I get so tired of athletes whining and complaining about the "burden" of being tested. If you are a "clean" athlete shouldn't you want stricter testing? Shouldn't it bother you that guys who are on PEDs are getting bigger, faster, and stronger than you, thus earning better paychecks? The fact that the above isn't the case and that the majority of athletes aren't clamoring for better testing leads me to believe that most in fact are using them in one way or another. P.S.- Ray Lewis and his "outrage" can eat a dick.
Am I the only person in America who isn't outraged by this? Professional athletes have been taking drugs to perform better forever.
It's definitely been going on a lot longer than the current generation of athletes and it annoys me that people think this is a new phenomena. But it's never been as blatant as it is in today's sports. I like Ray Lewis and he's easily one of the best LBs to play the game ever. But how does on recover so amazingly fast? How do old guys, instead of declining, actually getting physically stronger, faster, etc.? It's not natural.
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't really care if there was no ban on PEDs. The drug use isn't what bother me. Half of this country, regardless of occupation, runs on some sort of stimulant to make it through the day. It is the fact that the way the testing is now we have no clue who is and who isn't using, so the guys who get busted are demonized while the guys who are better at beating the system are assumed to be innocent. The mass public assumes that the leagues are doing their job, when in fact most testing is a damn joke.
i wrote out a rant about this but it didnt make it to the server... the thing is these guys are too big, too fast and too strong and it has affected the game. there would be much less of a concussion issue if there werent guys who are 20 percent bigger moving 20 percent faster than guys used to. lbs used to be 220 lbs, now they are 250 to 275 and move faster than they did 25 years ago. now safeties are running faster than they used to and are 220 to 230 where they used to be 190 to 210 max. ronnie lott was 203 lbs. he would be small today, back then he was the fiercest hitter ever. he is dwarfed by guys like laron landry who weighs at least 20 lbs more than he did. i remember when levon kirkland played he was always big in college, but at some point he got HUGE and was playing lb at 275 and still flying around hte field like a lb. he was considered a freak of nature to be that big and that fast. that was a dt or ol weight back in the 80s. ill put it to you this way, joe klecko played at 263 lbs. now lbs average 250 but we all sit back and say we dont care just so long as its a great game, but its becoming flag football and its happening in direct correlation to the drug epidemic that is going on. sure there were guys using drugs, there were guys on steroids but those steroids are nothing in comparison to the shit these guys are taking now. and it has affected the game negatively. i wouldnt want to play in todays nfl
^You make some good points. I guess my post was more with respect to other sports that have much less contact. Football is going to disappear if they don't do proper testing. Like I mentioned before there is just mainstream ignorance on the issue though. People need to understand that steroids are not something that you would only be taking during the season, WHILE guys are playing. Most use probably comes during the offseason when guys are bulking up. Testing needs to be frequent during this time as well. And at the NCAA level. And at the high school level. All parties need to be on the same page and stop coddling these guys and their ridiculous stance that these tests are a nuisance and invasion of privacy. The shit I really hate is "I don't like needles!". Durr. Who does? Deal with it or find another profession. They also need to stop turning a blind eye while guys like Kobe go overseas and get stem cells or whatever injected into their areas of injury.
Great article. He makes a great point about basketball too. Nobody is caught so we pretend like it doesn't happen. But the AP one is interesting. I rarely heard anyone mention anything about him hypothetically taking advanced things. We thought it was awesome he came back so quickly and beat the odds, but never really thought how he did it. Maybe medicine and technology is more advanced, maybe he he took some PEDs to get back quicker.
Great article. It raises an interesting question too. At what point is it cheating? Steroids, blood doping, testosterone, I get all that and I think we all agree. What step is too far? When does it cross from a medical procedure to cheating? Is taking a cadaver's knee ligament cheating? Are weight lifting supplements cheating? There's a lot of grey area where you're doing something that makes you better, may not really hurt your body, but it definitely gives you an edge. And I agree with alleycat about the obscene size and speed we're seeing now. Sure, modern weight training is a lot better than ever before and we know a lot more about nutrition and all that, but somehow these guys are getting bigger and faster every year. It can't all be hitting the weight room. Safeties now are the size of linebackers back in the day, linebackers are the size of defensive linemen with the speed to cover receivers (well, not if you're Bart Scott or David Harris, but I digress). Something has to give. What's going to become of all these guys when they retire? What damage have they done?
thats the question... what kind of issues should we expect to see with these guys as they age. im not sure if we have seen enough yet to really know, sure there are guys from the 80s who were juiced up and we should have a bit of an idea how they are turning out, but how widespread was it then? there was still alot of fear of it back then, i really dont know. are any of these guys with brain issues and injuries in any way related to steroids or peds? thats something that has popped up quite a bit over the past 10 years that was not really so much of an issue before. i mean i can say that it is a part because you now have 2 larger objects moving at a higher rate of speed and colliding than you used to but do the drugs have any part in the brain injuries themselves? i know a number of kids who are division 1 caliber football players and i always advise them to use it as a tool to get their college education, do not worry about trying to make it your living, its too far of a reach and its too unhealthy to do for a living.
Exactly. You guys should watch the documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster. It deals with a lot of these questions and the hypocrisy involved. For instance Tiger Woods had laser surgery to get greater than 20/20 vision. You don't think that gives him an edge in his putting? It also talks about people taking anti-anxiety medications or ADHD medications so they can perform better during music auditions which are a competitive environment, etc. Why do we only care when athletes use performance enhancers? Also they mention that people in the Air Force are required to take amphetamines. Obviously that situation is different, but it still sends a mixed message. We have a culture of glamorizing the biggest, strongest, fastest and then wonder why people take shortcuts, when we all start out on a different playing field. Your friend could have 3x the level of test as you and people wonder why there is the desire to supplement.
Well, with sports it's a couple things: 1. Public eye. Many of those other things aren't under the public spotlight so when people do those things they won't be seen by millions of people. 2. These players are supposed to be the best of the best in the world. If that's the case then they should be able to get there on pure talent, skill, and hard work. Not everyone is cut out to be a professional athlete. If you can't cut it you don't play. Of course human selfishness makes these players not want to accept that and to turn to illegal ways to augment themselves so that they can meet or exceed the standard. Of course it's a never ending debate. As you said, what's really the difference between getting super vision through eye surgery vs. using PEDs? They both at the end of the day change the natural composition of the person and what they can attain naturally.
Without getting too far off topic, if I'm going into a life threatening situation, I'm damn well taking everything that gives me an edge (assuming it doesn't affect my judgement, reflexes, or the like). Heck, I used chewing tobacco to (try to) stay awake during Ranger school. It's disgusting, but it worked. I guess I'm guilty too . I had read somewhere that they don't allow any tobacco at all now.
Agreed. As to your #2, I can agree. If testing was better I'd be on board with it 100%. But the way testing is now, it is hard to fault a player for being tempted when other guys are juicing and being deemed "clean" because they have guys in their corner who know how to pass a test. Then they do it and get caught and labeled a "cheat" while the other guy gets labeled one of the greats. Lmao
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/2/23/4020712/dion-jordan-weight-nfl-combine-results-2013 this kid gains 22 lbs in 2 months... the nfl will change so dramatically if they start testing for hgh and more importantly do a better job of testing. what is the testing procedure these days? do they just test during the season? do they test them a certain number of times and do they give them a heads up before they show up to test them? if the gaps get filled we might actually get to start watching football again, instead of the wwf freaks running around killing eachother.
