This century, we have seen sport survive scandal after scandal and continue to thrive. I don’t know any other industry where this might happen. Here’s a recap, then, of sports that I follow and some of the major scandals that’ve plagued them recently (in alphabetical order):
Athletics: Drugs and steroids, with Marion Jones the latest casualty in a long line of athletes.
Baseball: Drugs and steroids again. We all know about Bonds, McGwire, Giambi, Canseco and Palmeiro, but with the Mitchell Report now implicating 80 players in all, including Roger Clemens, the sport is sure to hit a new low.
Chess: Even though drug testing is being talked about in chess, I doubt the existence of any chess-performance enhancing drugs. Chess has been plagued by numerous cases of electronic cheating. And who can forget the infamous Toiletgate? And lets not forget the President of FIDE either.
Cricket: Cricket is still affected by the matchfixing scandal, with the establishment constantly having to monitor any suspicious activity.
Football (the American kind): By instituting a stricter policy on drugs and catching players before they create records, football has avoided the same issues that baseball’s going through. Michael Vick has been an embarassment of late, though.
Tennis: Even though men’s tennis is going through a golden period during Federer’s unbelievable run and his rivalry with Nadal, matchfixing and drugs (and several men – too many to name) are having their say as well.
Notable mention: Golf has had no real scandals yet, but with drug testing imminent and quite a few players expressing suspicions that drug users are present, we may not be too far off.
Rags to Rooks 