Pro Football Talk acknowledges the double standard
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 20, 2009 9:26 PM CST
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PrintWe’re not quite sure how it started or why it continues. And, as folks who love football and loathe baseball, we’re not all that upset about it.
But the reality has been, is, and will continue to be that, while steroids use is a scarlet letter for guys who swing a stick, no such stigma applies to guys who put on pads.
The latest example? Pats linebacker Larry Izzo is expected to testify in the Barry Bonds perjury trial that Izzo received banned substances from Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson.
The news has been out there for a couple of days. But with the sports media transfixed by pro basketball’s meaningless two-day dog and pony show (apparently, Kobe has acquired a taste for Shaq’s ass), the news barely has generated a ripple.
We still don’t understand how this has happened. Maybe it’s because of the geekish obsession that so-called baseball purists have with the record book and the men who played in an era when the only available performance enhancer was a bottle of Scotch — as if Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle wouldn’t have loaded up their rear ends with anything/everything that could have helped them hit the ball even farther. Or maybe it’s because we all realize at a visceral level that human males don’t sprout cartoonish physiques without pharmaceutical assistance.
Regardless, as a people we’re far past the point of caring about banned substances in football.
We’re not saying it’s right. We’re just acknowledging the truth.
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or maybe it's because
football has had steroid testing for a long time?
Obviously HGH is going to be an issue in every sport until blood testing is allowed, but there have been star players get suspended in the NFL in recent years due to drug testing (Merriman and Harrison come to mind immediately).
Football, while still not perfect, is still ahead and has been ahead for awhile now in this area.
Greatest Inventions Ever? 1. TiVO, 2. Boobs, 3. Baseball
x
Football, while still not perfect, is still ahead and has been ahead for awhile now in this area.
How if football ahead?
Do you believe there is less use of PEDs in the NFL than in MLB?
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 20, 2009 9:38 PM CST up reply actions
definitely
i look at those ferocious linebackers and tightends and believe that (except for shawn marriman) they all did it legally.
Omar Vizquel: your starting shortstop for the 2009 AL all-star team.
Yeah,
I’m positive linemen who can bench 800 pounds and 280 pound, 4.5 guys are doing with mom’s home cooking.
Get off my lawn.
Football has had steroid testing for a lot longer than baseball
That is how they are ahead. Even though baseball has similar testing now, I think they’re more likely to not know how to properly administer it since they can’t do much else right on a league-wide level.
Greatest Inventions Ever? 1. TiVO, 2. Boobs, 3. Baseball
Having a testing program
that is almost guaranteed not to catch anyone but the worst abusers is definitely the way to go.
You get all the benefits of PEDs without so much of the nasty side effects of announcing suspensions.
Get off my lawn.
You making the assumption
that the NFL wants to properly administer it.
The NFL is a PR machine. They knew a long time ago that having a testing program to point to would do wonders for his image, so they implemented one. The Soviets and guys like Castro knew a long time ago that having elections would help their image as well, so they had some nice elections where the population overwhelmingly favored them. Just having a program in place doesn’t mean that it is real.
As Cahill says – it is very much not in pro football’s interest to have rigorous testing. I’ll add in that the large popularity of college football necessitates that pro football as a whole be faster/bigger/stronger than college (unlike pro baseball/college baseball, where the differences are often learned skills). The NFL needs steroids, and they have managed to deflect all criticsm by saying for a long time “we’ve had a program to deal with it”. Just having a program means nothing.
you're making the assumption
that the NFL doesn’t.
Greatest Inventions Ever? 1. TiVO, 2. Boobs, 3. Baseball
It's not an assumption
Even when an NFL star gets busted for steroids and suspended he still gets selected to the Pro Bowl. They don’t even care when the dumb ones get caught so do you really think they care which smart ones are taking PEDs?
if they didn't care
they wouldn’t suspend them.
Even if you do say the NFL cares about their image and instituted a testing program, what does that say about baseball?
Greatest Inventions Ever? 1. TiVO, 2. Boobs, 3. Baseball
Do you really believe football testing is as rigorous?
Sure it sounds rigorous, but that is easy for a wink and a nod system to avoid. Do you really believe only a handful of guys in the league are on something? And not just HGH?
Well, I think
that was my first and last Mike Florio article. Anyone that loves football and loathes baseball just doesn’t cut it for me.
I imagine in the future we’ll see more Reggie Whites and Frank Cornishs. They shouldn’t be so proud about not caring.
"I saw your act, just didn't make it for me. Just a lot of fluff."
Please, Do Exlpain.
Not enough graphs, stats, and whatnot in my post.
"I saw your act, just didn't make it for me. Just a lot of fluff."
Thank you
for that nuanced reply.
"I saw your act, just didn't make it for me. Just a lot of fluff."
I'll slow down next time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvn-tBeLpCk
"I saw your act, just didn't make it for me. Just a lot of fluff."
As a person
I am far past the point of caring about banned substances in any sport.
I am not sure I ever really cared.
LoneStarBall....You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
by LSBUser on Feb 20, 2009 9:53 PM CST reply actions
With ya
on that. I think the league should be figuring out what is safest to take through vigorous testing and hand them out to players. Anything not on the approved drugs list is tested for with universal, mandatory, weekly piss/blood/whatever tests to catch cheaters. Level the playing field and legalize anything not unacceptably dangerous.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
Did we need them to acknowledge it?
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
OT: LBJ
just wow!
Stability is key, and JD is a Beast.
Jindal - 2012
"AMMIITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABHH!!!"
How about the Suns
140 3 games in a row.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
LBJ actually disappointed
Having 49 after 3, and only ending up with 55
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
how bout dem Mavs
blowing a huge game against the Rockets
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw
huge is a bit of a stretch
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
That win puts them in 5th place in the West and a half game behind Portland
They took a break in the 3rd quarter though and let Houston hold onto a lead in the 4th. Maybe it wasn’t the most important game of the year, but they could have used the lead in the standing before they face the easier competition like Washington, OKC, Toronto, Milwaukee, and Sacramento in the next week and a half.
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
-The Outlaw
I'll bet we lose at least 3 of those games.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Maybe I'm wrong, but "why" just seems really obvious to me.
I wonder how many people who like both sports fairly equally, or at lest love both but love football more, tend to look at it.
I have pretty much the same outlook on steroids in both.
Of course there's a double standard.
Baseball is all about the numbers, and steroids pervert the numbers.
The only numbers people care about in football are Wins and Losses.
The 40 Trumps All!!!
I hate Michael Young.
"I don’t have any respect for anybody on here. Everyone on here is a fucking asshole who thinks they’re god compared to everyone else." -iorange555, throwing one of his patented sandy-vagina'd hissy fits.
Football exist for my entertainment on Sundays in the fall
That’s it.
"My mother always taught me that if the only thing you have to say is,
‘(Expletive) Dave Samson,’ then don’t say anything at all.
So I’m not going to say anything at all.
Is my mother the greatest or what?"
- Mariners GM Bill Bavasi, after signing Ichiro to a $90 million contract
Well, even for those who really care about football I don't think they're sitting there going, "OMG, Shawn Merriman did steroids! His sack numbers are tainted!!! The record will never mean anything again!!! NOOO-OOOOH!!!!!!!"
The 40 Trumps All!!!
I hate Michael Young.
"I don’t have any respect for anybody on here. Everyone on here is a fucking asshole who thinks they’re god compared to everyone else." -iorange555, throwing one of his patented sandy-vagina'd hissy fits.
by thedirkatron on Feb 21, 2009 3:18 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
Alzado said 90% in the NFL were doing it
I guy a graduated with from high school in the 70’s went on to become a college all-american. He was even on the Bob Hope Show!
He was drafted into the NFL as an undersized guard. The first day in camp they came to him with a needle and said, “if you want to play in this league you have to get bigger.”
He was very religious; wouldn’t even go out for a beer.
He came home the next day and went to work in his fathers business.
I could easily see...
90% of todays NFL players using PED’s.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
Sebastion Janokowski
In reference to how good the Steelers have been in their history: "No one is even close to them."- Steal Home
It's almost hard to believe how pervasive this mindset is
I was at the bar on Thurs and A-Rod was being discussed and my friend mentioned that baseball was the dirtiest sport. Took me about a minute and a half to convince him that, no, it’s NFL. Then the discussion with friends turned to how just current baseball players are cheating and I had to discuss the history of “cheating” in baseball.
F. I’ve been having this same conversation for the last 4 f’in years. I shouldn’t care about people’s opinion about my favorite sport but I do.
Yep...
No one in our area gives a shit about baseball. It’s all football and basketball. I just ignore people around here when it comes to baseball. They really don’t know anything about it anyway.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
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