DOPING
Richard Walker
1-16-2013
As I am watching the
events of “dopers weekend” unfold (Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa Baseball Hall of Fame snubs and
the Lance Armstrong confession), I can’t help but reflect upon the common
thread that exists amongst all athletes, past and present, that have been
accused of doping in sports.
It appears to me that these individuals were tried and convicted in the court of public opinion with very little attention being paid to the source of those drugs. The fact of the matter is that as a group, the professional leagues honestly and sincerely do not give a damn about doping in sports. If these individuals were injected with truth serum, they would probably confess that they ENCOURAGE the use of performance enhancing drugs.
Let’s be serious folks, do you really think that MLB is a better game without pitchers who can throw 100mph fastballs and hitters that can’t hit 500 foot home runs? Is the NBA better without guys who can’t dunk from the free throw line or break backboards? Is the NFL a better sport without guys who can deliver pile-driving hits, can jump 40 inches off the ground in pads, and throw footballs 60 yards down the field with laser-like precision?
Of course, I am not trying to imply that performance enhancers are a good thing; they come with the long-lasting, life limiting side effects that the players will experience in their later years.
It appears to me that these individuals were tried and convicted in the court of public opinion with very little attention being paid to the source of those drugs. The fact of the matter is that as a group, the professional leagues honestly and sincerely do not give a damn about doping in sports. If these individuals were injected with truth serum, they would probably confess that they ENCOURAGE the use of performance enhancing drugs.
Let’s be serious folks, do you really think that MLB is a better game without pitchers who can throw 100mph fastballs and hitters that can’t hit 500 foot home runs? Is the NBA better without guys who can’t dunk from the free throw line or break backboards? Is the NFL a better sport without guys who can deliver pile-driving hits, can jump 40 inches off the ground in pads, and throw footballs 60 yards down the field with laser-like precision?
Of course, I am not trying to imply that performance enhancers are a good thing; they come with the long-lasting, life limiting side effects that the players will experience in their later years.
However, what
I would like to see is a dose of honesty from the sports leagues.
Major League Baseball knew damn well that Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Roger Clemens,
Jose Canseco and all of the other juice-heads were using it. Do you REALLY want us to
believe that team trainers and physicians didn’t notice a sudden
difference in power, speed, strength, and recovery capabilities from these
individuals?
So why not cut the crap….POWER, SPEED, AGILITY, AND QUICK HEALING SELLS!! We are okay with it, major sports guys. So instead of trying to play politically correct games and keep your fans with the silly “Linus from Peanuts waiting for the Great Pumpkin” mentality, in hopes that the game will be “cleaned up”, why not first of all end the penalties for performance enhancers and instead build an education-based model where the teams would just regulate what the players are using through the team’s medical staff and steer them towards choices to minimize damage to their bodies?
All of these leagues preach “player safety”. That's ABSOLUTE 100% HOGWASH. The executives don’t give a damn about the well-being of these players. They simply want a group of field hands to go out there and excite the fans, so that those advertising and merchandise dollars keep rolling in. What we have witnessed in regards to players being caught doping is a tip of the iceberg, as there are so many different types of performance enhancers that the science of testing is always running behind the science of development
So why not cut the crap….POWER, SPEED, AGILITY, AND QUICK HEALING SELLS!! We are okay with it, major sports guys. So instead of trying to play politically correct games and keep your fans with the silly “Linus from Peanuts waiting for the Great Pumpkin” mentality, in hopes that the game will be “cleaned up”, why not first of all end the penalties for performance enhancers and instead build an education-based model where the teams would just regulate what the players are using through the team’s medical staff and steer them towards choices to minimize damage to their bodies?
All of these leagues preach “player safety”. That's ABSOLUTE 100% HOGWASH. The executives don’t give a damn about the well-being of these players. They simply want a group of field hands to go out there and excite the fans, so that those advertising and merchandise dollars keep rolling in. What we have witnessed in regards to players being caught doping is a tip of the iceberg, as there are so many different types of performance enhancers that the science of testing is always running behind the science of development
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| LANCE ARMSTRONG |
As
soon as the player is no longer serviceable, or is caught, he immediately
becomes a pariah, despite the fact that they were well aware of the
individual’s engagement in those activities to begin with.
The drug abuse policies of these sports leagues is just as futile as the US Government’s “war on drugs”….and likewise neither party is interested in truly finding an end to those “wars” because they are revenue-generating machines.
These individuals are the by-products of greed, within themselves looking for a quick buck, just like a player with a short career who is looking to land a huge contract and endorsement deals. What they fail to realize is that they are the ponds of a larger pyramid: police captains needing justification to be promoted are given medals of honor for huge drug busts; judges, mayors, governors, and even congressmen and presidents being elected by touting “crime reform”; and corporate and private investors reap the benefits of cheap labor provided by these individuals.
Major league sports operates under that exact same business model. As soon as a player is identified as a threat to the public image of the business, he is tossed into a pile with the rest of the has-beens and the league will move on to the next available card in the deck.
The fact that drugs were taken does not make a player’s accomplishments
invalid. If you look at all of the individuals who were involved in the abuse
of performance enhancers who performed at a high level, you will also see
another thing in common – a strong work ethic, a defined and refined skill set
for their respective sport, a very high I.Q. of their endeavor, and most
importantly, a “win by all means necessary” mentality that motivates them to
accomplish more than what is normally possible through effort and training.
The drug abuse policies of these sports leagues is just as futile as the US Government’s “war on drugs”….and likewise neither party is interested in truly finding an end to those “wars” because they are revenue-generating machines.
These individuals are the by-products of greed, within themselves looking for a quick buck, just like a player with a short career who is looking to land a huge contract and endorsement deals. What they fail to realize is that they are the ponds of a larger pyramid: police captains needing justification to be promoted are given medals of honor for huge drug busts; judges, mayors, governors, and even congressmen and presidents being elected by touting “crime reform”; and corporate and private investors reap the benefits of cheap labor provided by these individuals.
Major league sports operates under that exact same business model. As soon as a player is identified as a threat to the public image of the business, he is tossed into a pile with the rest of the has-beens and the league will move on to the next available card in the deck.
It’s time to take the blinders off and accept it the way that it is - all sports are tainted to some degree, so where do we draw the line? I think that it is time to relax, revise the rules, and regulate.
Richard Walker
HMW
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1 comment:
Richard, I like this article. Well written. What I like he most is the aspect of not removing illegal but removing the BS they spew to the general public
Lamont
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