No One Remembers Second...

Amidst the USC-Reggie Bush/O.J. Mayo scandals and the sanctions announced by the NCAA today, the Memphis-Derrick Rose scandal, Marion Jones and her steroids scandal, and yes, the fossil that is the MLB steroids scandal, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about 2^nd place.

Exhibit A:         Vince Young – Although Vince clearly had the last word in Texas’ unforgettable win over the Trojans in the 2006 Rose Bowl (balancing of the universe?), Reggie Bush still cost him the recognition and personal achievement of being among the Heisman trophy winning elite.

Exhibit B:          UCLA - Although Kansas won the men’s ‘09 NCAA tourney, an NCAA investigation revealed that Derrick Rose's SAT scores retroactively rendered him ineligible to play in the tournament.  Meaning, Memphis potentially robbed UCLA of a shot at the title (not to mention UCLA’s share of the championship prize pot).

Exhibit C:        Beverly McDonald – Almost 10 yrs after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Beverly McDonald was handed two bronze medals for the 100 and 200M races due to Marion Jones’ disqualifications.  Consider the sacrifices made to train, day-in and day-out, race after race, sprint after sprint, and then, when that glorious Olympic moment is upon you, to finish 4^th.  No medal, no podium.  So when the IOC comes knocking on your door 9 yrs later, do you greet them with open arms? 

Exhibit D:         The Silver Medalists – No gold, no national anthem, no shining moment.  Okay, so maybe you're a little proud, but if you just finished 2^nd in the race of your life, do you truly enjoy 2^nd or do you relive the race over and over in their mind, thinking what you could have done differently to win? 

Case in point – the Nigerian 4x400 men’s relay team finished with silver medals at the 2000 Olympics while the U.S. men’s team won gold.  Three of the four runners on that U.S. team have since been disqualified for positive drug tests.  A Nigerian gold in the men's 4x400 relay would have represented the only gold medal for Nigeria in those Olympics.  It is impossible to recreate how winning that gold medal would have felt to the team and their countryman in that moment (like Pauline Thompson of the Bahamas, who finished 2^nd to Jones in the 200M).  And thanks to Jones, her own teammates in the 4x400 relay have been stripped of their gold medals, even if they earned it.*

Then there’s Ekaterini Thanou of Greece, who finished second to Jones in the 100M of the same Olympics, but unlike Thompson, there is no golden moment for her since the IOC instead chose to leave the gold medal position vacant. 

The vacancy in the books epitomizes a moment lost -- one that can never be replaced with words, tokens…or belated medals.  What is stolen is that one shining moment, the chance to revel in the beauty that is sport, the moment where one is declared champion with confirmation that one’s blood, sweat and tears were worth the effort.  Giving Thanou, Thompson or the Nigerian relay team gold medals, or putting an * beside Memphis’ record in the books or by McGuire’s name in the MLB HOF cannot recreate that irreplaceable moment.  (Not to mention prize money and potential endorsements…) 

Then again, maybe sans steroids, Marion Jones still would have won gold.  Maybe Mark McGuire would’ve been the single season home run king.  Maybe Bonds would’ve broken the Babe’s record.  Maybe Memphis would’ve rallied without their star in the true magic that is March Madness to beat UCLA anyway.  We’ll never know.  In the ultimate irony, perhaps they have cheated themselves of that validation.  In any event, whoever said no one remembers second…was never second. 

*On July 16, 2010, foxsports.com reported that the IOC granted an appeal which allowed the organization to return the gold medals to Jones' 4x400 relay teammates.

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