This is an unfortunate time in sports. Instead of enjoying bigger, stronger, fitter and better prepared athletes, most of us are suspicious whenever there is a record set or an outstanding individual performance.
There is a simple reason for this: Steroids or any other illegal substance that is used as a performance enhancement.

Fans still want to applaud a champion, a record or a marvelous effort, but not when it is questionable. It is like going to the track and betting $5 on No. 2 to win the fifth. But your choice is beaten by No. 6. A few days later the winner is tested positive for using a performance boosting drug. You want your money back.

President George W. Bush brought up steroids during the State of the Union address because it is a concern that some athletes are being paid millions of dollars to perform at the highest level and are suspect of getting illegal help.
The President was also worried that American sport would be reflected negatively to the rest of the world. That is how much steroids have affected the image of sport.

All this just happens to coincide with the 50th. anniversary on May 6 of England's Roger Bannister who ran 3:59.4 to become the first to break the four-minute mile, which at that time was the equivalent of man walking on another planet.

It was a different time with different attitudes.
In 1954, Bannister was a 25-year-old medical student and did not have to deal with agents, the Internet, network and cable TV, and corporations willing to pay millions to endorse their products.
For Bannister it was purely sport with basic preparation chasing what was then an impossible dream.

In the weeks before he wrote himself into history, the medical student ran with British middle distance runners Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway, who were the pacemakers on that historic day in Oxford.

Hours before the race Bannister had a few duties to perform at St. Mary's Hospital in London. He then put finishing touches to his spikes on a grindstone in an onsite laboratory before taking a train to Oxford.

Can you imagine San Francisco outfielder Barry Bonds mowing the lawn at his home, then washing and ironing his playing uniform and traveling by bus to the ballpark on the day he was scheduled to pass Hank Aaron's home run record?
Just after 6pm, six runners, including Bannister, began the race in ideal conditions. The wind had died down and he was ready to set a new mark before a crowd of about 1,000.

This is just a guess, but there will probably be more than 1,000 media covering the game when and if Bonds gets to opportunity to set a new home run record.
Bannister, who wore No. 41, ran the first quarter-mile in 57.5 seconds, the half-mile in 1:58, at the three-quarter mark the clock showed 3:00.7. He had done the hard work and the sub-four-minute mile was there for the taking. The rest is history. When he crossed the finish line he collapsed into the arms of officials. It was a memorable moment.

Word spread quickly - without the Internet, e-mail or network and cable TV.
There was never any question of steroids being used or any performance enhancing drugs. It was pure ability.

Later that year Bannister beat Australian John Landy in what was hyped as the Mile of the Century in Vancouver. He ran 3:58.8, and then won a European championships gold medal in the 1,500 meters.
Bannister retired soon after to practice medicine and research. He did not become a track and field analyst or make a fortune endorsing products.
But he will never be forgotten as the first man to run the mile in less than four minutes and he did it fairly and squarely and without an ounce of suspicion.
It was sport in its purest form.