Thursday, July 27, 2006

Fallen Heroes

I feel like I just got punched in the gut. Two well-respected faces shot down within days of each other? Ouch.

Just the other day, revered ESPN announcer Harold Reynolds was inexplicably fired from the sports network for undisclosed reasons. It didn’t take long for the rumors to start flying, and the first ones to hit the wire were those of sexual harassment allegations against Reynolds.

This was disheartening to say the least. Myself, probably along with a vast majority of US population, looked upon Reynolds as one of the good guys. He delivered his baseball insight eloquently in front of the camera, and seemed to genuinely have a good time with his coworkers, often yukking it up with fellow analysts during broadcasts.

Reynolds routinely assisted with the College World Series and Little League World Series over the years, announcing the prestigious events with flair. He even stepped onto the field to coach the Little Leaguers in an exhibition game one year. Harold Reynolds is a nice man.

Or was it just a façade for the camera? As the story slowly started coming to light, more and more “inside sources” were muttering the same Sexual Harassment story that many didn’t want to believe at first.

Then talk of the working atmosphere at ESPN seeped into the discussions, making matters worse. Apparently, ESPN’s main campus in Bristol, Connecticut is a pretty laid-back environment. Not to say they tolerate the mistreatment of female employees, but reports certainly make it sound like its hard to get fired there. Employees get more than one warning with instances of Sexual Harassment, and a pattern of abuse must be present in order to warrant dismissal.

That can only mean that Reynolds isn’t quite the nice guy he appears on TV. And Reynolds recently had a child with his wife, making the allegations that much more painful for everyone involved. Though many fans are hoping for a story of some sort of miscommunication on the whole matter, it doesn’t seem like its going to happen at this point.

That story is hard enough to swallow. And now this:

Floyd Landis doped.

Today, news stories pummeled the wire about Landis and his ride to glory in this year’s Tour de France. Unfortunately, they aren’t lauding his accomplishments, rather throwing dirt over his triumphs.

Drug tests of Landis’ blood after his legendary Stage 17 victory, which rocketed him from 11th place back into contention at 3rd, revealed “an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone.” Though rigorously denied by both Landis and his team, Phonak, he remains suspended and the Tour victory in jeopardy if he cannot prove his innocence.

Landis has requested his backup sample of blood be tested in effort to exonerate himself, but the damage may already have been done. Nine riders, including early Tour favorites Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich, were kicked out of this year’s ride for doping allegations. That list now threatens to increase by one.

This also once again sheds a disagreeable light on 7-time Tour victor Lance Armstrong, who battled constant doping allegations as well as brutal climbs throughout his historic streak. Armstrong and Landis rode together as US Postal until 2005 when Landis switched to the Swiss-based Phonak team. Whereas the Armstrong allegations, which he successfully thwarted with repeated clean tests, were thought of as simple attacks by the French government on an American rider, these latest accusations with Landis lay some credibility to it all, should he be shown guilty.

Landis excited a nation and shocked the cycling world with his incredible comeback in Stage 17. He defied the odds, overcame a seemingly insurmountable deficit, even fought through the pain and degradation of his own body, to rise to the top and claim the most coveted title in cycling.

And now it might all be a lie.

Drugs are destroying sports all around the globe. From international stars ousted from their premiere events to big baseball names linked to steroids scandals, the urge to gain an edge over the competition by any means necessary has opened countless doors to dark and depressing avenues.

It’s a sad week in the world of sports. Two heroes, forever stained with currently unverified claims of impropriety. Will they recover? Will WE recover?

The world can only hope so.

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