Athough being a musician throughout my childhood limited my athletic involvement, I have always been a sports enthusiast and a fan. Before we got rid of cable I used to love watching ESPN for my daily dose of the sports world. The abilities and physiques of the premier athletes simply astounds me and I am always quite rapt in my fandom. I even, against my passenger's wishes, listen to sports talk radio to get my fix.
Over the course of the past couple of weeks, and really the past couple of years, one of the main storylines that has overrun the sports world has been the situation with Lance Armstrong. Lance is a survivor of cancer, the founder of a huge cancer-fund non-profit, and , coincidentally, the winningest American racer in bicycle history. His narrative is inspirational and mythic, that was, until the truth of his drug usage came to the forefront.
Recently, he has been stripped of his seven Tour de Frace titles and been banned for life from the professional cycling world for his use of PEDs, particularly blood-doping. But what has been the proverbial nail-in-coffin for Armstrong has been his long-held vociferious defense that he did not and has never used these substances. However, as the torrent has enscossed America in his situation, Armstrong did an interview with Oprah in which he finally laid aside the facade and admitted to cheating by drug usage as well as covering it up.
While Armstrong's case is unique because of his rank and status as a celebrity, it is not all that uncommon in the world of sports. Would-be hall of fame Baseball players who've taken steroids and doping Olympians are but the tip of the iceberg. However, if we cut through the particulars of the various scenarios, a deeper truth is revealed.
Humans, and Americans in particular, herald greatness. We think of it as our American right and the very essence of what is great about America. Be it athletic prowess, musical mastery, politcal power, or even intellectual stature, we are devoted to idols of the court, the stage, the process, and the book. But we rarely take a look at the value of moral fortitude. That is, until the celebrity that we've deified does something immoral. Essentially, the moral integrity of the individual is struck up at the lack of moral fiber in the heralded celebrity.
I find this to be an interesting phenomenon for a number of reasons. First, it is striking that morality is only ever under consideration when evil morals are under examination. Consider the recent mass shootings, significant evidences for the presence of evil in the world, but it is only in hindsight and aftermath that the morality of life is ever considered. This seems, at least to me, to be a lopsided dilemma, like only checking your tires after they've fallen off the axel.
Additionally, and stemming from the previous point, it is an odd thing to exalt a person for their faculties in one area but to judge them in another. In the case of athletics, America would like to exalt the athlete for their athletic ability only to strike them for their moral failings. This is like paying someone $10 for an hour's work only to charge them $100 for parking.
The issue at hand, then, is not of the corruption and corruptability of the celebrity it is, rather, a statement about value. When push comes to shove, morality matters. Good and evil are real concerns for humanity. The exposures of the crimes of Nixon, of the betting of Pete Rose, or of the cheating of Lance Armstrong point not to the immorality of these men, although it does to be sure, it points to mankind's earnest inner yearnings for morality and truth. A yearning that can only be satiated by God, the moral law Giver.
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