Last Updated on: 21st February 2014, 08:37 am
Well, so much for that Anderson Silva Chael Sonnen rematch Iwanted.I was supposed to be getting it on January 1st, at least that’s the way it looked until yesterday when word officially came down thatSonnen’s testosterone-to-estrogen ratio was too high, which usually means steroid use, which means that he’s been suspended for a year by the California State Athletic Commission, which means that no other commissioned state will let him fight either, which means no rematch for a while.
It also, most importantly to me, means another great thing ruined by somebody who doesn’t have enough faith in his own abilities to compete honestly. Spare me all of the the only reason athletes use these drugs is because everybody else is doing it so they get sucked into the system in order to stay competitive garbage, because that’s exactly what that is. There may be some truth to it, but it’s only that way because coaches, leagues, fellow athletes, a segment of the sports fanbase and people’s insecurities allow it to be. And if you think I’m wrong when I lump leagues and fans in there, do you honestly think that if governments hadn’t gotten involved that there would be testing? And I don’t mean we have a program that we aren’t willing to comment on or open up to public scrutiny type testing like TNA Wrestling has, I mean serious testing. The answer is of course not, because sporting organizations think, and they aren’t entirely wrong, that there’s no money in something that doesn’t feature ridiculous accomplishments.
Maybe I’m over simplifying things here, but as a sports fan I’ve always been of the opinion that if you’re not good enough at what you’re doing to be able to do it PED free, then you need to find a new job/hobby. I wish more people thought like me for real, because these drugs are ruining everything. They’re ruining people’s reputations, their health and whatever passes for integrity in sports, and I’ve about had enough of it. I’ve also about had enough of fans shitting all over a guy when his test results come out while simultaneously shitting all over clean people who can’t live up to expectations set by that very same drug user. Seriously, that’s just ridiculous, and it’s a big part of why things won’t start to change until we as fans get a new attitude.
When I first heard the Sonnen failure rumour on Sunday, I gave some fairly serious thought to giving up on MMA forever much like I’ve all but stopped following boxing for a number of reasons (drugs are far from the only problem there). I realize that athletes are only humans, but I’m sick of these humans disappointing me. Humans or not and like it or not, they’re held to a higher standard than the rest of us. I’m parting with my money and time to watch what is being represented to me as a fair contest, and that’s not what I’m getting. If a restaurant repeatedly serves me terrible food I’m going to stop going there, and eventually I fear that sports are going to become the same way for me. I didn’t give up on MMA much like I haven’t given up on wrestling for some reason even though it’s arguably worse than any athletic type event with the possible exception of bodybuilding, but my reaction to this Sonnen thing makes me feel like that day is coming. I hope it doesn’t, but each sports test failure makes me a little bit angrier and a little less willing to let it go and say it’s just another stupid athlete. It’s the old fool me once thing. Eventually I’m the stupid one for wasting my time and getting suckered into believing people who say they want to clean things up. I don’t like feeling stupid. It isn’t fun. It isn’t fun in much the same way that supporting people who make a bigger game out of beating the system to get half a second faster at something than they make of the actual game isn’t fun anymore.
When Sonnen Silva II eventually goes down I’ll most likely be watching, but it’ll now be more because that’s what I do than because I’m truly looking forward to it. Thanks for ruining something nice, Chael.
