This. Shit like this is what makes me want to strangle a kitten. (Roid rage. Har!) First off, what makes you think these guys aren't working "the shit out of themselves" already? Steroids don't take the place of training, of being in the weight room, of taking reps. These guys still have to bust their ass day in and day out, and hone their skills to the point of absurdity. Just as an example, anyone remember Santonio Holmes' catch in the Super Bowl against the Cardinals? the one where he barely dragged his tip toes inbounds? That's not steroids. That's field awareness. I bet most people wouldn't even be able to get one foot inbounds if you were re-creating that play with nobody around you. That's reps. Thousands and thousands of reps. Also, what would you consider "outrageous chemical assistance"? Creatine wasn't around in the 80's. Does that count? How about hyperbaric chambers? The procedure Kobe received in Germany? Even taking anabolics and HGH out of the picture, with the advances in both supplementation and medical procedures calling any athlete completely clean and thinking he gets by on steak and protein shakes is absurd. At that point it becomes an issue of legality, nothing more.
Not once did I say that any professional athlete in any sport doesn't work their ass off. That's why they are where they are--they're the best. They've dedicated their lives to maintaining a high degree of skill in their sport. Holmes' catch was proof that he'd spent a lifetime working for that amazing moment. I'm not taking that away from anyone. What I am saying is that PED use (and for the purposes of this thread, I'm only talking about PED use) takes all that hard work and puts an asterisk at the end of it. It makes me think that they got to where they are quicker or easier than if they hadn't used them. It's a shortcut, and to me, it underminds the work that the other guys who aren't using PEDs have done to get where they are.
I believe this video is both relevant and funny. Also, if you haven't watched it Bigger, Stronger, Faster is a hilarious and insightful documentary on the subject.
I'm on ephedrine right now (EC stack, look it up). It's still legal in the US, you just have to be over 18, photo ID, only 2 boxes at a time, etc. I think it's more to stop meth production than recreational usage. Olympic Weightlifting being another one. We drug-test like crazy, other countries don't. We are 35th in the world. I will let you connect the dots. Because, clearly, making things illegal stops people from doing them. At the elite level, everyone does them. Period. This is already the case. No, Lance Armstrong is not natty. No, David Ortiz is not natty. No, Arnold Schwarzanegger is not natty. No, Dmitry Klokov is not natty. Yes, Babe Ruth is natty. Babe Ruth also left the Red Sox in fucking 1920. All of your heroes do steroids. The exceptions are few and far between.
I think steroids are the boogeyman. What you hear about steroids in the public's understanding is on par with what kids get told about smoking - except, unlike smoking (which is much much much worse for your health), most people never encounter steroids in real life, so those myths continue. With sane usage, steroids will not rape your mother and burn down your house. A cycle of Test-E will not kill your dog. Basically, regarding the health risks, listen to the guys who have actually done it, or read extensively about it. Like FreeCorps' post below. Regarding effort: steroids are what allow you to try harder. There's a reason you should be careful about taking training advice from a roider - it will be too hard for you to recover from. If you look at the routines of guys who do steroids and compete at a high level, they spend hours in the gym every day. Yeah, your average curlbro on roids doesn't know what he's doing, but you can't get to an elite level in sport and not try hard. They're not an "I win" button.
There is a major difference. Under most current rules, taking steroids is cheating. Is someone who is cheating displaying a 'higher level of will to win?' Sure. So is a guy who is willing to shoot the first baseman in order to prevent an out. I thought 'will to win' would be interpreted as 'within the rules of the game as applied to everyone' - so you're right, my post is 'inconsistent' if one reads 'willing to cheat' into 'will to win.' I've had many discussions about steroids with my wife, whom takes them for certain medical reasons. I don't think steroids or performance enhancers are bad per se. My only point is they are generally against the rules, and in order to foster true competition, you either disallow them altogether, or allow everyone to use them in order to level the playing field, i.e. change the rules to allow them.
So were the rules different on this topic, you'd been in favor of them? It's merely a point of rule-adherence?
EDIT: It has nothing to do with being a lawyer. Unless 'being a lawyer' means 'believes you should play by the stated rules of the game.' If that's your take on me, so be it, but if a sport says they try to be clean (i.e. not allow certain performance enhancing substances, and ban them) and some athletes do them and try to avoid getting caught in order to gain an unfair (not allowed) advantage, then I don't think it's lawyerly to believe it's wrong. It's called 'sportsmanship.' I think the bolded part is fairly clear. I'm not really sure how to say it any clearer than that, but I'll try. If everyone is allowed to do them (i.e. MLB, NFL, NHL, etc. remove the ban on such substances) then I don't have any problem with it. Otherwise, i.e. some take banned substances (and by 'banned' I mean 'not allowed' by their professional sport or are illegal under the law) and some don't, then I'm against them since the rules of the very sport they are playing ban them.
Coffee, energy drinks and ephedrine aren't schedule II drugs and don't have anything close to the same neurochemical impact on the brain as amphetamines.
Not only that, but they are a considered a schedule III drug and are illegal in the entirety of the United States and simple possession will result in a prison sentence in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. As such, all of the professional leagues are getting major heat from the government to enact testing. Right or wrong, that's the law.
Even if they are legalized, it wouldn't make sense to make them OTC with their health effects. So you're still at prescription amounts. It doesn't sound like the athletes were discussing are interested in prescription amounts. And it doesn't make sense to create an OTC loop hole for steroids while there are similar health consequences from other prescription drugs, just so we can watch people on TV hit balls farther. Plus, once we legalize it here, how does international competition work? We have convince the world to allow performance enhancing drugs? Isn't it kind of like speeding? Nobody does the speed limit but that one guy doing 80 in a 40 gets the ticket? Or possibly a better analogy, if you're keeping pace with the pack you're not going to get picked out? I suppose if every citizen went exactly the speed limit it would be a moot point, but that's not reality.
This may start to push it slightly off topic but I think it is close enough to be said. I'm a huge track nut and something that comes up a lot is "talent" and who has more pure talent/was born to be better at things. We tend to look at this as one trait, such as your friend and his high red blood cell count. But, he may also be much more injury prone or some other trait that mitigates his ability. What I'm trying to say is that you can't use the argument that it levels the playing field because it simply evens out one trait that other people are better than you at, but doesn't do anything in regards to traits that you have that are better than ones he has.
I'm not buying that argument either. Height, mental acuity, red blood cell count, a giant penis . . . all genetic traits that can be beneficial to your performance in one athletic arena or another. That's why you play that specific sport. Taking drugs to "even out" genetic advantages is a ridiculous argument. By your line of logic, it would be perfectly fine for a 5'4" guy to justify taking PED's so he could be competitive in the high jump.
The thing I hate about steroids is not their rampant involvement in sports. It's the fact that they are a HORRIBLE drug and it seems most of society seems to regard them as magical liquid rich people use to turn themselves into superheroes. They can't see it for what it is: poison that rots you from the inside out and turns you into a suicidal psychopath hell-bent with rage and self-pity.
So what's the difference between using EPO to boost your hematocrit and using amphetamines to boost your endurance?
This is a dumb argument, because once you get to the level of pro sport, everyone is going to juice to stay competitive (and they already are, in sports like cycling and Olympic weightlifting). Some people are still just plain better than others. I'd rather see steroids legalized/allowed so we get: - Less black market ridiculousness and some kind of safety standards. - More education and public knowledge about their use, how to do post-cycle therapy, how not to get gyno, have your balls shrivel up, etc. - A rational approach to when to use steroids. Fix your diet, your routine, and really push your genetic potential - then think about it. But then, people need to be educated on all that stuff, so that knowledge is probably never going to be common. - More elite athletes pushing the limits of human potential. Not to level the playing field, but to make the elite more elite, and to see things done that have never been done before. That said, I am worried about younger and younger kids using, especially at a time (puberty) when it can really fuck up your body. There definitely needs to be regulation. Maybe some sort of sign-off by a medical professional.