What do you all think about doping/ performance enhancing drugs in sports? With the recent "Tour de Farce" and Baseball stories I am just wondering what you all think. Also since we obviously have some serious soccer fans here, do you think there is doping in that sport as well? Would doping diminish your admiration for the athletes and the sport? Do you think it's a necessary evil to keep it interesting or does it hurt the sport (any sport in general)?
Personally, I think that all professional sports leagues should have some type of drug-testing policy in place. If for no other reason than to present the impression that they are policing themselves. But clearly an atmosphere must be created where there is an assumed 'level playing field.' I'm getting into Soccer more and more and yes, I'm sure they have their share of users in Europe specifically where it is most popular. I feel as though doping only hurts a sport overall because certain drugs have been known to improve performance over time. That is certainly not fair to all the hardworking athletes who go clean. Lastly, my admiration for the sport wouldn't be diminished because the sports history would still have it's legitimate history. Look at baseball for instance. Am I going to crucify baseball's illustrious history simply because of the "steroids era?" Of course not. Though it was a period of cheating, I judge the sport on it's legacy and rich history of the players themselves.
These days it seems like all sports are tainted in some way. Shit, even golf, considered the most gentlemanly of all sports, has its own share of crooks. But this summer has got to be the most scandalous in a long ass time - Barry Bonds, Tim Donagy, Michael Vick, Tour De France; shit, has there been a worse summer than this? Not in my opinion.
I lose respect for the athletes that are using doping. It isn't fair to those who are not using any drugs. I can understand the temptation since in many sports there is a huge economic difference between being best and second best. But in the end it comes down to integrity and to me crossing that line and taking performance enhancing drugs means you sacrifice your integrity. As far as soccer goes I think there is probably some (Edgar Davids of Juventus testing positive in 2001 is one of the better known cases). However, as soccer is very much about technical skills (and doping doesn't improve that part), in addition to the fact that you don't have to be among the best to make good money playing, I doubt there is as much doping as in certain individual sports. However, I like to believe that athletes are not taking drugs until proven otherwise. To always suspect people who perform well to be using doping takes all the fun out of sports.
When athletes take steroids or other performance enhancing drugs they do it to recover better from matches on top of trying to get stronger or faster. Doesn't matter how many drugs one takes if they don't have the technical skill there sport requires then it's all moot.
