Should Sports Even Bother Trying to Control Doping?
On October 5, 2007 the Washington Post reported that “Track star Marion Jones pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Friday to two counts of lying to federal investigators and admitted taking steroids before the Sydney Olympics in 2000.” Obviously, her Olympic medals will be stripped and then she’ll have to sit around and wait for her sentencing scheduled for January 11, 2008.As another “top” athlete fails from grace we have to ask, “Can professional sports actually control doping?” Should they even try? Why not just let them dope it up?
Is such idea really that crazy?
Is the idea that absurd? Isn’t the primary issue with performance enhancing drugs that they give an unnatural advantage to the athlete taking them? So, what if everyone had the option to take them without professional consequence? Wouldn’t that “level the playing field?”
Apparently most performance enhancing drugs are temporary solutions with serious long term drawbacks. Therefore, let the athlete worry about the long term consequences and let the “sports police” worry about “fair competition.” If an athlete is so stupid to jeopardize their future health for a few moments in the spotlight, let them.
A new division might solve the problem
Of course, if that position is too extreme and somehow against the principals of athletic competition, then let’s split all sports into yet another division - the doping league and non-doping league.
Unfortunately, I must admit that the economics of yet another sports division within each individual sport makes the idea impossible; however, perhaps abolishing the current leagues and creating new ones might be a more realistic solution.
Think of it, sports that have player unions that infer with ideal drug testing practices could become virtually obsolete. For example, Major League Baseball could make a new league called Major Leagues Baseball No Doping — the MLBND. All of the club owners could pull out of the traditional MLB and join the new league. That league would already have strict and aggressive drug testing practices written into its policies. Any player wanting to join the league would now have to agree with the new drug testing policies. Players could no longer complain that rules to ensure “fair play” somehow infringe on their own personal freedoms.
An impossible battle
I know my idea is completely impossible. Unfortunately, I believe no-doping enforcement is equally impossible. Science always moves forward and that progress always leads to new “undetectable” performance enhancement drugs. Eventually, science might even make it possible to alter someone’s athlete performance prior to birth. Sound like science fiction? A computer on every desktop sounded just as absurd back in the 1950s. Look at us now.
Non-doping enforcement is impossible. Let stupidity win. If they want to dope, let them and spare us all the nausea of having to listen to another athlete give a tearful apology for their own stupidity.
Technorati Tags: Marion Jones, Olympic medals, doping, performance enhancement drugs
on October 8th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Doping is a stupid short term solution for increasing performance that will have long term permanent effects on the user. I think for an event such as the Olympics, pre-event testing should be conducted. As for non-amateur events, I say let the players or their unions determine whether or not to enforce the practice. Those that are doping will become obvious and sponsors concerned with the public’s view of doping will withdraw and/or withhold sponsorships. When the money is no longer there for this spectacular level of performance, the abuse will cease. It’s all about the money.