Try as I might, I just can’t seem to get worked up about the issue of steroid use in professional athletes. I am a sports nut. Well, Baseball, Football and College Basketball. I watch the Olympics every couple years and once in a while I’ll watch pro Basketball and Hockey when they are in playoff mode. In most, if not all cases, these are adults doing things to themselves that do not hurt others. I say, go for it. Whatever damage you are doing is to yourself. A victimless crime if I’ve ever seen one.
There is the argument that if taking steroids you have an unfair advantage over those that don’t take them. Big deal. Sounds sort of crazy but why does it matter? It’s only sports. No one is forced to go see the games yet attendance is record setting for most teams. It doesn’t seem to bother the fan at all.
I’ve written before about my love for the game of baseball and this current scandal has done nothing to diminish it. The game is still the same; it’s just being played at a higher level. The drama is still there with each and every pitch.
Why not do it like the old skit on Saturday Night Live where they had the all drug Olympics. Remember when Phil Hartman’s arms came off as he was lifting weights? If people want to watch it, I say go for it. Again, the fans would pay for it and nobody is forcing the athletes to choose whatever the sport is for their occupation.
The bottom line is that professional sports exist for the fan and if the fan is willing to pay the price of admission then so be it. Performance enhancing drugs have proven to not be a deterrence to the health of the sport. I guess the old line is true. Chicks dig the long ball
1 comment:
I have to say I totally disagree, and, no, I'm not really a sports fan. But shouldn't a sport, a game, involve some integrity? It's a competition, and how can it be fair to have some players pumped up on an illegal substance? If steroids were legal so any player could use them, it would be different, but then, what would be the point? Doesn't the real enjoyment of watching any sport come from the appreciation of the players' natural abilities, physical and mental? Suppose you knew that the players on one team were all on steroids, and the players on the other team were not, would you realy enjoy watching the steroid team win? Food for thought.
-Trish
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