With prodding from Congress and the media, owners and league commissioners have pushed for stricter steroid regulations and testing. So the game is on to root out the evil doers. Yes, I do think players bear responsibility for what they put into (or on) their bodies. But that doesn't mean players (even owners and commissioners) should roll over when the drug testing attack dogs bark.
Many people think players associations have moved slowly on the issue, which I think is an unfair criticism. Players associations are, in fact, working to eliminate steroid use and, at the same time, preserve athletes’ privacy and prevent owners from using drug testing as a weapon against players.
The media and Congress have built strong cases against athletes often without all the facts. Notable examples: the positive A sample of Marion Jones and the leaked grand jury testimony in the BALCO case.
Dick Pound, as head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), has used his power to severely criticize professional and amateur governing bodies for being lax when it comes to drug testing. The solution, of course, is simple: hire WADA to administer the drug testing programs.
I am against athletes using steroids, both from a competitive standpoint and for health reasons. But the question is, how do we approach the problem in a sensible, fair way?
For starters, listen to NBA commissioner David Stern. Said Stern,"[WADA] is actually getting harder to take seriously. Whenever an organization which purports to be even-handed and fair announces that a 'B' sample isn't necessary, then they lose an enormous amount of respect."
Stern continued, "We have these very intense procedures we deal with our players on, and we throw them out if they fail the tests. But we also have a number of processes in place to protect them."
Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins said it best in 2004:
"That phony careerist and human necktie Dick Pound should promptly remove himself from public life and quit trying to enlarge his reputation by wrecking the reputations of others."
Two years later that's still wishful thinking.
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