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The PED double-standard

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Versatile, Dec 29, 2012.

  1. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    But that sounds like something that would have been posted when Sosa was smashing 60 home runs.

    What is the difference between a PED and a supplement? I agree that chemistry has a lot to do with what we see on the field, but I also think many of our athletes cross the line to gain the edge. From the last guy on the bench to Kobe, I think there is a huge amount of PED use in the NBA and in all sports.
     
  2. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    Steroids. Vitamins. Same thing.
     
  3. Dash 7

    Dash 7 Member

    I don't think you're necessarily wrong, but it's also not a new thing.

    I've always found it interesting that nobody cares about the reportedly widespread usage of amphetamines in baseball during the 50's-70's. The same sports writers who demonize modern players are the ones who will hold up guys like Hank Aaron as their shining examples of how to play the right way -- but Aaron admitted to at least trying amphetamines during his playing days.

    I don't think there is a one-to-one analogy between steroids and amphetamines, but I also am not naive enough to think they didn't help in some ways.
     
  4. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    If you're playing with legal equipment (bats, rackets, etc.), then everything else should be fair game. If your body needs help to do something, help it. Exercise. Take a pill. Eat something. Have surgery. Or don't. Your choice.

    Joe, a good hitter with warning track power, takes a steroid, and suddenly his balls travel 410 feet instead of 390.

    Sid, who can't see home plate from the pitcher's mound, has laser surgery and now can paint the corners with his pitches.

    Joe's a cheat. Sid's a Hall of Famer.

    Ridiculous.
     
  5. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Not really, when you consider that much of the PED use that goes on is also illegal and carries risk of long-term health issues. There are reasons beyond just competitive advantage that those things are banned. Sports leagues have the right to decide what their athletes can use and what they can't. When you gain an advantage by violating those rules, whatever they may be, that is cheating.
     
  6. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    That's fine, if it matters to you. It doesn't to me. "Football" in and of itself carries the risk of long-term health issues. Coming back too soon from an injury carries the risk of long-term health issues. Anything done in excess carries the risk of long-term health issues.

    In theory, perhaps. In reality, uh, no. When the sacred records fell, the traditionalists wet their pants. Take that away from the equation, and few people would care.

    Players abused amphetamines in the 50s, 60s and 70s. No one cared then. No one cares now. Double standard.

    They do. But if they cannot enforce their rules because the masking agents are 4 steps ahead of the tests, then it's all a crapshoot. If you can't take a cold medicine because it will result in a positive test, then it's all a crapshoot.
     
  7. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    I trust we all saw why Richard Sherman won his appeal? The cup started leaking mid-test and the tester had to quick grab another one and dump the sample in there. But he never documented the first cup or the transfer, and he wrote nothing in the line for additional notes or unusual circumstances even though that had never happened before in his years as a tester.

    The whole thing is just starting to sound like nonsense. Count me on the side that believes there will be a system in 10 years that will have all morality stripped out of it and is going to let guys do what they want.
     
  8. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    I'm confident there's plenty of PED use in the NBA as well.

    One factor that sort of tipped those alarms to me was when players suddenly began kicking Father Time's ass in the last decade or two. Used to be basically accepted that once a player crossed the 30 mark, his legs would be going south. But then you started seeing guys like Karl Malone who remained physical athletic freaks until around the age of 40, and soon the whole accepted belief system about when age related decline takes over got shifted back several years.

    The way guards like Jason Kidd and Kobe Bryant are still going strong today, with 10 gazillion miles on their legs, would've seemed near inconceivable back in the 60s, 70s and 80s, yet now folks barely bat an eyelash at it. And, to the extent it does get discussed, it gets credited to "modern nutrition, exercise, core training, hard work, etc." without anyone daring to suggest something else might also be helping. Yet, if an old fart baseball player is still cranking home runs nowadays, suspicion comes immediately.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  9. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    The reality is that if you're using PEDs under a doctor's care, then the downsides are few and far between.

    Most people, people here, people like me, our entire world view on PEDs is or was based on a terrible after school special.

    It is like basing your entire knowledge of how Congress works on Schoolhouse Rocks.

    People are bigger now. Absolutely. People have a better idea of how to eat and how to train and how to rest and recuperate.

    All those things contribute to the size explosion but to get and maintain the kind of muscular mass with the low bodyfat along with the speed and agility, that's steroids, and human growth hormone and a chemistry lab full of legal and illegal supplements.

    I'd bet that every player in the NFL is using some sort of drug that would be illegal if it didn't have a doctor's prescription. Painkillers being No. 1 of course.
     
  10. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    I'm sorry, but the health risks are why these drugs were illegal (and banned in sports leagues) in the first place. Yes, I get that records falling gets more people fired up, but that is not why they were first made illegal.

    And I can't even begin to explain how much I hate the argument that rules or laws shouldn't exist just because they are difficult to enforce. You don't just throw up your hands. You improve enforcement and catch who you can.

    The issue of how much risk PED use brings is an interesting one. From what I've read, there just hasn't been enough research done yet into the long-term impact of these drugs. There are those who think PED use is a larger risk to long-term brain damage than concussions, or at least as significant. I don't buy that, but it should be investigated before we go assuming the dangers don't exist.
     
  11. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    PED use is enormously difficult to study. A doctor can't ethically say "we think this stuff is bad so we are goin to inject certain people for years and hope they get sick to prove us right." All you can do is take testimonials from people in retrospect.
     
  12. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    There is a kid in our area that takes HGH as treatment for diabetes under doctors care. He is now 16 and looks like a man among boys on the football field. Now 6'3" 240 and benches 320. Legal but seems almost unfair to teams that have to play against this kid.
     
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