Friday, May 25, 2007

Steroids and Doping

As Major League Baseball considers Jason Giambi's latest semi-confession, and the cycling world witnesses a full confession by a former Tour de France champion at the same time they are transfixed by the Landis trial, it occurs to me that there is perhaps only one solution to the current state of affairs: the athletes need to police themselves. The owners/sponsors/organizers won't do it, because they worry about the economic harm they will suffer if they appear to admit any past wrongdoing. The sports unions won't do it because they are run by extremists who believe that any constraint on athletes, even on drug-taking, is bad. So it's up to the athletes. They need to agree among themselves, outside of their unions, not to take performance-enhancing drugs, and to report on anyone who is doing so. It's for their health and for the integrity of their sport. Is there anyone bold enough to take the first step?

2 comments:

Political Realm said...

After the strike, I gave up on baseball for several years. I finally got back into the sport more than ever following Cal Ripken's streak and the McGwire-Sosa battle. It's sad to think part of the reason I became a fan again was because juiced up athletes were cheating the game.

In many ways, Curt Schilling did what you're talking about when he called out Bonds about a month ago. Of course, he had to backtrack the next day.

The Emperor said...

Yeah, my interest followed a similar path. I wish Schilling, and others, would keep pressing this issue. Ultimately, I think the game will be better off with the truth out there.