Wishing on a star

American society is a metaphorical metropolis, blinded by the glitz of city lights. All the true stars are being hidden behind the haze of pollution and the fluorescent glare of celebrity flavor of the weeks.

Average Americans used to worship the super-humans of their generations, whether they were Mickey Mantle, Joe Louis or the Babe. Sure, they all had glaring flaws, but those flaws could never hold a light to their star-power. The Babe and Mick were both alcoholics, but they were alcoholics who overcame addiction with the sweetest swings ever seen. Joe Louis fought much more than opponents inside the squared-circle – he fought against bigotry, against hate and, most of all, for the entirety of his race.

Today, things have changed.  

Instead of rooting for athletes who can overcome hate, addiction and just about anything else that glory can throw at them, we have athletes who are unraveling before our very eyes.

Let's take the five greatest athletes of the past generation – this could get a little fuzzy, as this generation hasn't exactly faded into the next generation yet. All five of these guys have transcended their sports, first into immortality and now in disgrace.

LeBron James came straight out of high school to save the NBA. He was the next Michael Jordan – before Mike was even gone. He was crowned "King James", and we all become "witnesses" to the power of the "Chosen One" before he ever jammed a slam through the rim.

Now he has dipped out of Cleveland without a single championship ring, leaving a wake littered with hate mail, burnt jerseys and shed tears turned to rage. Worst of all, he jumped ship for the closest thing to a "dream team" he could find, led by Dwayne Wade. 

How can he be the King if he's not even the leader of his own squad?

For the sake of time, let's bundle the fallen stars of Roger Clemens and Lance Armstrong into one federally indicted file. 

Perjury is no game, gentlemen, although Armstrong hasn't been indicted yet. Both men might wind up behind bars for lying to the people who top the don't-lie-to-me list – federal officials.

Clemens was about five years away from "Rocket-ing" into the Hall of Fame until the steroid virus got a hold on him, like it did to so many other superstars of MLB. He had some dark secrets that all stemmed from someone sticking a needle full of bad muscle-boosters in his butt. 

Now, all he can do is Tweet about his innocence. Well-played, sir.

Armstrong is much of the same story. The man overcame cancer – from the very certain clutches of death – to win seven Tour de France races in a row. He did all of this with one testicle, but how can we be surprised? After all, the last six letters of his name are "s-t-r-o-n-g."  

The surprise is that he is now infected with the steroids epidemic, a public disease he contracted from his former teammate and understudy Floyd Landis, who has already been disowned by just about everyone.  

Surprise! Cheaters don't win.

The final two stars have only halfway fallen.  

Both men are Olympic heroes, record-setters and out-of-this universe super-athletes.  Neither Michael Phelps nor Usain Bolt are done, but they are having a rough year, to say the least. 

Both men suffered the first losses that their gold-encrusted, stellar careers can remember.  These guys are known not only for shaming their opponents with their skills, but they beat the ghosts of every athlete ever to perform in their respective fields. They are world-class athletes for a reason, and both are sputtering.