It's leveling the playing field. It's a dirty sport, it's a sucker play to not use banned substances.
Really in all pro sports a drug test is basically just an IQ test. All a cat and mouse game. Lance never got caught during his run, just had samples tested way after the fact when better testing was developed. Now, imo, that is cheating (by the drug testers).
What's that old Chinese riddle, if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, did it really make a sound?
If an athletes drug tests are all clean while in competition and he's using banned substances, did he really cheat?
Well, I think it was Gilbert Arenas who said something along the lines of, “when athletes compete at the highest level, the talent gaps are so small that drugs become mandatory for those who wish to standout.” Yea, it’s easy for pro athletes to shine amongst mere mortals, but at the highest level, everybody is just as good as him.
Would I call it cheating? Ahhhh… maybe in combat sports, because you’re risking the health of your opponent. But, for most other sports, it gives them a poster boy who can inspire the youth, and drive endorsements. So, I would call it a necessary evil.
It’s actually a lot of hard work and science that goes into doping. Plus, the body has to be a good recipient of it. It remains a testament to the roid head’s genetic prowess.
Definitions matter:
Cheating is doing something against the rules to gain an advantage.
Rationalization is trying to explain why cheating really isn’t cheating while at the same time saying the cheating is necessary.
Lying is denying you cheated. Which all of them do at first.
Lance Armstrong did all the above and was sued by his own teammate and had to pay $5 million to him, he was forced to step down from his Livestrong Foundation and was subsequently investigated by the Feds for using donations to influence political favors. And he was banned for life from competitive cycling.
All of this speaks to his less than stellar character. And to say everyone does it so it’s ok is what 6 year olds do to justify their wrongdoings. Sad that no one places a premium on honesty anymore. I know a lot of athletes cheat, but I am not going to respect them for it. Call me old fashioned, but I will take honesty and character from an athlete over a W and their own personal glory. In Armstrong’s case he lied to his team, the world, his fans, friends and family. There is way too much of that now days to sit here and justify someone’s actions like that who you don’t even personally know.
I don’t know anything about the pro sports business, but cuddle comfort seems like a particularly bad place to trot out the “everybody else was doing it” defense.
Read the room, maybe.
@TheFunCartel the thing is that post the 1980’s, I don’t think there’s been an athlete who has risen to household name status without doping in some capacity. I can’t say for sure, but, if Nike, Under Armor, or some other big name sports company just placed a multimillion dollar bet on your performance, they’re going to put you on gear whether you like it or not. It’s not always malicious. If one of their assets hurts himself during preseason, and the doctors say that he may miss the majority of the regular season: his endorsers are going to juice him to the gills in order to cut that time in half. You’re crazy if you think that’s not happening almost all of the time. Why have access to the science, but not use it for sake of keeping things “fair”? Nothing’s fair.
Life isn't fair. Some people have natural testosterone and endurance that is through the roof and others don't. Most high level athletes are going to bend the rules and take stuff that is banned, and might be banned down the line. It's all gamesmanship.
@MonkeyNeedsAHug unrelated to consent issues when it comes to cuddling.
lol loved it when chael sonnen had 15x what is the normal T:E ratio and the media caught up to him and he responded with "they must've caught me on a low day"
Bike riding in the San Francisco Bay Area is the best! I have city, country, hills, flatlands, bay and ocean all within biking distance. Weather is almost always comfortable unless it's raining. I took a ride earlier this year from downtown San Francisco across the city, over the Golden Gate Bridge, and all over the hills to the north. If you come to the area, rent a bike if you don't have one--you won't regret it!
@FitSmartCuddler i love the Bay Area. Hell, I love the whole state of California. That’s the place I’m looking forward to riding in the most.
@wilderdude Haha! Uncle Chael was legendary.
@wilderdude
You might not see a connection between two cultures where people (mostly men) justify rule-breaking for personal benefit or shrug it off with the old saw that “boys will be boys”.
But your offhand assertion that the two are unrelated seems to indicate you’re not really open to seeing it.
🙈
To clarify: I am not saying that a person who took performance enhancing drugs is the moral equivalent of a consent-violator.
My assertion is that it’s a bad look to defend cheating with the lame “everyone else does it” here, as that is the defense of many of the consent violators who use this site.
For the elite, performing in the highest echelons of their field, there is no 2nd place. Among the best of the best, I understand why one is motivated to push the edge.
99% of people won't know what that's like. But everyone cuts corners once in a while, or bends a rule, or breaks a rule.
Civilized society can only mask that, under the veil, it's a dog eat dog world. Always has been. Always will be.
I really don’t care what the reasons are why some cheat because many at the professional level don’t use banned substances and they are all tested in most professional sports with a person in the room and with blood tests now. Are there ways around it? Yes, but those are diminishing. Choosing to rationalize why some do is a matter of ethics. If given the choice between a winner who cheats and loses everything or the Don Quixote who is pure but rarely wins, I will always choose the latter. For the public, the former encourages worshipping a cult of personality and operating under the pretense that winning was had by honest sweat, while making fans accomplices in the cover-up by rationalizing the behavior. There is nothing admirable or honorable about that.
This justification of cheating or bending rules makes ethics performative rendering laws or rules—be it religious or secular—pointless rituals and this has become more apparent in every facet of life everyday. I just choose ethics over celebrating the temporary personal glory of a cheater. And make no mistake about it—if you break the rules in an endeavor to win then one is embodying the very definition of cheating. That part is fact. How you choose to explain cheating says more about you and how you see life, but it does not change the fact that cheating is cheating.
I ride, I’ve traveled with my bike to Spain, 🇪🇸 Mallorca, Tenerife, Gran Canaria France 🇫🇷 Pyrenees Italy 🇮🇹 Dolomites, Riva de Garda Washington State (And this past summer went to the San Juan islands and rode) Colorado Utah Arizona Massachusetts Did a big ride there that covered like 4 states in one day) And of course My home of California
I also ride indoors on a platform called zwift - it’s virtual riding and I’ve met and become friends with people from all over the world from my virtual team,
@jillyain Very impressive. Love the scenery!
@jillyain I’m impressed! …and inspired.
Don’t know if I can get to that point (multi-state rides) while preserving muscle though.
@MonkeyNeedsAHug I think it's a massive reach for you to link the two things.
@jillyain - I didn’t get to take my bike when I went to Spain but I would have loved to have ridden over there. I’ve never been to Tenerife but I bet that was an amazing ride.
I have have a Wahoo Kickr indoor trainer set up exactly like my Giant Defy road bike. I used to use it with Zwift but I let my Zwift subscription expire.
@BR123 the reason I was able to do multistates is because they are all so close together- I think the total distance of that ride was 100 miles. 😁
@jillyain oh, you were talking admit the Massachusetts area. Yea, all of northeastern states are really close. I thought you were talking about out west near Colorado, Utah, Nevada, etc. That would have been absolutely brutal.
@wilderdude yea, @MonkeyNeedsAHug reached to infinity and beyond on that one.
riding my bicycle through trails is my favourite form of cardio
@jillyain I love the look of your Trek!
If I had to bike to work I'd quit. Got a license to upgrade to 4 wheels baby!! I am very serious about keeping in shape Preferred shape oval with a trapezoid option