The plain truth about all
sports, including professional sports especially, is that in the final analysis,
while often entertaining, the outcomes of all the events put together amount to
about as much importance to our lives as the trash left behind in the stadium stands.
In short, sports and
sporting events are overly hyped occurrences, and the fans – fanatics – become emotionally
involved over essentially nothing. It’s
all about winning just for the sake of winning.
It’s entertainment. The multi-millionaire
athletes are merely playing games. Contact sports are a scripted outlet for controlled
human aggression. There is really nothing at all serious about it. It’s merely an
interval of fun and excitement, nothing more.
So as a libertarian I ask: why
should anyone give a damn if an athlete chooses to use performance enhancing
substances? It’s his life. It’s his body. It’s his personal liberty. He can
choose his diet. He can choose his exercise and body building regimen. He can
choose his own personal lifestyle. Why shouldn’t that include performance
enhancement drugs?
There’s nothing unfair about
it. Anyone should be allowed to do it.
Yet the sporting authorities
today, and even most of the fans, are brainwashed to believe that the nation’s
War on Drugs should make wrongdoers out of athletes who merely seek to enhance
their performances on the playing field.
Alex Rodriguez
told
a news conference this week that the past seven months for him has been a “nightmare,
probably the worst time of my life,” because of the severe punishment
hanging like a sword over his head by Major League Baseball for using
performance-enhancing drugs. He was suspended for the remainder of
the current season and all of next year.
"There's nothing about
it that's been easy," Rodriguez said. "All of it has
been challenging. I'm sure there's been mistakes made along the way. We're here
now. I'm a human being. I've had two hip surgeries. I've had two knee
surgeries. I'm fighting for my life."
Of course it’s not easy. Anyone
who takes steroids or other performance enhancing drugs on a frequent basis is
a goddamned fool. That stuff will turn your testicles into the size of garden
peas; wreak havoc with your entire body; shorten your life span and generally
turn you into a freak.
But how many professional
athletes live out normal life spans anyway? How many of them make big money in
their prime only to die young regardless of whether they use drugs? They are
fools in my opinion for playing contact sports anyway. Why don’t the authorities
ban that?
"I am disappointed with
the penalty and intend to appeal and fight this through the process," Rodriguez
continued. "I am eager to get back on the field and be with my
teammates in Chicago tonight. I want to thank my family, friends and fans who
have stood by my side through all this."
In addition to Rodriguez,
baseball handed out 50-game suspensions to a dozen other players for violating
Major League Baseball’s drug policy.
His suspension, which will
cost him tens of millions, “is based on his use and possession of numerous
forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including Testosterone
and Human Growth Hormone, over the course of multiple years," and for "engaging
in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the
Commissioner's investigation," according to Major League Baseball
authorities.
"Faced with this
situation, I made an error in judgment that I deeply regret, and I accept full
responsibility for that error,” explained Texas Rangers
outfielder Nelson Cruz.
Tigers shortstop Jhonny
Peralta, also said that he made a “lapse in judgment.”“I apologize to
everyone that I have hurt as a result of my mistake, including my teammates,
the Tigers' organization, the great fans in Detroit, Major League Baseball, and
my family,” he said.
But who has he hurt, and why
should he have to apologize for making a foolish personal choice which could
only do damage to him?
Sporting enhancement drugs:
why should we care?
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