If doping was legal, I would no longer be a fan of the sport.
If doping was legal, I would no longer be a fan of the sport.
Are you talking xc/track or football, baseball, etc.? Do you really think high school runners are taking PEDs? If so, I've got to believe that it's very, very rare. But if it were to become legal, it would escalate rapidly.
I don't have a solution.
According to a survey by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, steroid use among high school students more than doubled between 1991 and 2003. More than 6% of 15,000 students surveyed admitted trying steroid pills or injections. At the same time, less than 4% of the nation's high schools were testing for steroids, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations' survey of athletic directors.
Citing the use of steroids at the professional level, John Stewart, commissioner of the Florida High School Athletic Association asserts, "there has to be a trickle-down effect" at the college and high school level.
Independent surveys estimate 1.5%-2% of Florida's high school athletes might be using steroids. "But against a student base of 215,000 athletes, it's kind of scary to think that possibly 4,000 are at risk out there," Stewart says. "We don't want to see any youngster's life at risk
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/2005-06-08-sports-weekly-steroids-report_x.htm
but you're not really leveling the playing field. some runners or cyclists repond better to the drugs. so you're rewarding those who are better responders.
You should stop being a fan, drugs are "legal" as long as you don't get caught.
track fan man wrote:
If doping was legal, I would no longer be a fan of the sport.
Stupid argument. Its the same for ANYTHING. Some respond better to different training regimens over others. This list could go on and on. We all respond to things differently including all the legal aspects that are part of our daily training regimens!
So if one guy runs well on pasta and chicken he should not be allowed to eat it because he may gain an advantage over his competitors because he found a diet that works well for him?
Some have argued that only the top athletes can afford the performance enhancing drugs. Well this is true for all aspects of training. The top athletes can afford a better diet, massages on a regular basis, doctors at their disposal, better coaches, probably dont have to have a job outside of the sport and so on.
So PEDs are no different than this laundry list of advantages that the top guys benefit from.
New perspecitve wrote:
So rather than bash me for this point of view, maybe you could propose another alternative rather than tell me I need to be gang raped!
The only alternative that will work is to do away with professional sports and money in sport (scholarships, prize money, endorsement contracts, etc...) entirely. Rip the "big business" out of athletics and the use of PEDs will largely disappear on its own. Once the only thing at stake is personal satisfaction there is not reason to "enhance" your performance.
Not that I believe this is possible, but it really is the only way. Whether things would be better this way is also up for debate.
Well something needs to be done becauae I am losing the joy of watching most endurance sports due to the cloud of suspicion and the constant talk of athletes being jucied. You can't watch a track meet at the national level without discussions of some suspension or someone new testing positive and the list goes on and on. Its so unfortunate and is ruining the sport.
It's already ruined, I just operate under the assumption that they're ALL using.
Man its so sad that is how a lot of use view the sport now. Man really takes soemthing away from the joy of it all.
Something needs to be done wrote:
Man its so sad that is how a lot of use view the sport now. Man really takes soemthing away from the joy of it all.
The wages of sin is death.
Come on wrote:
Stupid argument. Its the same for ANYTHING. Some respond better to different training regimens over others. This list could go on and on. We all respond to things differently including all the legal aspects that are part of our daily training regimens!
So if one guy runs well on pasta and chicken he should not be allowed to eat it because he may gain an advantage over his competitors because he found a diet that works well for him?
Of course he can eat his pasta and chicken, just like his competitors are free to find a diet that works for them. In the end, athletes may respond differently to legal training and diet, but they can counter those differences by tailoring a program to their specific needs.
Not so with drugs. If you legalize them, the best athletes without drugs may not be the best athletes on drugs. Why? Because some athletes respond better to them. I don't think (and correct me if I'm wrong) that changing doses or combination of drugs in any way changes that. You can tailor individual programs, but some folks still will respond better.
I agree wrote:
Some have argued that only the top athletes can afford the performance enhancing drugs. Well this is true for all aspects of training. The top athletes can afford a better diet, massages on a regular basis, doctors at their disposal, better coaches, probably dont have to have a job outside of the sport and so on.
So PEDs are no different than this laundry list of advantages that the top guys benefit from.
but by legalizing drugs, you would be increasing the distance between the haves and have-nots, wouldn't you?
another question. how would you set up an infrastructure so that everyone using would have equal access to doctors to curtail the health risks? you would need doctors in the rift valley and kansas, among other places, monitoring emerging athletes.
and wouldn't athletes who were willing to risk their health be able to take larger doses and benefit even more? if you have no qualms about your long-term health, wouldn't that put you in a better position than a competitor staying within established guidelines?
Well its already happening where athletes are putting themselves at even greater risks with the current practices. There is limited doctor supervision so athletes are already placing themselves at a greater risk.
You mentioned before that some athletes gain more of an advantage on certain pharmaceuticals compared to others. There is still an advantage to most athletes regardless and you would need to tailor their regimen to meet each athletes specific needs. You cannot argue that some athletes gain no benefit from pharmaceuticals. That is just plain ridiculous.
EPO is a benefit to ALL endurance athletes. This is a proven fact. It isn't something only certain athletes respond too. More oxygen carrying capacity in all athletes.
ugikfirf
So, if murder were running rampant, it would be right to legalize it?
Just because something is reaching pervasive levels in a group does not make it right, or acceptable.
Legalizing drugs would, for me, undermine the essence of what makes sports great. Supposedly, athletic events are testaments of human achievement. They are showcases of will and determination with victory awarded to the most talented.
Using drugs replaces will power, determination, guts, sisu, or whatever-the-hell you want to call it. The reason people look up to champions is because, through competition, athletes show us greatness. Seriously, the, “Dear God. Did you see what he just did!?" moments in athletics are what make sports great.
The use of drugs by athletes cheapens their performances. The feats of cheaters are not displays of great human characteristics; they are displays of something artificial. Introducing a substance to an athlete may produce the same end result, victory, but it does not yield the same meaning that genuine human effort does.
Greedy people who only want victory use drugs. Cheaters care nothing about the essence of sport, the testament to human greatness. All cheaters care about is the accolades.
I do not want to watch, and celebrate, the achievements of athletes who do not understand why our sport is great. Neither should you.
Rape is rampant, legalize it!
That argument goes only so far now doesn't it.
Here is an option: Start your own racing league and allow anyone to use anything. Get big prize money and then let those who do not want to use drugs compete in the current sports leagues.
Let me know when you get it started.
"the essence of sport"??? "the testament to human greatness"???
come on now... we get our panties all bunched about doping but close our eyes to all the other ever present forms of cheating in all sport which are much more rampant and obvious.
batter given a base becuz the ump thinks the ball hit him when it actually hit his bat... does ANY fan ever think the batter should actually correct the ump and stay at the plate?
NASCAR...all about 'pushing the envelope' (code for skirting the rules which is code for cheating)
find me one sport where cheating is not an integral part of the game... for some reason Doping is a sexy story with hints of danger and death. try explaining to a kid while watching any pro sport why the 'rules' arent really black and white.