Read the debate intro and the opposing argument from Bleacher Fan.
Around the year 490 B.C., an Athenian named Pheidippides ran from Marathon Greece to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated. As legend has it, Pheidippides collapsed dead on the spot from exhaustion. He supposedly ran over 150 miles in two days before taking off on his final jaunt of 25 miles to announce the victory. He was celebrated as a hero in ancient Greece. I say, if Pheidippides was around today we probably would have tested his corpse for performance enhancing drugs before the body was cold.
Modern society has a growing preoccupation with performance enhancing drugs. Fear and accusation of alleged use of steroids and human growth hormones (HGH) in sports has become the Red Scare of the modern sports era. In response, public cries for drug testing have gained momentum and even elicited government intervention in some instances (i.e. the government’s probe into steroid use in baseball). Blood-testing in sports has come to the forefront of public attention as of late thanks in no small part to the refusal of boxer Manny Pacquiao to submit to testing preceding his marquee fight with Floyd Mayweather. This dream fight is in jeopardy of never coming to fruition because Pacquiao refuses to surrender blood samples during the month preceding the fight. His reasoning? Superstition. Pacquiao cannot be forced to submit to testing because boxing is not a unionized sport. To me an important question is raised: Should sports even be able to mandate blood testing? I say Oh negative! (Get it, like the blood type? Tough crowd…)
While I personally do not condone drug use in any manner whatsoever, I think society is greatly exaggerating the steroid issue. The solution is simple. If an athlete refuses to submit to blood testing, then do not let them compete. Manny Pacquiao does not have to fight Floyd Mayweather. If Pacquiao is willing to turn down the money, exposure, and fame that could come from the fight because he does not want to submit to a blood-test, then let him.
Aye, but there’s the rub! Boxing is, in my opinion, a sport on the wane. Boxing needs this fight. The sport is being forced to compete with mixed martial arts – like UFC, Strikeforce, and Pride – that are seeking to corner the market on TV and Pay-Per-View events. The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight could be the great hope that renews America’s interest in boxing and passes the love for the sweet science on to a new generation of fans. So it is not that Pacquiao cannot turn down the fight over the issue of blood testing. Rather, it is that boxing does not want that to happen.
If blood-testing really meant that much to society, we would demand testing and take a zero tolerance stance against those that test positive for performance enhancing drugs. Instead we offer second, third, and even fourth chances to those that test positive. If Americans do not wish to be hypocritical about testing, then there are only two choices. One, mandate testing in every sport and institute a lifetime ban for first time offenders. Or two, indulge in the spectacle that steroid users create in separate “anything goes” leagues.
I have always wanted to see how far a human being can hit a homerun. With “anything goes” leagues I would finally find out. Imagine the possibilities. We would have to add a super-mega-heavy weight division in boxing and ultimate fighting. We would finally see what happens when the unstoppable force (a two ton defensive line) collides with the immovable object (a three ton offensive line). And even the least intimidating of Olympic sports – like figure skating, curling, and the ribbon twirling of a gymnastic floor routine – would take on a whole new extreme feel what with all the ‘roid-rage and whatnot.
As a child of the 1980s I learned a lot from (allegedly) ‘roided up monsters. Sylvester Stallone taught me that no amount of communist rhetoric and illegal doping can protect you from the hammering lefts of a guy in red, white, and blue trunks. Hulk Hogan taught me to train, say my prayers, eat my vitamins, be true to myself, and be true to my country (do yourself a favor and click on the sweetest montage of Hogan-Americana I’ve ever seen). The point is, while I firmly stand behind the fact that performance enhancing drugs are deplorable, Americans still find entertainment value in those who use them. Until these mixed messages are cleared up, we cannot try to assume some moral high ground in mandating blood-tests of athletes. It’s hypocritical and un-American… Brother!
This is hardly an over-exaggerated scare! The pre-occupation with testing is not a result of some concocted crack-pot scheme to aggravate the athletes.
For the exact same reason that all gas stations now require you to “Pay before you pump”, all athletes must prove they are not using steroids of any kind.
As for your suggestion – “If an athlete refuses to submit to blood testing, then do not let them compete.” That is called REQUIRED testing. You are actually proving my point here. If the athlete wants to compete, they are REQUIRED to test. If they do not test, they cannot play.
Thanks for proving my point
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