Sport and Drugs

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Are drug cheats in professional sport just the occasional bad egg or is professional sport saturated with drug cheats?

http://www.economist.com/news/scien...-be-prisoners-different-game-athletes-dilemma

What do you think?

Optimist, pessimist or realist?

Bill

 

realistic pessimist

 

Getting more pessimistic really.
Cycling and sprinting have obviously taken some huge hits recently. But there are a lot of other sports with dark clouds over them. I don't believe it the majority, nor do I think it is a few.
2 big issues I believe that are a part of this is; 1) cash. NY giant receiver Victor just signed for 6 years for a total $46 million dollars. That is an AWFUL LOT of money. I know these guys have short careers followed by long term medical issues, but so do soldiers. That kind of money is just too much of a temptation for some. and 2) The media. Events like the tour, Olympics, any finals series, world cups/championships, receive huge in depth media analysis and build up which makes an event all the more prestigious, and the building of your profile or brand from winning - priceless.
As a passionate sportsphile I have this argument with myself all the time. But I still tune in, time after time, to watch the best of the best compete at what they do, hoping they are clean.
At least we KNOW the Australian cricket team isn't using performance enhancers. Bunch of hacks.

 

I would think that the temptation and pressure to artificially enhance your performance gets greater the nearer you get to the top and to the rewards associated with being at the top.

If this assumption is correct then I would expect to find the greatest density of users in the top group, ie those almost within reach of the big time and those at the top who want to maintain or improve their position. I would also think that the bigger the big time the bigger the size of the top group.

Using my own logic it's hard for me to imagine that their are any members in the top group who are not professional users.

Defining the size of the top group is difficult but at its biggest I would think it could easily includes 80% of those who have represented their country and at its smallest 100% of those who line up for an olympic final.

Does it make any difference which sport we are talking about? Probably but not much and certainly less and less as time goes by.

Bill

PS I knew someone who took up weightlifting. Along with his membership card he got his first lot of steroids. I know, it's just hearsay, it wouldn't stand up in a court but I believed what he was telling me and that it was becoming the norm even then (twenty years ago).