Tuesday, October 1, 2019
A win for investigative journalism; a loss for our sport
The four-year ban of Nike Oregon Project coach and running
legend Alberto Salazar, announced yesterday, amounted to two things: 1. A shock
and a black mark on our sport and 2. A long time in coming. Please refer to my blog post of four years ago, when stellar science/sports journalist David Epstein
first broke this story for ProPublica. Epstein has written some outstanding
books and just flat-out knows how to write and report. As a longtime journalist
and journalism instructor, I’m a huge fan. So, this is a win for him and for
all those who meticulously reported this story, as well as for well-known drug
cop Travis Tygart, who was integral in toppling Salazar. The term “whistleblower”
is in the news a lot lately, and it took several whistleblowers to take down an
icon like Salazar. But ultimately, this is a sad day for USA track and field.
Salazar has been a legendary figure in our sport – as a champion runner and now
a coach -- for more than 40 years. If this is how it ends for him, again, it’s
just sad. As I wrote four years ago, humility was never high in Salazar’s
playbook. When that is the case, oftentimes its opposite – arrogance – takes
center stage. And oftentimes arrogance gets taken down. Good for journalism,
bad for our sport.
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1 comment:
Coach, I understand how it might be looked at as a loss to the sport but ultimately it is a win for the men and women who race the right way. Seeing a legendary figure disgraced is a sad moment but it makes us appreciate the true legends even more. As a guy who answers Aaron and Maris to the question, what players hold the home run records, I see this as all the more reason to praise the athletes and coaches who compete with integrity.
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