3 ms·

In a free country one could argue they have the right to use whatever gear they want, but everyone else also has the right to say it's a dumb spectacle. I'm no

In a free country one could argue they have the right to use whatever gear they want, but everyone else also has the right to say it's a dumb spectacle. I'm not going to pretend I wouldn't ever watch it, but there are already people in literal high school getting lifelong injuries because of this kind of push yourself to the limit mindset..... and there doesn't really seem to be many people advocating for Just Saying No to unnecessary risk. Maybe there's a place for it, but other organizations ban it for a reason, they don't want to be seen as promoting it, it doesn't fit their image or the story they want to tell, and what fun would sports be without storytelling?

necovek 3y ago
While I agree with the sentiment, I'd venture to say that even no-drug professional sports are pushing young people over the limit. Look at all the basketball players starting their careers all taped up in kinesio tape: this tells us their tendons can't take it, so it's — by definition — unhealthy. However, sports are already largely unfair: those with best means to get a good supporting team (physio, coaches, recovery equipment and specialists, psychologists...) can easily get ahead. Adding drugs to the mix would make it additionally unhealthy, I agree, but if we are looking to level the playing field, we can go either direction (allow drugs or disallow even more things like pain killers or supporting materials, and prescribe a max budget like F1 teams do).
- eternityforest 3y ago
  Absolutely agree there. Even completely casual sports are incredibly hard on the body, sometimes even more than a whole day of a manual labor job, and in some places there's still pressure to participate. Not all sports damage joints... but it seems like the ones people pressure each other to do are all unhealthy. I think we should go the other way, and just start over completely with brand new sports that just don't include anything likely to injure a person, or to give any major advantage to people who work out 6 hours a day instead of a half an hour. Perhaps even with no equipment limitations at all, to take some of the focus off genetic advantage and maybe inspire more people to do science stuff Everyone always talks about people not getting enough excercise (I'm not sure how true that is since lots of people have physical jobs) but nobody really promotes any sports an average person without the "I want to push my limits and know my capabilities and I feel amazing when I set a new PR" wants to play. Orienteering seems to be one of the closest, along with not-quite-what-most-think-of-as-sports like bowling and pool and various precision based games.

necovek 3y ago

While I agree with the sentiment, I'd venture to say that even no-drug professional sports are pushing young people over the limit. Look at all the basketball players starting their careers all taped up in kinesio tape: this tells us their tendons can't take it, so it's — by definition — unhealthy. However, sports are already largely unfair: those with best means to get a good supporting team (physio, coaches, recovery equipment and specialists, psychologists...) can easily get ahead. Adding drugs to the mix would make it additionally unhealthy, I agree, but if we are looking to level the playing field, we can go either direction (allow drugs or disallow even more things like pain killers or supporting materials, and prescribe a max budget like F1 teams do).

eternityforest 3y ago
Absolutely agree there. Even completely casual sports are incredibly hard on the body, sometimes even more than a whole day of a manual labor job, and in some places there's still pressure to participate. Not all sports damage joints... but it seems like the ones people pressure each other to do are all unhealthy. I think we should go the other way, and just start over completely with brand new sports that just don't include anything likely to injure a person, or to give any major advantage to people who work out 6 hours a day instead of a half an hour. Perhaps even with no equipment limitations at all, to take some of the focus off genetic advantage and maybe inspire more people to do science stuff Everyone always talks about people not getting enough excercise (I'm not sure how true that is since lots of people have physical jobs) but nobody really promotes any sports an average person without the "I want to push my limits and know my capabilities and I feel amazing when I set a new PR" wants to play. Orienteering seems to be one of the closest, along with not-quite-what-most-think-of-as-sports like bowling and pool and various precision based games.