Lying, Sports, And The Morality Game

Everytime I go to ESPN.com, I see the headline for the report that Lance Armstrong is going to admit steroid use to Oprah.  This comes a few days after the Baseball Hall of Fame pitched a shutout by not voting in any of a deserving number of players because they were linked to performance enhancing drugs.  Combine that with the countless stories of abuse (Penn State), recruiting faux pas (USC), and player safety as a result of concussions (Junior Seau and the NFL), it seems that sports in 2013 have gone away from the pure entertainment getaways they used to be.  They've become saturated with the vagaries of the world, the very things that sports was created to distract from.  Why?

There are a few potential reasons as to why sports has stumbled down this dark path.  One has to do with the ESPN and the 24-hour news cycle.  ESPN was started in 1979 as the first all-sports, all-the-time network.  As such, they needed to fill a full day's worth of programming.  This necessitated hiring extra reporters, creating new shows to fill niches, and a complete devotion to the world of sport.  It wasn't enough to replay bowling tournaments and America's Cup races; ESPN needed to create a flagship and cross it with a refined business model in order to succeed.  It was out of necessity for survival that ESPN became what it became. After the introduction and development of SportsCenter into that flagship, the rest of the dominoes began to fall into place.  What this meant, however, was that, again, ESPN needed to fill the programming.  Not content to maintain the status quo, ESPN began working on groundbreaking stories and shows, attempting to bring the common viewer into the wide world of sports.  There was no longer a veil between the average Joe and the Michael Jordan; fans began getting an unlimited access.  This was, initially, very good.

ESPN made a lot of money.  As with any successful business model, mimicry ensued.  Sports Illustrated launched its website, creating a need for enhanced coverage.  Yahoo! Sports began operations, trying to create an alternative to the big boys.  Myriad other examples of start-ups and competition meant that ESPN would have to continue digging deeper if it wanted to further cement its position as the purported "Worldwide Leader in Sports."  Eventually, sports scores and interviews and locker room conversations about gameday superstitions weren't enough.

The evening news makes a killing on stories of murder, robberies, and general criminal activity.  For some reason, through some bizarre market research, it was discovered that these stories bring in the ratings and fill the coffers of the television executives.  People, it was learned, apparently have an insatiable desire for justice.  They want to see people do wrong and earn their comeuppance.  Gone were the stories of "pay it forward" and "helping the elderly."  In its place, people were greeted by the "Beltway Sniper" and "Ex-Presidents" and, yes, "Steroids."

There is another alarming truth to look at here.  As a result of all the horror and violence on the news, people have instinctively yearned for the days of yore, believing them to be more moral and a generally gentler era to grow up in.  In those days, people didn't kill or rape or steal with nearly as much consistency as they do now.  The sports stars were clean and a subset of individuals to be idealized and idolized.  It is here that we meet a crossroads.

ESPN needed programming to maintain its perch at the top of the sports world.  The evening news had made a business of propogating violence.  ESPN (and other sports news sites and stations - this is not just ESPN's creation) saw a chance to build up its brand even further.  They began showing the sports world not as an idyllic landscape, but as a post-apocalyptic criminal arena not unlike the real world.  When before it was feel-good stories like home-run records falling, cancer comebacks, Heisman trophy celebrations, and electric two-way quarterbacks, the stories devolved into tales of steroid needles in every butt, blood manipulation in the name of personal fame, illegal dollars, and dogfighting rings.  And it didn't end.  Big hits were once celebrated; they are now considered disgusting and morally objectionable.  Kobe in Colorado.  Lockouts.  Bountygate.  Tiger Woods.  I could go on forever baby.

ESPN saw a need and filled it.  They should certainly be lauded by giving the people what they want.  But the question remains: Why do we want this?  Sports is meant to be an escape.  We spend our days on the line, in the office, in the classroom.  We come home and enter a world of glitz and glamor and entertainment. Dingers and dunks, touchdowns and throwdowns.  Sports stars were different than us because we wanted them to be.  And now?  We feel like justice is served when it's revealed they did something to gain an edge, when it's proven they are not immune.  We have become a society that's into lose-lose situations, instead of win-win.  We've fallen into negativity and anger.  Nothing can be taken at face value anymore.  It is reported, overreported, sifted through, reimagined, and debunked until the hero has become the villain, and vice versa.

I pine for the days of innocence and ignorance.  It was bliss.