The guy who is in charge of the World Anti-Doping Agency doesn’t like American pro-sports league’s policies on drugs [story here (http://http/slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/MLB/2005/03/18/965642-ap.html)] [ link broken, no archive ]
Why does this guy think that his agency’s rules for amateur athletics matter for professional sports-entertainment? Why do people not understand that the fan experience is more important (more related to profit) than the purity of the on-field accomplishments? Why don’t they understand that as long as there isn’t an outcry from the fan for something to happen evidenced by a decline in sales of tickets or merchandise, or in viewership, there isn’t any incentive at all to do anything about it?
Why isn’t there an international outcry about the perception of impropriety in Italian soccer leagues? Or an uproar over the use of the aluminum bat in NCAA baseball? Or any number of other inane issues in sport?
I still don’t see why this is such a big deal and why anyone should be unhappy that Mark McGwire might have been using a drug that wasn’t illegal in baseball when he set the record – a record that he no longer holds be cause Barry Bonds broke it – while he might have been using a drug that wasn’t illegal. This is like going after someone who may or may not have been speeding on the Interstate, four years ago.
If the technology to enhance biology is outpacing the technology to detect it, I think it’s wonderful. If the leagues in America care more about sensational on-field performances than mere humans playing a game, so be it. There isn’t any compelling reason why some performance enhancers, particularly those that aren’t egregiously harmful, can’t be used.
These guys aren’t saying what they did was right, they are saying that what they did is done – both in the past and accepted by the leagues. They are doing the athletic equivalent of cosmetic surgery for Hollywood starlets. As long as they don’t take their game to the Olympics or other international competition, why should the WADA or the IOC care what MLB, NFL, NBA, or NHL policies are? Are you going to insist on doping tests for NASCAR drivers, PGA tour members, and X-Games participants as well? You want tough drug policies for amateur competition? You have them. Stay out of the business of professional sports entertainment.