Doping Dopes

I like watching the Olympic games. I like seeing athletes perform their best. I like seeing the amazing efforts. I like watching pure sport.

So whenever I hear about athletes doping themselves to get an advantage, I'm just disgusted. They do more than just taint themselves. They taint the whole sport. They taint the joy of watching the competition. They taint the innocent athletes who are truly doing their best without unfair help. They taint everything.

Instead of being something to admire and aspire to, they become the degraded dregs of greed. The whole joy of watching sports is taken away because you start to wonder as you look at other athletes... could they be doping, too? Just a handful of cheaters can destroy the credibility of pretty much all athletes. That's not fair to the ones who don't cheat.

As far as I'm concerned, an athlete who dopes to gain an advantage is no longer an athlete. They are just a wannabe. They might have been the best in the world before they cheated, but once they cheat, they aren't anything anymore. You might as well strike their names from the rolls of champions. They don't deserve to be remembered, unless it's a hall of shame.