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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels July 23, 2004 Accusations taking all our heroes away The hunt for cheaters is ruining sports, especially as the basic tenet of innocence until proven guilty is completely discarded. Baseball's greatest stars are looked at askance while a dark shadow of doubt covers every star in track and field. It's bad enough that Barry Bonds' improbable run at Hank Aaron's all-time home run record is clouded with BALCO investigation slurs. Now, Lance Armstrong, perhaps the single greatest example of individual greatness in American sports, is fraught with rumor and unfounded accusations. Thanks to all the unfounded accusations, there are no heroes anymore. We have no way to know if these great stars are cheating with the use of performance enhancing drugs. But when the finger is always, always, pointed after significant athletic achievements, the very nature of success is so muted that the sports themselves are hardly worth caring about. If it can be proven that Barry Bonds is using steroids, then his records should be stripped. Until that time, we have a fundamental obligation to view his incredible heroics on the field with admiration and applause. Because when it comes to unfair accusations, the ramifications are far more serious than a home run record or the outcome of a bicycle race. When the credibility of anyone can be so unfairly attacked without a shred of proof, we lose the basic human rights that we as a country have always guaranteed. Perhaps there is no greater right than the right to presumed innocence. Perhaps there is no more important law than slander and libel laws that put the burden of proof where it should be: to prove guilt. It's bad enough in a world of Enron and Martha Stewart that we can't even have our games anymore. We are a National Enquirer world, where gossip is more important than fact, and tearing down the accomplishments of others comes with a hearty laugh and cynical sneer. Sure there are cheaters out there in sports, just as there are cheaters in all segments of the world. But until they are proven guilty, leave us our games, even if only a myth of purity remains. Who wants to live in a world without heroes anyway? DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams