Brennan: Led by Armstrong, anti-sportspeople of year

Christine Brennan, USA TODAY Sports

What will we remember when we think of sports in 2012? London or Penn State? LeBron or Lance? Pablo Sandoval or Melky Cabrera? Luck and RGIII or Bountygate and concussions?

Who doesn't want to remember the former? That's all the good stuff: the fun and games of the London Olympics, the uplifting performances of the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals and the San Francisco Giants in the World Series, the inspiring play of the rookie quarterbacks this NFL season.

But there's little chance that will be our takeaway from 2012. Sports used to be one of our great escapes from the real world. Now, sports are much more of a reflection of our society. Often, that's not good news. Hence: Lance, Penn State, Cabrera and concussions.

This hasn't happened overnight. It has been occurring for some time, actually, with the advent of much more serious journalism in sports, with the rise of the Steroid Era and our interest in finding out who is cheating and who is not, with all the money in sports, which naturally brings with it more attention, and with the proliferation of social media in sports, in which nothing stays private very long.

And so it's inevitable that we will linger far longer on the disheartening downfall of Lance Armstrong. On the devastating criminal behavior of Jerry Sandusky and his long-time enabler Joe Paterno. On the steroid cheaters who have ruined the record book and the good name of baseball. On the vitally important health issues that have come out of the NFL this season, from the overall concerns about concussions to the suicide of Junior Seau to the late-season tragedies in Kansas City and Dallas.

How can we not dwell on these things?

These notorious people and startling issues transcended the sports pages in 2012. They weren't just big sports stories. They were big news stories, often on the front page or leading the network news.

One hundred years from now, when students and historians are looking back on our sports era, they won't be focusing on how LeBron James and the Miami Heat finally won the NBA title. Knowing what they know in the future, they will be looking back on what our leagues and universities knew and did or did not do about concussions and other health issues.

Figuring that athletes will still be cheating in some form in 2112, they likely will be intrigued by what they will view as the infancy of the Steroid Era in sports. Imagine that. We're probably only just beginning the long march of sports into the netherworld of drugs and other ways of doctoring the human body for better performance.

And do you think they'll know the name Lance Armstrong?

How could they not?

Armstrong is 2012's anti-sportsman of the year, hands down. He lied, cheated, bullied and deceived his way to seven Tour de France titles and millions of dollars from those who believed his story was pure and true. It wasn't. Not even close.

The titles are all gone now. Who knows where the money will be in 5-10 years. He has had to abandon his Livestrong Foundation in disgrace. His sports crimes are worse than Ben Johnson's, worse than Marion Jones', worse than Mark McGwire's. That's because he had long ago transcended sports and become an icon to the cancer community. So his deception is far greater because he had set himself up to be something far more than a superb athlete. He had marketed himself as a superb person too.

Some scoffed at that notion before 2012, but this was the year we found out for sure:

It just wasn't so.

USA TODAY