Playing with Fire Podcast

Joe Fox was one of the greatest men I ever knew. As a freshman on the cross-country team and later as a high jumper, Mr. Fox began the process of coaching a boy into a man. He was tough and reminded me of an old sea captain with his pipe firmly clenched between in his teeth while barking out his coaching pearls of wisdom. One day, exasperated by something that I probably should not have been doing he said, “Thierfelder, go home and tell your mother not to through out the baby with the bath water.” I stood perplexed not knowing what he was talking about so I just smiled and quickly moved on. Unfortunately, he often repeated this to me until I finally understood. He saw something good in me but he also knew there was a lot of “dirty” bath water that needed to be thrown out.

The Tour de France should follow Mr. Fox’s advice. It is one of the greatest sporting events in the world but has a serious problem that threatens its future. Cyclist looking for every edge cross the line by using various illicit means to gain an advantage. The race is awesome as it contains team and individual competitions, extreme challenges to body, mind and spirit, and the beauty and majesty of the route itself. Watching individuals compete under these circumstances is mesmerizing and inspiring. The problem with drug doping is that it destroys the incredible achievement of completing the tour and removes from our view models of heroic virtue. The distrust generated by so many examples of drug use takes away the enjoyment of watching one rider rise above another. We are not sure if it was virtue or chemistry that made the impossible possible. Once riveted on the three-week human drama of man versus man, self and the environment, we now can only see the I.V. and syringe.

The Tour is not unique in this regard; every sport is facing the same kind of problems. When love of self in the form of money, power and fame become the primary reasons and motivations for competing then sport will continue its downward spiral and be a means for developing vice. Individuals and society must value the human person above material things. The primary goal of athletes, coaches, parents, and businesses should be to provide a glimpse of God through the good, the true and the beautiful that can be found in sport.

Until then, the practical solution is weekly, mandatory, drug testing for every rider who wishes to compete in the Tour. A rider who misses one week is out. This is an expensive, invasive and unfortunate solution but it would restore our faith in each rider and bring back all that is good in the Tour de France.