Just finished listening to Chuck Klosterman on the Bill Simmons' podcast. Usual good discussion, but I have some thoughts on their steroid discussion. Klosterman asked Simmons why he had a problem with athletes taking HGH or blood doping or whatever*. Simmons had a couple of responses. Simmons' response ranged from fairness to curiosity about who is actually doing it. Here are my thoughts:
1.) Performance enhancing isn't bad. Proper nutrition and and weight training are performance enhancing. Ditto for Lasik and Tommy John surgery. One of Simmons' refrains is that he doesn't understand how moving tendons around or using bits from cadavers is any worse than using whatever A-Rod or Manny or Lance did. There is a difference.
2.) Steroids are banned not because they make you better at sports. They are banned because of the side effects that come with them. Per some article I googled, side effects to HGH can include heart disease, joint pain, and diabetes. It doesn't seem like the data on this is great and that work with this stuff is ongoing. Blood doping can also cause cardiovascular problems.
Generally speaking, I'm fine with people making their own choices and living with the consequences. If some doofus wants to drink or smoke too much (me) and wreck his (my) body, that's his (my) problem. This doesn't apply to sports though.
Banning this stuff makes sense because of the no-choice choice that players would be faced with. Cheaters force non-cheaters to consider steroids. What would you do if you were a marginal talent and were faced with the choice of taking steroids or losing your job? On the one hand, you're risking heart problems, diabetes, and God knows what. On the other, if your primary skill is throwing curveballs, you probably aren't good at many non-baseball things and still need to take care of your family. That is an unfair choice.
3.) Simmons also marveled that his BFF's 93 year old grandma was taking prescription HGH. The implication was that: if it's ok for her, why not good enough for athletes? This is wrong. In medicine, tradeoffs are made all the time. Consquences are weighed with the guidance of a doctor and patients make calls. For instance, my wife has been prescribed prednisone. The side effects are horrible, but not nearly as bad as her pre-existing joint pain.
I have no idea what the underlying condition was that lead to Dave Jacoby's grandma being prescribed HGH. I'm sure that the severity of that condition was weighed against possible long-term complications and side-effects. A big consideration was probably the likelihood that grammy wouldn't be around for any long-term problems. Because she is old.
It is very easy to differentiate Jacoby's probably-already-dead grandma and a thirty something athlete.
*For clarity, I will refer to all banned, performance enhancing substances as steroids unless otherwise noted. This will also include stuff like blood doping or amphetamines.
No comments:
Post a Comment