Meanwhile, Barry Bonds takes Babe Ruth’s record while pumped full of steroids. Meanwhile, the Olympics are constantly under threat of doping scandals and nearly all professional sports (in which stamina or power is a factor) are suspect. Meanwhile, the continuing drama centers not on cleaning things up, but finding drug enhancements that are untraceable. Which means, as soon as a way to trace the untraceable catches up with dopers, a whole new starring cast bites the dust.

Not given much coverage is the dilemma of the clean athlete. What does one do in the sport of choice without enhancement? Settle for a lifetime of second-best? How often can one peddle one’s heart out, hit the cross-court backhand or throw fastballs against the dopers before giving in or getting out?

More to the point, can the public be expected to get excited about the Tour de France when, from Armstrong’s first win to Landis’ controversy, the race is run in rain or shine, but always under the cloud of substance abuse.

Maybe an answer is to usher in an anything-goes era to professional, as well as (supposedly) amateur sports and may the best prescribed athlete win. The first ever Olympic games were held almost 800 years before Christ and the first winner (according to my scorecard) was Karoibas, a guy who beat out all the current favorites in the Stadion Race.

And how do are we supposed to know what he was on?