Friday, August 25, 2006

Fore-ward

I hate when people quote themselves, because it's an egotistical thing to do *grin*, but I'm going to do it anyway. Here's what I wrote on July 27, 2006 when I was Done With Cycling:
I've decided. I'm done with cycling. I just can't take it anymore! I stopped watching baseball because of Barry Bonds. I'm also done with football and basketball. Olympics - yeah right! Definitely not the summer games. Maybe my beloved golf is the last bastion of honor in all of sport. Unfortunately, I betcha that they'll start drug testing Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam in the near future.
Well, now it's happened. Not really drug testing yet, but the debate has started in the golf world about drug testing its players. I was very surprised by who started this debate -- it was Tiger Woods himself. You'd think it would be one of the other players who are whining because Tiger is winning all these tournaments.

In this article from SI.com, Woods reacted to the statement from PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem who saw no need to drug test its players without evidence of steroid use.
"I think we should be proactive instead of reactive," he [Woods] said. "I just think we should be ahead of it and keep our sport as pure as can be. This is a great sport, and it's always been clean."
I am definitely all for this move to test professional golfers. Many people have said that Tiger Woods has increased the popularity of golf just like Lance Armstrong increased the popularity of cycling. With the events of this year's Tour de France, I think cycling will fall back into obscurity because of its drug scandal. If golf takes this fore-ward step, I think its popularity will continue to rise and golf will remain a sport above the rest.

9 comments:

Michael C said...

Wow golfers getting drug tested? It's sad it had to come to that. They better be fair and test the Senior tour, too!

Fortunately my favorite sport, NASCAR can never be hurt by performing enhancing substances. Of course you can try like heck and modify the cars, but it's always caught and the penalties are stiff.

Dr. A said...

Maybe Pluto can be a NASCAR driver now. He's got some free time. (I just can't let go of the Pluto thing).

Lea said...

Test the golfers, test the clubs, test the balls and heck, test the caddies. I just want Pluto back!

Jenny said...

Do you suppose this whole Pluto thing happened because some test came back positive that it had used steroids at some point?!

Anonymous said...

Jenny! *LOL* If Pluto had used steroids, it wouldn't have gotten bumped for being too little! >;o)

About testing golfers ... I don't even see the point, honestly. All they do is bat a ball with a stick, and walk all over a highly manicured lawn ... I mean - it's not like drugs would make them more accurate ... !?

Don't forget that this is the lady who can't tell a soft ball from a foot ball ... so take any sports related statements I make with a HUGE grain of salt ... ;o)

ipanema said...

lol Dr. A. Pluto can do the grand rounds perhaps. :)


It seems unnecessary but if it's the only way to maintain integrity of the players and the sports itself,that would be alright IF there's no onbjection.

It's me, T.J. said...

It's quite possible that there are drugs being used in golf. I would think that the type of drugs that would be used would be more in the way of helping to keep one mentally focused for long periods of time. (ie: drugs for ADD, ADHD, etc.)

I can foresee that these 'legal' drugs would show up in the testing and that there could be quite a controversy over whether or not they should be allowed for use by the players. I think that these types of drugs could certainly give golfers a competitive edge.

One more thing...

I hate when people quote themselves, because it's an egotistical thing to do *grin*, but I'm going to do it anyway.

This comment got me to analyzing myself, if only for a few short minutes.

;+)

Especially since I 'quote' myself quite a bit.

In fact, I have this ~annoying~ habit of repeating myself which I believe has been brought on by having been the parent of 'lots and lots' of children for 'many, many' years...

I think I quote myself just to make sure that I am heard, and mostly because I have this overwhelming feeling that I am the only one listening.

later...

Unknown said...

I think the apprehension is that some golfers are using beta-blockers and the ADHD drugs. As has been said, it is going to be tricky to disentagle these from their 'legitimate' use, particularly given the much longer lifespan of golfers compared to other sports.

There was some controversy a while back over the laser surgery that Woods had on his eyes - and whether this extra acuity gave him an unfair advantage. This was something that I read in a newspaper so I'm not over-confident as to its accuracy.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this call for testing.

Regards - Shinga

Dr. A said...

Just to clarify, when I mean "drug testing," I'm specifically referring to things like anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs.

There is little debate that Tiger has more muscle strength than almost all the pro golfers in the world. Equipment (ie - golf clubs, golf balls, etc) are pretty much equal among the world's best golfers. An argument could be made that boosting muscle strength could give you a better chance to compete with the world's best - namely Tiger.

I agree that some medicines are used for legitimate medical reasons, but for drugs like anabolic steroids, when it comes to sports, there is no legal use, and testing for it has become a science on its own.