3 ms·

I don't know almost anything about baseball (European) an reading your post made me think you're arguing about legalized steroids until that pine tar bit.

nickysielicki 5y ago
Kind of switching subjects here, but I don't have a real problem with steroids either. Society is already fine with the idea that athletes will destroy their bodies as a part of competing at a high level. Plenty of kids around 15-16-17 will have torn their rotator cuff just from pitching in highschool baseball; or given themselves a concussion from a hard hit in football or a header in soccer. Weight lifting, even with proper form, is bad for your joints once you get to a certain point. They take a lot of supplements that aren't really healthy to chase maximum performance. A lot of the time, they're engaging in the same sort of practice that recreational drug users will find themselves in: using drugs that accomplish roughly the same thing before enforcement agencies know to look for it. Arguably, it'd be safer for them to just use well-researched steroids under the supervision of their team doctors. I don't see why supplementing your endocrine system is categorically different than anything else these career athletes do.
- getlawgdon 5y ago
  Did you ever figure that some candidate pro athletes DONT want to use steroids? Do you see the ethical problem here as well as the total pool of participation problem?
  - reader_mode 5y ago
    You could say the same about all the downsides and risks involved. Maybe some people don't want to risk CTE ? Maybe some people don't want to mess up their joints for the rest of their life ? Professional sports is about extremes and this myth about healthy lifestyle is there to promote amateur sports. In that context it makes sense to ban steroids because you don't really want to promote steroids to teens. And in contact sports I think the ability to inflict damage is increased disproportionately so more injuries. But they still get used all over the place.

nickysielicki 5y ago

Kind of switching subjects here, but I don't have a real problem with steroids either. Society is already fine with the idea that athletes will destroy their bodies as a part of competing at a high level. Plenty of kids around 15-16-17 will have torn their rotator cuff just from pitching in highschool baseball; or given themselves a concussion from a hard hit in football or a header in soccer. Weight lifting, even with proper form, is bad for your joints once you get to a certain point. They take a lot of supplements that aren't really healthy to chase maximum performance. A lot of the time, they're engaging in the same sort of practice that recreational drug users will find themselves in: using drugs that accomplish roughly the same thing before enforcement agencies know to look for it. Arguably, it'd be safer for them to just use well-researched steroids under the supervision of their team doctors. I don't see why supplementing your endocrine system is categorically different than anything else these career athletes do.

getlawgdon 5y ago
Did you ever figure that some candidate pro athletes DONT want to use steroids? Do you see the ethical problem here as well as the total pool of participation problem?
- reader_mode 5y ago
  You could say the same about all the downsides and risks involved. Maybe some people don't want to risk CTE ? Maybe some people don't want to mess up their joints for the rest of their life ? Professional sports is about extremes and this myth about healthy lifestyle is there to promote amateur sports. In that context it makes sense to ban steroids because you don't really want to promote steroids to teens. And in contact sports I think the ability to inflict damage is increased disproportionately so more injuries. But they still get used all over the place.