I hear ya.
My brother ended up playing a talking head on like, ABC or NBC news for a story they did about doping. (he aint a doping expert, just a writer for the LA Times and something he wrote sparked something). He basically said "People want to know that what they're watching out there is real".
Like you said, "our sports heros come down to earth and show that they are human." But that's hard to do if they're transforming themselves into displaying unhuman-like abilities.
Great for shoe sales, not for "Joe" tales.