Drugs in Sports

Let me set the stage...It was 6:30am, I was riding the bike trainer in the basement because it was like 15 F outside with 4 inches of snow and an inch of ice. On the TV to help me mentally push through an experience that I can only equate to hell, figuratively, was Sports Center on ESPN. Not the best thing to watch, but certainly not the worst - I'm thinking maybe Sex and the City, or better yet, a new episode from Nip/Tuck (wow is it horrible) would "win" in the "Don't-ever-watch-me-EVER-awards".

Moving on....This particular morning there was ANOTHER story about baseball and illegal performance enhancing drugs. Of course there are drugs in baseball - there are drugs in EVERY sport. Baseball, Football, Basketball, Tennis, The Olympics, Soccer, and even my beloved Cycling. I have, just like all of you know, known about this problem for a while now. What really bothers me is when the sports casters on ESPN talk about Baseball or Football, specifically, everyone is in complete denial. Everyone is like "OMG Somebody used a drug - IT'S A LIE - IT'S A CONSPIRACY, NOT OUR PERFECT BASEBALL PLAYERS - THEY WOULD NEVER...EVER DO SOMETHING ILLEGAL"....bulls**t.

First off, there are always bad apples, in every sport. But to think that one over the other is better simply because it has the tag, "America's Pastime", does not give it carte blanche to be held to a different standard. Meanwhile, in the cycling world - one person gets busted for an illegal substance, and suddenly every news station is reporting how dirty the sport is, giving it a bad name. All the while, turning a blind eye to baseball, football, basketball, et al.

Why this is frustrating, is 3-fold. First, if a player from a "Major American Sport" gets caught - what happens? NOT A FREAKING THING, see Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jose Conseco, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro for reference. However, Floyd Landis got caught - albeit controversial, and guess what - BANNED for 2 years, all titles and everything won are gone. Secondly, to even mention that a major sport has some drug issues is almost blasphemy. All that has to be done is to check the news headlines for major sport dopers, but to bring it back up is like talking about your sex life - taboo. But dear God, baseball isn't dirty - no way, don't ruin it for the children. What a freaking joke. And finally, just to compare, cycling athletes are more tested than ANY other athlete in any "Major Sport". Win a stage? Get tested. Come in the top 20? Get tested. Oh yea, get tested before AND after every stage. Random drug screenings? To take a line from, probably the most qualified politician in the world, "You Bet'cha". 5:30am screenings are not uncommon....during the off season! Now, we can test baseball players - but not a starting pitcher, or a star player, or anyone who is good.

All this, of course, is moot pending the outcome of the Baroid Bonds trial - but ultimately, I have a suspicion it won't change anything. Nay Nay, instead, what we are going to see are excuses coming from...wait for it...LEFT FIELD from the journalists, indicating he was just one bad apple...yes, I am cracking myself up.

For what my opinion is worth, I say we go one of two ways:

1. Anyone caught cheating, in any sport, banned for the rest of your life. You're playing a sport for crying out loud. You're living the dream of most people on earth. You're getting paid to entertain my fat-ass on the couch. You're having a darn fine time and life ain't bad. In light of all that, while most of us have to suffer at a 9-5 or worse, you get to have fun. So, you mess up once, and you lose all privileges, sorry.
2. Let everyone cheat. The idea behind cheating in a major sport is to get an edge. In most sports being 1-2% faster, strong, smarter, quicker, etc. is the difference between making the hall of fame, and not. However, if everybody is doing it, there isn't an issue.