Last week’s Mitchell Report on steroid use in Major League Baseball told us what we already know: Athletes want to be the best, and many will do what it takes to make that happen, even if it means cheating.
While we’re conducting a steroids witch-hunt, do we also call into question exceptional athletes who, like Tiger Woods, undergo surgeries to improve eyesight, even beyond 20-20 vision? The better question: Would most people still be as excited about these sports if the participants were not so superhuman?
Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post wrote, “We, the paying customers, don’t want normal-size athletes with normal abilities. We want to see supermen and superwomen performing super feats, and we’re willing to pay these gladiators a fortune. Why should they disappoint us? Why should we expect them to?â€
Posted by Kristin Mehler
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20 Comments
Damn right. Impotent ball smashing superstars! Tonight on Fox!
Personally, I could not care less whether they use drugs, surgery, or whatever. In my opinion, all sports past high school are about the money and nothing else. To cheer for a “local” college basketball team that is made up of players from around the country and the world is beyond reason to me.
The people that get all excited, throwing fists in the air as if they had something to do with the latest touchdown/score/whatever are pretty sad.
These are not “professional athletes” we see, they are entertainers, period. It is an entertainment venue with overpriced, spoiled entertainters.
Give me a good book any day over the “superbowl”.
Mr. Robinson asks the question; “If steroids are cheating, why isn’t LASIK?” Because it isn’t, you goober! It is a normal surgery millions of people have. It doesn’t cause severe health problems. It’s use doesn’t cause children to want to go have LASIK surgery. And it’s not against the rules!
The legitimate sports world should not be the WWF or whatever pro wrestling is called these days. I don’t agree that fans want to watch a bunch of steroid enhanced knuckleheads. They want to watch competition between players who have developed their natural talent to it’s maximum. Sports should not be a contest of who has the best chemist.
I’m thinking that Mr. Robinson forgot his performance enhancing coffee before he wrote this extremely silly article.—–
Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post would be wrong.
We want Athletes that make the sacrifice, make the cut, make the team and make the plays.
I was perfectly happy with Ruth’s and Maris home run record standing forever.
I don’t care any one ever broke Bob Hay’s 100 yard dash record.
Part of enjoying sports is knowing how to accept loss. Phrases like we’ll ‘get em next year’ are a part of sports as much as ‘we did it – we won the championship.’
Knowing who I am routing on (the player) is more important to me than not knowing the what (the steroids or enhancers.)
Agrees with Taz’s post. Ya think everyone is going to be upset when they find all pro sports is scripted just like all the grannies when they found out pro wrestling was fake in the 50’s?
I find it curious how when pro athletes get too old for their sport they go into acting.
I lost my interest in sports in general and baseball in particular after the strike. Look dumbasses, if you are getting paid to play, you win. Now I just see sports for what they are, distractions.
“It is a normal surgery millions of people have. It doesn’t cause severe health problems. It’s use doesn’t cause children to want to go have LASIK surgery. And it’s not against the rules!Posted by: outlander | December 19, 2007 at 08:11 AM ”
1. Millions of people do not have LASIK to enhance already normal eyesight beyond the standard of ‘normal’ (20/20).
2. Like steroids and any medical procedure or drug, there is a chance of severe health problems. I personally know at least two people whose eyesight was permenantly and irreversibly damaged during LASIK.
3.If children (and by children, I mean teens because ‘children’ (those 2-11) are not shooting ‘roids) learn about the advantages of having 20/10 eyesight in sports they will want to have LASIK
4. Andro was not against the rules when McGwire used it, is that OK too?
And to bring Tiger Woods into the conversation is a real cheap shot by Robinson. Tiger wore contact lenses before having LASIK surgery. As any golfer who wears contacts can tell you, being out in the dust and wind with contacts is a real pain. He was great before LASIK and he is great now. What’s your point Robinson?
Baseball and other pro sports are driven by a market factor that most of us cannot fathom in reality. Their pay is directly and dramatically affected by their performance.
I have never had anyone come to me and say “you know Brian, you are a pretty good accountant, and if you were to add a little muscle and get your 10 key speed up some you could earn more than twice what you do now.”
If they did I, like most people would have to ask how I could add muscle and get faster. If they then explained that they have some doctors who could give me steroids, put me on a diet and excercise plan and monitor me closely until the desired results were achieved, but there was a slight risk of side-effects, I would strongly consider it (as would most people).
That does not happen in our world though. It is easy for people to say ‘blah blah blah cheating, against the rules, blah blah blah, back in my day, blah blah blah, bad example blah blah blah’ when they are not in the situation, but if actually faced with it I think their story would change.
And you don’t have to have great vision to play great golf. It’s not like your trying to hit a moving target. Hell, Jack Nicklaus had such poor vision when he was still winning tournaments, that he had to keep asking his caddy/son where the ball went.
So why bring Tiger into it? Because Mr. Robinson is ignorant about sports.
you don’t have to be on steroids to play great baseball either.
The point is that all kinds of people in all kinds of sports do things to make themselves better.
You are right about the attraction of steroids, Brian. Players are looking for that huge contract that will set them up for life. They look for an edge. With huge amounts of money on the line, people will be tempted to cheat. And they will do it in very clever ways.
That is why testing must be sophisicated, and the penalties must be severe enough to make someone think twice. It’s a shame, but that’s today’s sports world.
“The point is that all kinds of people in all kinds of sports do things to make themselves better.”
No Brian, the point is that Mr.Robinson is an apologist for athletes who are cheating and fraudulently linking them in his argument to athletes who are taking legal measures. Legal-Illegal. Cheating- Not cheating. It’s not that hard
Outlander, you are quite defensive about Tiger. Is there something we should know?
“No Brian, the point is that Mr.Robinson is an apologist for athletes who are cheating and fraudulently linking them in his argument to athletes who are taking legal measures.
Posted by: outlander | December 19, 2007 at 09:26 AM ”
that may be your point, though it does nothing to talk about the point of the article or this thread.As I said earlier, the point of this Robinson’s article is that all kinds of people in all kinds of sports do things to make themselves better. Why focus on steroids only.
Why focus on steroids only.
Posted by: brian | December 19, 2007 at 09:45 AM
Because Lasik, unlike roid rage, will not make Tiger kill his wife, kids, and then himself.
TDT are you saying that Tiger is going to kill his wife, kids, and himself in a steroid induced fit of rage?He does not seem like the type. Of course, he also does not seem like the type to undergo unnatural, performance enhancing surgery.
TDT, maybe you meant to say that the focus on steroids is because they are unsafe. Is that it?Steroids are the problem because if abused or used incorrectly they can have dangerous side effects?
We don’t expect them to be superhuman. Obviously, someone is trying to put words in our mouths. We do expect them to follow the rules, whether they are baseball rules or laws of the land. I think both baseball rules and the laws of the land deny the legitamate use of drugs to enhance performance. Why don’t we have two leagues, one without drugs and one with drugs, and then we can see why we want laws and rules against the use of drugs in sports. But, that won’t happen cause there is too much money involved, both personally and institutionally. Of course this is the tip of the ice burg, there is probably drug use in college and high school. Follow the money.
It was really aggravating to hear all of the sports pundits and so-so fans continuely go after Barry Bonds crying about how unholy he was to take steriods! Barry was the anti-Christ of baseball, the devil wearing a baseball uniform, an athlete that no one dared have his kid or kids look up to as a role model. Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, and others were the shining examples of what ‘moms apple pie’ and family were woven into this grand ole game! Clemens, in particular was the darling of the ‘Bubbas’! “He’s our kind of ballplaya! He don’t need no stink’n stiriods! He’s done donit on puur hard wurk!” Yep, ole Rocket Rog was about a few wins away from reaching that mountain top called the Hall Of Fame! Then along came the Mitchell report! Roger’s name was on it. No amount of correcto, no erasing, no nothing could blot out the fact that Roger Clemens had taken steriods! Ok, HGH! It’s still the same! Suddenly there’s not a sound in the room! Have I gone tone deaf? The sports reporters, mainly the ones who were calling for Bonds neck have zipped it! Why is that? Could it be that Clemens name among others in that report has caused those loud mouths to suddenly develope laryngitis? Or was it due to total embarrasment?! For while they were focused totally on Barry Bonds they just assumed that Roger, being one of the good guys didn’t belong in their investigation! Some say it’s a glaring example of subtle racism! Of course that’s poo-pooed by those who were slamming on Bonds! “We didn’t think of Clemens being a user. said one reporter. He appeared pure as the driven snow. Barry, on the other hand has this aora of darkness!” Darkness,eh? Pray tell, what is the COLOR of snow?
I’d like to go on record here and now and state my firm belief that Jason Grimsley does not deserve enshrinement in Baseball’s Hall of Fame.
But it’s not about steroids.
I saw Grimsely pitch in Kansas City. Seems like any time Grimsley came into a game it was a sure sign that it was time to beat the after-game crowd to Arthur Bryant’s for a slab of ribs. Maybe — based on his on-field perfomances for (against?) the Phillies, Indians, Yankees, Royals, Orioles, and Diamondbacks — Jason was better qualified to work behind the counter at Bryant’s; and maybe his years-long cocktail of human growth hormones, amphetamines and steroids contributed to his journeyman career in major league baseball; but I doubt it. Based on Jason Grimsely’s career, those substances can hardly be classified as “performance-enhancing.”
Let me tell you what’s proven to be performance-enhancing: Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction. Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction (let’s
call it UCL, for short) is a Frankensteinian procedure that literally discects parts of a human body and places them where they were not meant to be. Oh, and UCL (for short) is also known as “Tommy John Surgery.”
More than five dozen major league ballplayers (by my admittedly cursory count) have benefitted from this performance-enhancing surgery. Éric Gagné won a Cy Young Award thanks to it. Tom Gordon’s banked millions since he got it. Mariano Rivera, Kerry Wood, Jason Isringhausen, Kenny Rogers… there’s a long list.
Barry Bonds had a Hall of Fame career in the works long before people started whispering about steroids. He’s never failed a urine test. “Illegal?” Babe Ruth drank a lot of beer during Prohibition. And no eclipsed
record can dinimish the class and dignity Henry Aaron demonstrated when he became baseball’s home run king.