Originally Posted by
montclairbobbyb
This will no doubt draw some heat........ but I first and foremost believe in individual rights to choose. I DO NOT agree with the popular view on sports doping. To me that's part of being a world-class athlete (and if it means enough to an athlete to take those kinds of measures and risks, they do so at their own peril). Remember Lyle Alzado? His choice, his life...
The flaw in this reasoning is that it isn't
just a given athlete's life, it spills over into others' lives (just like having a downtown full of homeless junkies does......or even one living in your basement. )
If an athlete chooses to use PED's, this forces clean athletes to follow suit, or play on a significantly uneven playing field. It basically puts athletes into a position that they don't even need to waste their time and effort to become a world class athlete, if they also want to stay clean and healthy, because the game is rigged against them right out of the gate ( and yeah, there are always exceptions, but exceptions don't disprove a rule).
Also, world class athletes are idolized by millions, who, for better or worse, DO blindly mimic what their heroes do. If it was discovered that an NFL player was the Grand Wizard of the KKK, we all know full well he'd be banished, despite the fact that it's "his life", "his choice", and even though "it doesn't affect his performance on the field", etc, etc. and they would do this partially because they don't want to be seen as endorsing that behavior, or give him a platform to perpetuate his views.
The rationale here really isn't dissimilar from the condemnation of PED use.