July 27, 2013

Is there a pill for that?




Do you ever wonder why we take a turn for the worse? What are the inciting moments, the turning points, and the thing that makes us embrace behaviour that only a handful of years earlier was unthinkable?

First-they deny it happened as reported.
Next-they admit it happened but insisted it was exaggerated.
Finally-they ‘fess-up’.  It wasn’t exaggerated or taken out of context but insist...it’s no big deal.

What a week. I think back at the headlines of the week in sports. In track and field, once the noblest of sports, the Jamaicans and Americans have been caught red-handed swimming in drugs. I always believed that Jamaica was one big drug factory, but libel laws prevent me from naming names. I needed no research. All one had to do is look at these so-called stars’ physiques. Eight years from now we’ll know how many of them were cheating. My guess is all of them. Send the gold medals back now, boys and girls the postal rates will only go up.

Turkish football clubs have been caught fixing matches and have been given a reprieve. Thank you, Sepp Blatter.

The Tour de France is over, and being a gambler I’d bet there isn’t a single biker who’s clean, but proving it is another thing altogether.

And Stuart Broad nicked it but refused to walk. That’s cricket, now.

At the same time I’d bet the farm there wasn’t a single foreign substance taken by the men, women (oops pardon, persons) and horses with whom I just finished a game of cross-country racing. What a marvelous occasion that was.


What a bloody shame there isn’t a pill ... 
well you get my drift.

2 comments:

Tartanscot said...

“[Y]our adversary the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…” ~in his first letter to “God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces,” the apostle (then Pope, later Saint) Peter.

We keep tucking on Lucifer’s cape.

Dr. Bunsen (and gaggle of fans) said...

Did you know?
• It is illegal to sell anabolic steroids for the purpose of improving a person’s performance in sports.
• Some athletes take 5 to 10 times the amount that a doctor might prescribe for legitimate medical uses.
• Some athletes take other drugs besides anabolic steroids in an attempt to improve their performance.
For example:
– stimulants (drugs that make them more alert and delay tiredness, allowing them to train longer). These may include pseudoephedrine or caffeine.
– analgesics (substances that act on the brain and spinal cord to reduce the amount of pain that is felt). An example is ibuprofen.
– diuretics (drugs that cause quick but temporary weight loss). An example is caffeine.
– marijuana (a drug that may have a calming effect).
The use of anabolic steroids causes mental and bodily damage that is irreversible.
Almost every athlete I’ve treated will say they only did it because they wanted a level playing field. That says something: everyone wants a fair chance, no more. So, let’s give young athletes a level playing field, without doping. We invest so much into marketing and idolizing athletes let’s put that same zeal into giving them what they really need: the ability to live their dreams without compromising their morals, or their health.
I think about the many talented athletes who did make the right choice and walked away.