should performance enhancing drugs be allowed in sports

[Xavier_Onassis]

I've got a limited appreciation for gladiatorial combat, but I admit, I would have loved to see it applied at the national leader level - - George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld vs. Saddam Hussein, Chemical Ali and Uday, mano-a-mano or with broadswords.  Last man standing.  Think of all the lives that could have been saved at the cost of only five worthless pieces of shit.

Only problem is, the leaders that are all for war generally prefer to send others to fight for them.

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Perhaps if we pumped these bozos up with steroids and testosterone, they would have more fight in 'em.

[Xavier_Onassis]

On one hand, I think people have a right to do what they wat with their own bodies, provided it does not turn them into enraged Hulks.

On the other, pro athletes set a terrible example for children who want to pump themselves up for success.

When you are young, you feel indestructible. A lot of kids would be happy to have a great career in pro sports and croak at the age of 45 or so: it seems like a fair trade to them.

I think banning drugged athletes from competition and pro teams makes a lot of sense.

[Michael Tee]

<<So, you're against, say, a football quarterback having, say, a broken thumb and playing anyway, probably with some modicum of painkillers involved?>>

Yes, that's why I said that only healthy players should be allowed to compete.  100% healthy.  If you're injured, if you need any kind of drug to participate, then stay out of the fucking game.   Of course a guy who takes an aspirin for a minor pain before a game is relatively harmless, but where would you draw the line?  The only practical line you can draw is the one between drugs and no drugs.  Any other way and we'd have lawyers, doctors and pharmacists fighting over every fucking pill.

[kimba1]

isn`t not allowed to have anything broken while playing the game.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I agree with Tee.
It is not as thought there was any sort of shortage of football players.

They get paid huge amounts of money. They are grown men playing with balls.

If they get hurt, send in another one. Give more players a chance. Spread that beer money around. Why not?

[Universe Prince]

Why? Already we've had scandals involving pro athletes taking steroids and other drugs to try and gain a competitive advantage. Others see it works for them, so they start doing it - college athletes, high school athletes... There have already been reports of that happening. These kids have no idea what kind of problems they can face later on for their steroid use now - heart and other medical problems, mood changes, 'roid rage, and so on.

We have scandals because people keep trying to hide it. Bring it out in the open by allowing it, and get doctors involved and I think we would see people making more informed choices.

Who was the latest pro wrestler that made the headlines when he died, I can't remember his name? I do remember details slowly came out about his steroid use, and large amounts being found at his home. Then the stories began coming out about his anger management problems, probably due to steroid use. I have no problem if these adults want to risk killing themselves with this crap. I do have a problem with kids using it, with no idea what the risks are, and I do have a problem with anyone using drugs that can make them more violent towards other people.

Exactly why this should be handled like any other part of physical training, with supervision and a doctor.

The last reason, and probably the least important to me, is the competitive advantage people get from them.

I don't understand that objection. Athletes do many things to gain a competitive advantage. They use hyperbaric chambers, they practice longer, they use computers to analyze performance, et cetera. Why drugs is somehow wrong but the others are not is something that I don't understand.

However, if a person can be kept from participating in a sport because they wear prosthetic legs that might give them an advantage, though they pose no risk to himself or others, then steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs should certainly be banned.

What about the guy who practices more than the other players? Should he be prevented from playing the game? At what point is having/trying to get a competitive edge wrong?

[Xavier_Onassis]

Hyperbaric chambers and extra practice will not shorten your lifespan as steroids do.

All drugs are not bad for you, but some are very bad.

[Universe Prince]

Yes, that's why I said that only healthy players should be allowed to compete.  100% healthy.  If you're injured, if you need any kind of drug to participate, then stay out of the fucking game.   Of course a guy who takes an aspirin for a minor pain before a game is relatively harmless, but where would you draw the line?  The only practical line you can draw is the one between drugs and no drugs.  Any other way and we'd have lawyers, doctors and pharmacists fighting over every fucking pill.

I don't see why they would be fighting over every pill or even at all. But I find it interesting you would prefer to keep all players with any injury at all from playing the game. So when Brett Farve played with a broken thumb and lead his team to a winning game, do you think that win is tainted by the probable use of pain killers?

[Universe Prince]

I agree with Tee.
It is not as thought there was any sort of shortage of football players.

They get paid huge amounts of money. They are grown men playing with balls.

If they get hurt, send in another one. Give more players a chance. Spread that beer money around. Why not?

Clearly you know diddly squat about sports.

[Universe Prince]

Hyperbaric chambers and extra practice will not shorten your lifespan as steroids do.

All drugs are not bad for you, but some are very bad.

Not all performance enhancing drugs are steroids. But then, I don't believe proper use of steroids is guaranteed to shorten a person's lifespan. Let's not forget that steroids do have appropriate medical uses.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Geez, they are ENTERTAINERS, it's not like they were doing anything of importance. They are grown men playing with balls, who, lamentably, are role models with a lot of impressionable children.

Sports are suppose to teach fair play. Not pharmacology.

[Michael Tee]

<<So when Brett Farve played with a broken thumb and lead his team to a winning game, do you think that win is tainted by the probable use of pain killers?>>

It's tainted in a philosophical way because a greater athlete would have played smarter and not broken his thumb in the first place.  His participation in the game wasn't due to his ability to avoid injury, it was due to chemicals.  But nobody would seriously argue that his actual playing ability was enhanced by the medication, so in that sense there was no "taint" to the win.

My real objection to your example is that the rule which permitted Farve to play with a broken thumb - - harmlessly, as it turned out - - would also permit a lot of other more questionable participations indistinguishable at the end of the spectrum from the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

[Universe Prince]

My real objection to your example is that the rule which permitted Farve to play with a broken thumb - - harmlessly, as it turned out - - would also permit a lot of other more questionable participations indistinguishable at the end of the spectrum from the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Questionable why?

[Michael Tee]

Questionable as in when does a pain-killer or muscle-relaxant or stimulant or anti-inflammatory become a mood elevator or a muscle growth factor, etc.?  Questionable as in where does an injury-related condition reach the point where the medications aren't needed in the same dosage as they were at the beginning?  Questionable as in raising questions.

[kimba1]

uhm
100% healthy?

athletes are not exactly what you call healthy
those kind of activity take a serious toll on the body
a athlete is strong,tough maybe fit ,but healthy not quite
very few athletes retire without living in pain for the rest of thier life.
I`m a ex-runner and my feet will hurt forever.