First and foremost, in case no one caught it, the title of my previous post is a Delaney-ism that the bandits have come to know and love.
Anyway, on to how I was being a tad hasty. I didn't mean to insinuate that Martin Tauber is a horrible person just because he probably doped. We all know people who have made questionable decisions and still are good people. Hell, I've made some pretty shady calls and faced the subsequent consequences, and I still think I'm a decent person. Martin, like a lot of endurance athletes, got caught up in a regrettable cycle and made a bad call. That's it. Still can be a good dude.
The problem I was addressing is the idea that just because someone has the reputation of being a good person or just because you've known someone for a while, they couldn't possibly be guilty of whatever it is they're facing. It's all too common a defense, cited by parents, friends, (in this case) coaches, whomever. Problem is, it overlooks the root of the issue. In Martin's case, claiming that a resident of Seefeld couldn't be a doper by nature of his birthplace overlooks what it was that may have pushed him in to doping (or even merely tempted him to consider it).
To bring it closer to home, it's the same as a parent saying "No, my kid couldn't have been drinking alcohol because I know him and he wouldn't do something like that." You gotta look at the reasons why the kid may have messed up in order to fix the situation - denial gets you nowhere.
So there you go - my two cents on the issue. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone, as I fear the preceding post may have.
I still hate Roger Clemens,
-- O
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hasty or not, it's a valid opinion. However, the story about Martin was just that, a story about randomly meeting someone blatantly accused with doping on the ski tracks. Put into your perspective. Imagine meeting Mühlegg on the tracks at Weston, with an older dude who coached him when he first hopped on skis.
Martin was a really nice guy, so was Franz. I think that Martin cheated in Torino. But the story was more about meeting them both in their town, seeing the house he grew up in and just noticing that despite being tarnished internationally, people around Seefeld still remember and respect what he did as an athlete.
You can surely jump to the conclusion that he doped, I mean their house was full of syringes and stuff, but it's just a weird feeling meeting someone like that on their home turf. It sure makes the reality of a lifetime ban sink in, seeing him just putting around the tracks helping out with a photoshoot.
A lifetime ban must suck.
Out to ski. Good luck w. classes!
D
Post a Comment