Just two days ago the Super Bowl, once again, proved to be the most exciting single-day sports event in the world. TV ratings set another record, the game was competitive and the NFL once again proved to be the reigning professional sports league, not only in the US but worldwide. Everything from sports to entertainment was close to perfection an even the small "scandal" involving M.I.A.'s middle-finder almost feels to good to be a mistake.
A professional league that can only dream of a product similar to NFL football is the NBA. Recently several writers and former player Charles Barkley heavily criticized the quality of the current level of play in the NBA. As if that was not enough, it seems that the number of (severe) injuries rose significantly in comparison with other NBA seasons. People have come out quickly and blamed the lockout and the tight schedule for this. But this conclusion seems too quick and too easy to me. One must not forget that the NFL also lost most of the offseason and while some argued that basics of the game like tackling was worse than usual the NFL once again delivered a nearly perfect season. So maybe it is a more serious problem than just the lockout and the short season...
But now it get's really ugly: What has clearly overshadowed the Super Bowl was the announcement of the doping penalty for Spain's professional cycler Alberto Contador. He was suspended for 2 years dating back to his alleged doping abuse in 2010. This results in the loss of all of his wins in that time, including the 2010 Tour de France win and the 2011 Giro d'Italia. Yet another big time fraud in professional cycling, a sport very close to losing the last bit of credibility it still had. Now that Contador lost his 2010 Tour de France title, Any Schleck is awarded the title. Well, that might not be too much of an improvement, as the name Schleck (Frank, his brother and loyal teammate) was also in the media in connection with the Fuentes doping scandal. I would argue that the performances of Andy and Frank Schleck should at least make one suspicious. If others (the cases prove that) consistently used doping to improve their performances, how can the Schlecks compete on the same (if not better) level (and the level is very high, check here)? Anyway, as long as they do not test positive we have to assume they are clean. However, if you look at the following quote by Andy Schleck you can draw your own conclusion:
Feb, 2011 - La Stampa (Italy, translated): "Cycling is one of the cleanest sport in the world."
Well, obviously not...
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