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Show 6 SPORTS Wednesday, September 8, 2010 UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS THURSDAY: Women's Soccer Utah @Weber State 3 p.m. Ogden F-EnS•76V1i-- ND-smv, Jake Hibbard ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Injury Update Quarterback Jordan Wynn is listed as FRIDAY: Volleyball day-to-day with a sprain in his thumb. He is expected to start Saturday. Linebacker J.J. Williams, with a foot injury, is questionable, and running back Sausan Shakerin is out for the second straight week. Utah @ Oklahoma 3 p.m. Springfield, Mo. SATURDAY: Football: Utes sweep MWC Player of the Week honors Freshman safety Brian Blechen and sophomore receiver DeVonte Chris- UNLV @ Utah 2 p.m. Salt Lake City www.dailyutahchronicle.com topher were named the Mountain West Conference offensive and defensive players of the week. Both Blechen and Christopher came up big in their first career starts for the Utes, with Christopher's 6i-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and Blechen's interception in overtime being the star plays of the game. "It felt unreal at first," Christopher said as he described his touchdown run. "Then, the only thing I could think about was I just didn't want to be caught on film getting caught from behind." Shaky still starting receiver and on special teams After fumbling twice in the first half Thursday, head coach Kyle Whittingham temporarily relieved senior Shaky Smithson from his duties. Smithson is still the starter on both kicks and punts, as well as at receiver. "He had a couple of turnovers in the game, and no one felt worse than he did," Whittingham said. "He will get his opportunities and a chance to See NOTEBOOK Page 8 SPORTS WORLD AP Top 25 Teams TEAM RECORD VOTES I. Alabama (47) /-o 1484 2. Ohio State (4) /-o 1412 3. Boise State (8) r-o 1399 4. TCU /-0 1256 5. Texas (I) /-o 1192 6. Nebraska /-o 1105 7. Oregon /-o 1077 8. Florida /-o 9. Iowa /-o 1044 io65 No. Oklahoma /-o 917 II. Wisconsin i-o 881 12. Miami (Fla.) /-o 877 13. Virginia Tech o-/ 782 14. Arkansas /-o 572 Is. Georgia Tech .fro 555 16. USC /-o 520 17. Florida State /-o 504 18. Penn State /-o 418 19. LSU /-0 384 20. Utah r-o 365 21. Auburn /-o 362 22. Georgia .r-o 353 LENNIE MAHLER/The Daily Utah Chronicle DeVonte Christopher loses Pitt defender Antwuan Reed for a 72-yard touchdown in the second half. The Utes defeated the Pitt 27-24 in overtime in the season opener Thursday. 23. West Virginia /-o 226 24. South Carolina /-o 164 25. Stanford /-o 96 1- THE GREAT DEBATE -1 How does drug use affect players' legacies? Fans should love the game, not players Public opinion based on individuals ome sports fans seem to forget a basic fundamental about being a fan—you have to be more passionate about your favorite sport and team than the players who step out onto the field or court. It's the deeply rooted "love of the game" that drives grown men to paint their faces and go topless in sub-zero weather. Fans tend to believe that loyalty to the team and an appreciation for the history of the game still exists among the athletes they praise. They tell themselves that sports are still pure, even though the medicine cabinets of their beloved athletes are packed with syringes, pills and creams all designed to boost performance. I have yet to meet a fan, or any person for that matter, who doesn't love the Lance Armstrong story. Each year, he pedaled to victory, he beat his former French team that turned its back on him while he literally was staring death in the face. It's a great story, right? I have no doubt that it will eventually become a blockbuster movie one day. However, let's examine the facts and reality of what Armstrong has accomplished. First and foremost, cycling is the "dirtiest" sport in the world. I am not aware of any other sport—outside of maybe the Olympic Games—for which drug testers are in full force every day of competition. With that in mind, consider who Armstrong beat out on each one of his victories. Every legitimate contender who was a threat to Armstrong's incredible streak of Tour victories failed at least one drug test. In other words, we are telling ourselves that every cyclist but Armstrong was cheating. Do you actually believe that every elite rider in those races was on a performance enhancing drug, but the guy who was winning year after year was not? Armstrong wasn't doing it au naturel, I S StaffWriter and the evidence that he was on PEDs is mounting at an alarming pace. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against him. Believe the facts a—it's a heartwarming, fairy-tale story—Armstrong cheated. It will be years before a trial or decision is finalized to determine the fate of his records and titles, but that day will eventually come. Just don't be shocked when it's proven he was doping. Baseball was the first sport to truly expose the rampant use of PEDs and it always seems to be the one sport that can never escape the link to drugs. No sports records are more hallowed and respected than baseball's, which is why the public and Congress are so quick to add another player's name to the long list of cheaters who were part of the infamous "Baseball's Steroid Era." Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Raphael Palmeiro and others have had their legacies marred with a permanent black eye after they refused to accept the indisputable evidence that they were using PEDs. Although a few smart players such as Andy Pettite and Mark McGwire have stepped forward, admitted their mistakes and moved on t's easy to blame our hatred of certain athletes on their history of steroid use. But how much have we ever cared about steroid use compared to how much we really just hate and want to discredit certain people or things? The Aug. 19 indictment of Roger Clemens regarding statements he made before Congress about steroids is the latest saga in the Major League Baseball's supposed "performance-enhancing drug era" of the '8os and '9os. Just two weeks prior, on Aug. 4, Alex Rodriguez hit his booth home run. ESPN's story about the homer was written as one of celebration after the great pains A-Rod went through as he waited at 46 at-bats between number 599 and V S. See BAILEY Page 10 600. But the fact that he admitted in 2009 to juicing was buried, and even when it was brought up, it was done sympathetically. Compare this to the story ESPN ran Aug. 8, 2007 when Barry Bonds passed Hank Aaron for the all-time home-run crown. It only took three sentences for the writer to bring up steroid use: "Like him or not, legitimate or not, he is baseball's new home run king." And let's not forget that baseball, not the NFL—where common sense would suggest it is most rampant—is the sport marred with steroid use. Why has there been such inconsistency with the way we've attacked those who use steroids and what can it tell us about how our perception will be shaped about athletes that use them? Anyone surprised by the fact that Clemens, second all-time in strikeouts, could go to jail over this should be reminded that this is the same guy who started his career in Boston and ended it in New York—but not before being the original Brett Favre of drawn-out retirements. Last week, Corbin Godfrey won the Great Debate, 6-2. Vote on who won this week D Asst. Sports Editor The fact is, the public and the media have hated Clemens for a long time and he's still dealing with it. As far as Bonds goes, he was universally hated long before steroids. In fact, he was hated so much that when he went for 73 home runs in 2003, it was decided that ignoring steroids in baseball couldn't go on any longer. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were fun, but Bonds was a jerk, just like Clemens. That was the difference. Although it was expected for another MLB superstar to be exposed for steroid usage every six months or so, the famous Mitchell Report named ioo NFL players without much of a peep. But America loves football, and steroids fuel those guys to withstand the punishment of a car wreck every Sunday, so it isn't talked about. Now back to Rodriguez. When he hit number 600, he became the youngest player ever to do so. He's likely the next home run king, which makes the whole steroid admission inconvenient considering that in the past decade, the top 5 list of home-run hitters has been infiltrated by five guys who have tested positive for, admitted prior usage or— in Bonds' case—been all but convicted in the See HIBBARD Page 10 www.dailyutahchronicle.com |
