Okay. Armstrong fessed up, several baseball players have also done so, and a virtual phalanx of athletes are either confessing or being forced to confess via testing, of using performance enhancing substances in order to achieve their milestones within their chosen professions.
These athletes are now reduced to "has beens" status, and any of them being stripped of awards, losing endorsements, enshrinement in the halls of fame, etc.
The bigger question in my mind is not so much whether it is right or wrong for them to have used these substances but rather, what is wrong with the culture in professional sports that drives these men and women toward the use of these substances?
Are owners, managers, doctors of these individuals careers placing undue pressure upon them that makes the desperate to maintain their status or continually improve? Is there any level of responsibility at those levels?
I have a couple of friends that either participate, have participated at a professional level within sports, and/or have close relatives who do so. I have spoken to several of them at length on the subject and their take on it is a bit astounding, and certainly unique in position. And that position isn't likely to be one that the general public or fan base is probably aware of.
I'll summarize them by making this statement and asking a question: Owners pay these individuals tens of millions of dollars to do what they do each year. We idolize them and place them on a pedestal and call them "heroes". Owners hold their multi-million dollar contracts over their heads constantly, and when an off day occurs, or off days, the threat of losing your livelihood, your healthcare and other benefits, and having to uproot your family and move to another city is starkly real, as is the threat of losing it all due to an injury. Doctors not only encourage use of substances (both legal and illegal) to heal injuries and enhance performance/health; and in many instances it has been documented that these very same doctors dispense them in the locker rooms.
When the use of the illegal substances come to light the athletes are held accountable in a highly public and financial way, and yet the doctors, owners, managers, of these athletes / teams are, by comparison, given a slap on the wrist if anything at all surrounding punishment. Is this the correct approach? Where is the motivation for owners, etc. to do the right thing?
Cheating is cheating.....no matter WHO is doing it. The owners, players, doctors or managers...if they are doing/allowing something they KNOW is wrong or unethical.........then they should be punished in some fashion. A slap on the wrist does not make wrong....okay.
Armstrong cheated. I have lost my respect for him as an athelete.
I feel exactly like Hank.
It is NEVER acceptable.
Quote from: followsthewolf on January 18, 2013, 05:33:50 PM
I feel exactly like Hank.
It is NEVER acceptable.
Me, too...even if he does give latitude to a Republican Congressman who gets caught trying to do the nasty in an airport bathroom. Hey, he wasn't cheating...he had a wide stance! :rolleyes:
But. . . is it the cheating or the lying about it that is the greater "sin"?
MLBB has had at least a couple of hi profile stars that incurred career-ending injuries, and yet they came back, in no large part, due to the use of some of the very same banned substances which enabled them to resume their careers; and all with the blessing of MLBB.
Armstrong "coming out" is likely due to the quickly approaching deadline surrounding the enjoinment of a class action suit against cycling athletes. I strongly suspect he is only doing so in order to enable protection of what remains of his empire, from the federal authorities and former employers who are standing in line to pick his bones, by joining with his accusers in pointing fingers. And don't be surprised to read that in the coming days.
Quote from: Exterminator on January 18, 2013, 07:15:29 PM
Me, too...even if he does give latitude to a Republican Congressman who gets caught trying to do the nasty in an airport bathroom. Hey, he wasn't cheating...he had a wide stance! :rolleyes:
You mean this guy here? :rotfl: The look on Chris Matthews' face at the end is priceless.
http://www.youtube.com/v/ynwCdc2FWrg
< You may now return to your previously scheduled doping conversation. > ;D
Quote from: Palehorse on January 19, 2013, 03:23:54 PM
But. . . is it the cheating or the lying about it that is the greater "sin"?
MLBB has had at least a couple of hi profile stars that incurred career-ending injuries, and yet they came back, in no large part, due to the use of some of the very same banned substances which enabled them to resume their careers; and all with the blessing of MLBB.
Armstrong "coming out" is likely due to the quickly approaching deadline surrounding the enjoinment of a class action suit against cycling athletes. I strongly suspect he is only doing so in order to enable protection of what remains of his empire, from the federal authorities and former employers who are standing in line to pick his bones, by joining with his accusers in pointing fingers. And don't be surprised to read that in the coming days.
The lying exacerbates the crime.
Without the original offense, the lying would not be necessary.
The subsequent fallout is well deserved.
I have absolutely NO sympathy.
(Having played on several levels, I am extremely prejudiced.)