NYCkayaker Anabolic steroids et.al. [was: Re: YPRC Commodore]

[jtobin at warpdriveonline.com]

Did I mention the fact that the Giants won the Super Bowl?
On Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:51:14 -0500
  L Bleich <kayakmidwife at mindspring.com> wrote:
> I never answer these e-mail discussions - I usually just 
>read them - 
> but I had to put in my two cents.  It's really good to 
>see all these 
> discussions about steroid use in sports, since it's such 
>an important 
> current issue.  I think that last discussion about it 
>not being 
> harmless was excellent and well stated.  In fact, I 
>wasn't aware of the 
> violence (both against self and others) connected with 
>steroid use, but 
> it certainly makes sense.
> 
> I also feel badly for athletes, such as Marion Jones. 
> It seems to me 
> that if this problem is so widespread, that it should be 
>addressed 
> universally, and not by singling out individuals and 
>ruining their 
> lives.  It kind of reminds me of things like alternate 
>side parking, 
> when occasionally the police decide to enforce the "law" 
>and give 
> tickets for  double parking, when it's been accepted 
>practice for 
> years.  I think it would be much more fair to promote 
>some kind of 
> educational and warning approach prior to enforcing a 
>law that has not 
> been enforced for years, as opposed to retroactively 
>singling out 
> athletes who have been working hard all their lives and 
>punishing them 
> after the fact.  Maybe that would provide some 
>preventive help  to the 
> next generation of athletes - who knows.
> 
> Laurie Bleich
> On Feb 8, 2008, at 12:09 PM, Rich Kulawiec wrote:
> 
>> On Wed, Feb 06, 2008 at 11:31:26AM -0500, mike wrote:
>>> At least the anabolic in sports is really harmless to 
>>>the other
>>> people, except for the rage acts.
>>
>> Two-part answer.
>>
>> First, it's not harmless.  It is Not Much Fun to train 
>>300+ days a 
>> year,
>> alone, in all kinds of weather, with no coach, no 
>>support, nothing, and
>> then travel hundreds of miles to a race...only to finish 
>>seven tenths
>> of a second behind a guy whose already-toned biceps have 
>>somehow 
>> doubled
>> in size from October to March.
>>
>> If you're me, and you're in your 40's when that happens, 
>>and there's
>> really nothing on the line but your own pride, then 
>>eventually you just
>> get over it.  But if you're 22 when something similar 
>>happens, and you
>> just finished third in a qualifying race that selects 
>>the top two for
>> an event that only happens once every four years -- an 
>>event that 
>> you've
>> been training for since you were 10, an event that was 
>>important enough
>> that you put college on hold, an event you may never get 
>>near again for
>> the rest of your life, then maybe you don't just get 
>>over it.
>>
>> Or maybe, even worse, because you're young and don't 
>>have the long view
>> yet, you decide to pre-empt that possibility by 
>>out-doping your rivals.
>>
>> And then, when you're 57, and your body is destroying 
>>itself while your
>> family and friends look on in horror, and while your 
>>doctors 
>> desperately
>> try to figure how the hell to stop it, and while every 
>>financial 
>> resource
>> you once had is drained to try to keep you alive, maybe 
>>you figure out
>> that it wasn't such a bright idea.  Too late.  Oops.
>>
>> Now multiply by the number of kids in sports who are 
>>good enough to
>> be competitive, but not quite good enough to be the 
>>among the best
>> without a pharmaceutical assist.  Make sure there's a 
>>generous dose of
>> the didn't-win-the-silver-medal-really-lost-the-gold 
>>attitude in play.
>> Add in peer pressure, coach pressure, team pressure, 
>>parental pressure,
>> societal pressure, financial pressure.  And factor in 
>>ready 
>> availability
>> of an vast assortment of drugs -- many of whose primary 
>>effects, let
>> alone side effects, are barely understood.  Set clock to 
>>"February 
>> 2008"
>> and you have arrived precisely: here.
>>
>> And that's the benign part, when compared to:
>>
>> Second, "except for the rage acts".  Yeah.  Except for 
>>the assaults, 
>> the
>> rapes, the suicides, the homicides.  You know: minor, 
>>transient 
>> problems.
>> Nothing to see here.  Move along, move along.
>>
>>
>> So I completely reject your assertion.  It does a lot of 
>>harm,
>> and that harm extends well beyond the individual taking 
>>the drugs.
>> And I'm profoundly sad to say that competitive kayaking 
>>isn't immune
>> to the problem -- I suppose it would be quite surprising 
>>if it were,
>> but I still find myself very disappointed every time 
>>that thought goes
>> through my head.
>>
>> ---Rsk
>>
>> p.s. I am not, by the way, advocating the stunningly 
>>idiotic approach 
>> of
>> the "War on Drugs", which is proving to be as complete 
>>and monumental a
>> failure as the "War on Poverty" was and the "War on 
>>Terror" will be.
>> I'm not actually advocating any approach at all to 
>>*solving* the
>> problem in this message; I'm just arguing that it 
>>(steroid and other
>> performance-enhancing drug use in sports in general and 
>>in kayaking in
>> particular) really *is* a problem, therefore worthy of 
>>debate over how
>> it might best be addressed.
>> **********************************************************************
>> The NYCKayaker mailing list is hosted by 
>>www.rockandwater.net, and is 
>> a public service offered to the kayaking community by 
>>the Hudson River 
>> Watertrail Association. Learn more about HRWA at 
>>www.hrwa.org
>>
>> To unsubscribe or change delivery options:
>> http://www.rockandwater.net/mailman/listinfo/nyckayaker
>>
> 
> **********************************************************************
> The NYCKayaker mailing list is hosted by 
>www.rockandwater.net, and is a public service offered to 
>the kayaking community by the Hudson River Watertrail 
>Association. Learn more about HRWA at www.hrwa.org
> 
> To unsubscribe or change delivery options:
> http://www.rockandwater.net/mailman/listinfo/nyckayaker

Joe Tobin
Murray Fire and Life Safety
30 Crest Road
Hillsdale, N. J. 07642
P 201 956 0707
This e-mail message is intended only for the personal use 
of the
recipient(s) named above. If you are not an intended 
recipient, you may not
review, copy or distribute this message. If you have 
received this
communication in error, please notify Murray Consulting 
LLC (jtobin at warpdriveonline.com)immediately by email and 
delete the original
message.