dkny64--
When Johnson went 9.79, I was 21 years old and in school, concentrating on studying but looking forward to picking up high-level training again more seriously. It was a great atmosphere in those days, anything seemed possible, for anybody.
I remember my reaction to the 9.79 being "Oh, no." Because I was counting on the great atmosphere that had been created to give me models, motivation, and energy, and I was sure that it would soon be shot to all hell, I was mostly concerned, and sad for myself, at the same time as being blown away by the performance itself.
Had I had the benefit of any perspective, instead of having been so close to it all, I would have found it disgusting. You can win and even set a WR, but to win like that--egregiously--is disgusting, unless it is known at the time that everybody, and I mean everybody, is doing the same dope.
Blake's missed-start WR-quality 19.26 was equally disgusting, as are Bolt's 9.69/9.58/19.19, MJ's 19.32, Merritt's 12.80. I am disgusted by those performances because I have the benefit of perspective. The best analogies are 9.69/19.19/19.32/12.80, but Blake is in there as well.
We all have our demons in life. Blake's real choices in life at the moment are circumscribed as are all of ours, by his current psychology, and his actions have to be considered in that light. He is who he is, and we all develop as individuals the longer that we go through life.
He's like the second-born child in a family, in many ways. He grew up in Bolt's shadow. Bolt, the first-born--treated like a treasure, protected, can do no wrong, naturally assumed the mantle of seniority with all of its privileges and biases. Blake, wanting to prove himself equally worthy, always a step behind developmentally and therefore never considered the #1, wants the same attention and the same privileges and biases, although he will never get them, EVEN IF he ends up being faster than Bolt.
He will always be the little brother, the lesser. That's why he's still trying to find an identity that works for him, be it the beast, the alien, whatever. He's fighting a struggle within himself, one that he hasn't yet realized consciously, and one that he will never win. He needs to find a different fight. He has the singular misfortune of being Bolt's younger brother. I feel for him, and to some extent that excuses bad decisions that he might make.
Since I am convinced that has used/is using, I would like to see him test positive and serve a ban of a period of years, like Gatlin. The first problem is people doping, the second problem is that they are not paying a price for their actions.
That's why I'm so against guys like Blake, Bolt, Merritt, Jeter, Greene, etc (assuming that they have all doped)--because they haven't paid a price. At least Gatlin has paid, and Rodgers to a lesser extent. Ben paid a huge price.
So it's not really Blake that I don't like--I don't even know the guy. It's the fact that he has gotten a lot, and not paid enough. He is starting to pay this year through the natural system of injury, and that is why I do not feel badly for him at all, that he is injured. I hope he stays injured for a long time, misses out on lots of meets and lots of money, attention, and fame--and I hope that he comes out of the injury running within his natural envelope, because he way WAY outside it before, just as far as was Ben.