I agree with Dan here – I don’t care if athletes are using drugs.
But for the cycling world, Thursday’s announcement was a measure of achievement. Cycling is doing more to test its biggest stars at its biggest event than most other professional sports. The depressing news of Landis’ drug test is a reminder that the entire professional sports world should be doing more to catch cheaters.
The real story here is not what our media watchdogs and sports authorities say. It’s blatant, gross hypocrisy.
Right now I’m using a performance-enhancing drug, which I need to function well. It’s called caffeine, and is part of the coffee I drink each morning.
Later I’ll use a drug that helps me relax. It’s called alcohol, and it comes in the wine I’ll drink with dinner.
Drug laws are insane enough. Sports drug bans are beyond hypocritical, because they punish one kind of enhancement while pretending that all others are okay.
I don’t care at all if professional athletes use drugs. They have already been modified in all kinds of other ways — such as diets, blatantly unhealthy, that turn pro football linemen into people the size of large refrigerators.
As I said, I agree with him. I’m not bothered by professional athletes taking drugs and I’m not been bothered by college athletes getting paid. People complain that this will result in the biggest colleges always having the best athletic programs, but why is it so wrong for colleges when pro sports have it (NY Yankees, anyone)?
[tags]Dan Gillmor on Tour de France drug ruckus, Athletes and drugs – so what?[/tags]