Doping athletes aren’t heroes

Sam Chinkes, Las Vegas

Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013 | 2:02 a.m.

In the hope that there are many, many folks out there who feel as I do, I gladly take the time and patience to write this: The huge disgrace that we read and hear about much too often is the use of drugs by sports figures.

Those “heroes” that so many people look up to are the opposite of heroes.

They are frightened individuals, immature, afraid to perform as best they can (with their own bodies) as opposed to a drugged body.

They are afraid that someone on their own team may actually be a better performer than they are. How sad! Someone who is better at performing than you. Imagine!

No one should join a team, either professional, college, high school or even a neighborhood team, who is not a sport in every sense of the word. One can learn to be a good sport if one is smart enough and courageous enough to settle for the best that they can do.

A team spirit is necessary in order to function efficiently during a competition.

It’s also the best way to win a game.

Being a good sport can be of tremendous help in becoming a successful person in the business world, too.

In the old days, the winning team would gather in a circle and yell out “Three cheers” for the losing team.

I thought it advisable to look up the definition of “sportsman” in “Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary”: “A person who is fair, generous, a good loser and a graceful winner.”