Morality of steriods apologists? - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

SeattleUte · 08-09-2007, 04:33 PM

I have to wonder what steroids apologists even find appealing about spectator sports. For me part of it is escapism, living vicariously through others' grand achievements, and even experiencing the feeling of tragedy and pathos associated with their failures (without too much personal cost). At its best sport is like art, but only in crime noir is the "hero" immoral. And even there the anti-hero will ultimately experience a form of universal justice. I don't like to live vicariously through cheats. It doesn't make me feel good about myself.

If steroids aren't a problem because everyone is doing it, it's time to examine the ethical and moral underpinnings of spectator sports. What is the meaning of sport? What would Aristotle, the Greek who preached striving for personal excellence in all things, from the most menial endeavors to the most grand, think of steroids? (The ancient Greeks invented institutionalized spectator sports as well as most else of our intellectual and popular culture. Personally, I think when all else fails it's useful to look to those great dead guys for advice.)

Would you want a steroids apologist to marry your son or daughter? Seriously, I'm curious about what kind of moral compass guides the behavior of folks who think cheating at competitive anything is okay. Is plagiarism okay too? How about insider trading?

The steroid apologists' favorite argument is that Bonds had to face juiced pitchers. Here's the logical extension of the steroid apologists' arguments--steroids should be made legal everywhere, all the way around. Well, in that case, I say archive the old record books and start over again at year zero. For that matter, why not use robots or genetically engineer athletic freaks like in the sci fi novels? I find it about as easy to relate personally to McGwire or Bonds as a robot or a freak mutant.

For my part my interest inspectator sports is pretty much reduced to following the two teams associated with places I went to school because of this kind of fraudulence.

Jeff Lebowski · 08-09-2007, 06:29 PM

Walter and I couldn't agree more.

But I have a hard time believing this whole "nobody is clean" argument. Sounds suspiciously like rationalization to me. Given the testing and the rules enforcement that most sports employ these days, that just doesn't seem realistic.

08-09-2007, 04:33 PM	#1
SeattleUte fairlds.org Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 10,665	Morality of steriods apologists? I have to wonder what steroids apologists even find appealing about spectator sports. For me part of it is escapism, living vicariously through others' grand achievements, and even experiencing the feeling of tragedy and pathos associated with their failures (without too much personal cost). At its best sport is like art, but only in crime noir is the "hero" immoral. And even there the anti-hero will ultimately experience a form of universal justice. I don't like to live vicariously through cheats. It doesn't make me feel good about myself. If steroids aren't a problem because everyone is doing it, it's time to examine the ethical and moral underpinnings of spectator sports. What is the meaning of sport? What would Aristotle, the Greek who preached striving for personal excellence in all things, from the most menial endeavors to the most grand, think of steroids? (The ancient Greeks invented institutionalized spectator sports as well as most else of our intellectual and popular culture. Personally, I think when all else fails it's useful to look to those great dead guys for advice.) Would you want a steroids apologist to marry your son or daughter? Seriously, I'm curious about what kind of moral compass guides the behavior of folks who think cheating at competitive anything is okay. Is plagiarism okay too? How about insider trading? The steroid apologists' favorite argument is that Bonds had to face juiced pitchers. Here's the logical extension of the steroid apologists' arguments--steroids should be made legal everywhere, all the way around. Well, in that case, I say archive the old record books and start over again at year zero. For that matter, why not use robots or genetically engineer athletic freaks like in the sci fi novels? I find it about as easy to relate personally to McGwire or Bonds as a robot or a freak mutant. For my part my interest inspectator sports is pretty much reduced to following the two teams associated with places I went to school because of this kind of fraudulence. __________________ Interrupt all you like. We're involved in a complicated story here, and not everything is quite what it seems to be. —Paul Auster Last edited by SeattleUte; 08-09-2007 at 07:05 PM.

08-09-2007, 06:29 PM	#2
Jeff Lebowski Charon Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In the heart of darkness (Provo) Posts: 9,564	Walter and I couldn't agree more. But I have a hard time believing this whole "nobody is clean" argument. Sounds suspiciously like rationalization to me. Given the testing and the rules enforcement that most sports employ these days, that just doesn't seem realistic. __________________ "... the arc of the universe is long but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King, Jr.