New at Reason
Aaron Steinberg explains why purging steroids from the pros isn't likely to have much impact on their presence in high school locker rooms.
Comments to "New at Reason":
Ken Shultz | August 6, 2007, 2:26pm | #
Yeah, I saw the standing ovation Bonds got in San Diego on Saturday--I was at the game on Sunday, damn it--and I'm attributing some of that to the big biotech base in San Diego.Biotech is to San Diego what aviation was to Seattle.
...but if those family folks in San Diego can come around, the rest of America will too. Someday people will look back at the controversy and wonder what it was all about. It just takes time.
Talking to other Padre fans in the stands yesterday, the idea was thrown out that because steroids don't involve anything like dogs fighting to the death (not directly anyway), that it just doesn't seem like a big deal right now. ...especially with Milton Bradley and Chris Young out on the DL.
Yeah, people will probably come to accept steroids in time. ...dog fighting, maybe not.
Ken Shultz | August 6, 2007, 2:30pm | #
Oh, and 755 is an important stat, but I think Giants fans should be thinking about another stat......14 games back! Ha ah ha ha!
Jack | August 6, 2007, 2:34pm | #
The fact that ESPN flogs the "for the children" argument while simultaneously doing more to increase steroid use by children infuriates me. If you don't want kids taking steroids, stop using trying to grow the youth sports culture to make money. Airing college sports, nationally ranking fifth graders, putting athletic success on a pedestal above all else--all perfectly moral actions, but ones that are far more likely to make younger and younger children resort to (completely rational!) steroid use.The only thing that will keep kids off PED's is to take the money and attention off of youth sports, which is impossible because the people we're gonna watch and pay millions to for adult athletics have to come from somewhere. It's a brave new world, we just live in it
Ruthless | August 6, 2007, 2:47pm | #
Jack,You want to replace the war on drugs with a new war on youth sports?
Is this another version of Reefer Madness?
Michael Pack | August 6, 2007, 3:00pm | #
There's a promotion on ESPN for a little league team to win the chance to play on TV.They won't be happy till their making money on tee ball.The Gaunt Man | August 6, 2007, 5:31pm | #
I'm probably gonna catch some flack for saying this, but there is some (small) merit to the idea that if we control drug use in profesional sports, it will cut down on teen PEDs useage.As Jack pointed out, it's about money and attention: the parents and the kids both want it, especially those high-dollar pro careers. If athletes, am and pro, seriously feared the consequences of getting caught using such drugs, they wouldn't use them.
Is there seriously an attitude among kids of "I'm gonna use steroids because [insert pro here] uses them, and I want to be cool like him?" Doubtful. But there very may well be a sense of "Hey, so-and-so uses steroids, gets away with it, and banks serious money. Why shouldn't I?"
Ben Rushing | August 6, 2007, 7:20pm | #
Because sports are a privaledge and not a rite, I would argue that mandatory drug testing for steroids is one of the few things that will actually save amature sports. Young kids do look up to pro athleats, but the real influence on them to take steroids is the coach suggesting and providing the kids with such drugs.MoebiusLost | August 7, 2007, 12:19pm | #
Correlation by itself means nothing. You need a causal link to make any substantive claims.Ventifact | August 8, 2007, 1:47pm | #
But not politically successful claims...Ross | August 11, 2007, 7:15am | #
No matter what the technology is - history teaches us that there is no way it can be throttled. Japan tried to keep out the gun in the 17th century - to ultimately lose. Nuclear weapons proliferate the planet, GMO crops, processed foods, etc., etc. There are many examples of people trying to regulate or control new ideas, only to be swept aside by the pressure for change. The drive to accept technologies that give people an edge is simply too irresistable - especialy when there is something important at stake! NASCAR fights with that all the time!To think that we can control the use of drugs in sport is naive at best. History teaches us that. Manage - maybe. Eliminate? Forget it. The lust for fame and fortune, especially in our narcissistic society, is simply too powerful!