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Betrayal in the Sports World (Done with baseball!) (1 Viewer)

Malcolm R

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Probably because there are no "teams" anymore. Every player wants to be an individual superstar with a bigger contract than the other guy got yesterday, with the rest of the team basically being relegated to "entourage".
 

RobertR

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The culture of professional sports is very different from what it used to be. Players don't stay with teams, most players are subject to being traded to another team, and teams don't feel as loyal to cities as they used to be.

If baseball doesn't really care about steroid use, they should say so openly. All the fan can do is cease to support baseball or accept it. Not a happy choice.
 

MarkHastings

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But, in the case of hockey, there was a big controvery (years ago) about the goalies wearing "non-official" pads (i.e. larger than the official length). If a ref thought a goalie may be wearing 'illegal' pads, he'd be allowed to measure them. I was all for this rule because I wanted both teams to be evenly matched and have to rely on their skills to win and not by use of 'cheating'.

Just like in baseball, anything that goes against the rules to give a person the advantage, is wrong and should be frowned upon. In the case of baseball, not only is steroid use against the rules, but it's against the law (double whammy).

I lost my passion for baseball ever since the strike (way back when). It just made them all out to be the biggest/whiniest bunch of cry babies. I remember the next year when we went to a game and how much the fans would crank on the teams for being babies.

My friend yelled "Oh no! I broke a nail! Gotta sit out the rest of the season!" :D
 

Scott Merryfield

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It certainly seems that way, doesn't it? There's so much money and celebrity status (definitely related) at stake in professional and big time college sports, it's probably impossible for the systems to not get corrupted. Some sports are worse than others, but they all have their problems.
 

Bob_Bo

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The saddest part of that ruling is the implied meaning; that steroid use is ok.

What does that say to the college level player looking to get noticed by the big leagues. Or the high schooler trying to nail that scholarship. Or even to that 12 year old Little Leaguer (who absolutely idolizes the MLB players).

I really think they dropped the ball on this one and would expect some sort of retraction in the near future.
 

Phil L

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230 pound baseball players are on steroids.

270 pound linemen are just strong:rolleyes
 

Casey Trowbridg

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Sure, but the difference is that football tests for it. These things have been around for decades now, and baseball only began testing for it last season. Sad part is they told all the players that the tests were coming, they gave them the specific dates that they would be tested, and over 5 percent of the players tested positive anyway. The testing system is getting stricter this year, and a lot more random. Its a joke when you've got baseball players calling this whole testing process a joke, and demanding stricter testing. John Smoltz recently spoke out on this issue.

Hockey is a disaster, baseball and basketball have obvious problems, the problems with the NFL have been the same problems the NFL has had for years, of course they're not getting any better.
 

Phil L

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I think they are.

Steroids in moderation (not abuse) haven't shown to be a medical risk.
 

RobertR

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Big can of worms opened there. If steroids are ok'd, what keeps a player from "taking it to the edge" in order to gain a competitive advantage?
 

Phil L

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If a player wants to make that choice for himself, fine. It won't help him hit a curveball.
 

Marvin

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I suppose, but if a football player used steroids to get to a certain size and stopped, how long are the steroids detectable? Are all those 300+ lb. linemen (or 260 pound tight ends) bulking up naturally? The players never used to be that big when I started following football.

I'm kind of ambivalent about the whole issue of steroids but I don't see how someone can swear off baseball because some players take them, but still follow football (not that I have anything against football).
 

Casey Trowbridg

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I know that their are guys on the juice in the NFL, a few NFL players including Bill Romanowski are involved in this investigation. No sport is clean, but at least those sports actually punish the guilty. Under the current testing system in baseball, you really have to screw up quite a bit before any real punishment comes your way, whereas the NFL has banned more than 1 player for a full season for violations of the drug policy, which go way beyond just steroids.

You are correct that guys are a lot bigger now than they used to be but if you attribute that to steroids, then you've got to wonder about it in every sport, since it is widely considered that in general today's athletes are bigger stronger and faster than they were back in the 60's and 70's and so on.

Part of it is probably steroids, but part of it can just as easily be explained by changes in the way they condition themselves, and also the fact that now more than ever sports is a year round occupation. Guys in the 60's and 70's used to do professional wrestling during the NFL offseason to make extra money, but now they spend the offseason working out and getting ready for the next year. NFL teams have offseason conditioning programs in place that weren't in place even 20 years ago.

I don't want to sound like I'm holding the NFL to a different standard. If guys are caught breaking the rules they should be punished, whether that's football or baseball. I'm just giving the NFL more credit for doing something about it than major league baseball.

Consider this, you get a bigger suspention in MLB for using a corked bat than you do for being a first or second time offender of the steroid policy.
 

RobertR

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But presumably taking them provides some advantage, else players wouldn't take them. Unless you're saying taking more of them doesn't help. Is that the case?
 

Chris

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No, won't help him hit a curveball. But may turn a fly ball into a home run.

Steroid useage in order to heal injury, which many have experienced (like myself from knee surgery) is common. No problem.

Steroid use to add bulk and in repetition has no health benefits or gain outside of tainting a sport.
 

Phil L

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I mean steroids will only increase a player's strength and reduce his BF%. It won't help with essential baseball skills. It might turn doubles into HRs but it won't affect the basic skill of hitting the ball in the first place.

I don't think there would be any advantage from abusing steroids instead of using more moderate doses. Both will increase muscle mass and lower BF%. I can't imagine there would be a major difference in baseball performance from someone 235# @12% BF who does an occasional cycle, or the same guy being 260#@ 7% who using all the time.
 

MarkHastings

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But most ball players already know how to hit homeruns, it's their strength that allows them to actually do it. It's the steroids that allow some of them to hit 50+ in a season.
 

Brian Perry

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That's partially incorrect. Studies have shown that steroids can improve not only strength but also visual acuity.
 

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