Superdome's Blog

Hello Urbana...a city that starts with yoU! It's been a few weeks, but it's time for another installment of "The Rant" by yours truly, Superdome. The last show in November, the Wing T show put Patrick Arnold on the Hot"wing" Seat as we discussed Patrick's very interesting past. C-U has one of the most brilliant physicists in his chosen field. In fact, he is considered one of the foremost experts in the area of sports enhancement. To be clear, I strongly disagree with the use of steroids, HGH or other similar forms. To be more clear, I don't believe any athlete should be allowed to use them until they are at the professional level and of an age that they CLEARLY understand the physical and emotional effects (for some, this may not be until they are 40+ years old) AND it is legal to use for their sport. With that said, that doesn't leave many sports out there that you can legally use them (other than, say body building).
As I listened to Tanglefoot pepper Patrick with the questions, the more aggravated I became. Then Patrick said two things that really opened my eyes further:
1. As the testing means becomes more sophisticated to detect the use, the more sophisticated the "creators" become. IE, the next level of enhancement will be in the area of Gene Technology according to Pat.
2. The "haves" will continue to find ways to afford and use the latest technology, while the "have nots" will continue to fall behind the curve.

So, what do we say to this? Unfortunately, most everyone seems to be saying, "since everyone else, including my competition is using, I better start using". The scary thing is (in case you haven't noticed), the "everyone" is becoming YOUNGER, like 10-15 year olds. How do you stay on top? Those stubborn coaches, parents, boosters, etc. who are used to the "winning" tradition will say everyone has the same resources these days, we must stay ahead of the curve and be in the cutting edge of the latest technology. Let's consider some of the arguments from the "users" before I rebut and close this week's rant:
A. First, the argument "everyone else is doing it" is such a weak excuse, we won't even address it.
B. It helps recover from injury faster and allows the workouts to be more intense and longer with faster recovery time.
Again, if you're an adult and professional body builder, go for it, it's your body. By the way anyone seen a retired body builder after using? If that's what you aspire to become, there's not much I can say that will dissuade you. For the rest, I believe it provides an unfair advantage to those who have chosen to keep their sport pure and win the old fashioned way (by earning it).
Major League baseball is a joke in my opinion. Any record broken these days, I simply have to believe was accomplished with impure means. Who saved baseball? McGwire and Sosa in their magical home run race, only to find out they were both cheating all the while. Wait...baseball had no clear RULES in place stating this wasn't illegal, so THAT MUST make it ok, right? I say bring back Aaron, Maris, Gerhig and Musial, etc. when the game was pure and they played because they LOVED the game not the money and celebrity status. I'll leave you with this to ponder. I realized my aggravation was mis-guided towards Pat. What is REALLY driving this? Shouldn't we be mad at the agents, coaches, friends, etc. who contact the Pats of the world to get their hands on these products? Before you do that, what is motivating THEM? Is it to maintain their position or career? Who decides if they get to do that? Their boss, the coach, AD, Owner, GM, etc? And why are they motivated to fire someone? Unfortunately, it all comes back to the bottom line....WINS and wins produce what...MONEY.
If you disagree or not, PLEASE send your comments to me, as well as your questions so we may air them on the next show when we "roam the dome". Until next time, like a new Neil Diamond release on the charts, RISE UP Urbana!!