport. I've been told that I am a zealot who wishes to discuss drugs 24/7, and shouldn't expect anyone to tread murky waters with me.

Perhaps I should have started off my very first drugs-related post by asking for permission to discuss a major development in the sport. It would have read as follows:

"Excuse me, I have some news about performance-enhancing drugs. May I borrow your internet site because I need to make a point that there are lies, cover-ups and misleading statements made by some athletes and coaches - information which, if left closed and dust-covered, will do more harm than good to your readers?"

Insofar as I have public-use information about athletes and coaches who, themselves, have bankrupted fans of their ability to fully celebrate the harmony between pure hard work, willpower, determination and the resulting excellence which ensues from that accord, I have not left it up to fate to bind together the past with the future.

These athletes owe back to the sport and its fans more than they have been willing to pay, and discussions about their misdeeds - many of which have gone unpunished - keep bringing a heavy hand down people's necks in some circles on the internet - hands which clutch and grip as hard as they think they are able to flex.

I've always been transparent on my stance against cheats.

If posters are made aware of these misdeeds, and act upon them, they can be better equipped and enjoy the sport. If that mechanism of communication is silenced - if those open channels of influence are broken - fans will lose more than they will gain.

There are a few rotten apples in the athletics basket. I believe it is better to tell folks how to avoid believing certain apples are good to eat so that they won't bite into them and taste a deep, sour and utterly bitter fruit instead of chucking them out and looking through the bunch for better ones.

The moderator stated that he welcomes discussion on negative developments, stating that he "wouldnt' have it any other way."

However, he holds a belief that when there is nothing happening on that front his message board is pounded with non-stop drug talk, which, according to him, does "nothing to clean up the sport and only serves to further depress fans who are already becoming marginalized. We need things to build the sport, not tear it down."

I've used the word BALCO in 107 posts of which the great majority involved drugs topics - many of which arose from Michael Johnson stating it would be better if Jones quietly went away following her positve-negative fiasco in August.

Moreover, I have posted information on Jones a total of 187 times out of the 11.643 posts I have made on that message board. These 294 posts represent a grand total of 0,26% of my total contribution to that internet site. I've used the word "doping" in 145 posts between those two aforementioned topics. I've spent a majority of my time enjoying the sport with others, and a very miniscual fraction of my time discussing what is going on behind closed doors.

I'm not picking on the moderator here on this platform - please make no mistake about that. I am, rather, posing a question to you whether or not you feel there is a mystery in the air people are withholding about the state of doping affairs as they relate to athletics, and why people seem reluctant to shed light on it.

Some folks hold tight grips around the neck of doping discussion, and that turns people who would like to inform and involve others in this important dialogue blue. I am not sure there are people who believes folks who don't want to tackle the issues are doing so just because they are nice guys trying to keep fans focussed on the positives in the sport.

This little big word BALCO doesn:t seem to ever die out or go away. There are steps being taken on this front every single week, and news items which are first-cousins with athletics. Those closely following the developments realise that there is a small army marching toward certain individuals for their involvement with that company.

I'm merely a messenger who sees the footprints, hears the heavy wheels turning, and had never had his head down in the sand. I feel my work is not to be a zealot - or provoker, rather to keep folks involved in all aspects of the sport, no matter how painful those secret events may hurt when they are brought to light.

I don't wallow in the muck on this blog site. There are so many positives being discussed about the wheels which turn this sport forward into a greatly anticipated future full of promise, hope and excellent human potential. I will, when necessary, discuss the past as it is intricately intertwined with the present, and will continue into the future if one is not motivated to derail the train which is deception.