Baseball legend Roger Clemens is in the news, but this time it's not for his baseball heroics. He and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, went before a Congressional committee yesterday to testify in the latest steroids scandal. The problem with their testimony is that each man's story directly contradicted the other's, and "...as ranking Republican Tom Davis of Virginia, put it: 'Both can't be telling the truth.'" So who's right and who's wrong? And how do we know?
Meanwhile, closer to home, Indiana University's men's basketball coach, Kelvin Sampson, also came under increased scrutiny yesterday for intentionally providing "false and misleading information" to the university and to NCAA officials who have been investigating alleged recruiting violations. Coach Sampson's reputation has been called into question before, ever since similar violations occurred during his previous tenure at Oklahoma.
And yet, when the NCAA first began to investigate alleged recruiting violations last year at I.U., Coach Sampson referred to the violations as "mistakes". It now appears they were must more significant than he originally suggested. But even last night, when asked about it, he responded, "I have never intentionally engaged in providing false or misleading information." Again, who's right and who's wrong?
Whether it's sports, politics, the church, or any other venue, the idea of truthfulness and integrity seems to have faded with time. Attempts to hide the truth and abdicate personal responsibility are becoming more common in our culture today to the point where moral relativity is the virtue of the day.
It seems our collective conscience has begun to atrophy concerning issues of truth and integrity. Why does the truth matter? Because with truth comes trust, and vice versa, even if the truth brings one into a bad light. We are much more forgiving toward those who willingly own up to their sins and take their punishments accordingly, than we are toward those who try to hide within the shadows of deceit. 
What is sad is that our government could be spending our money on something else besides who took steroids. I know it is wrong for what baseball players did but the MLB tests now. Where was Bud Selig at when these players were knocking out home runs. I feel he knew something but was afraid to address the issue. Now, he cries foul to keep himself in the clear. The same goes with Roger Goodell. Why did he destroy the tapes?
One more thing, I'm more of a Purdue fan than an IU fan but I had the pleasure of watching the Hoosiers through some real good seasons. I feel that Sampson has brought his cheating to IU only to have the program tarnished. Bob Knight might have been a hot-head but he ran an honest program and made sure his kids graduated.
Now, the school, the players and the fans are going to suffer because of his actions.
Posted by: Greg | February 14, 2008 at 09:38 AM
Can you think of any more suitable outcome to a school that hired a cheater? Almost makes me believe in divine intervention...
Posted by: Resident Atheist | February 14, 2008 at 11:43 PM
God does work in mysterious ways, even cheating coaches, right? A few more of these sordid affairs, and you may become a person of faith after all, R.A. :)
Posted by: John | February 22, 2008 at 10:55 PM