Baseball and steroids
Mar. 20th, 2005 12:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forsythSo, a couple days ago, Congress spent a whole day talking about steroids in baseball.
Now, one of the main draws of baseball is its traditions and links tot he past, stories and records and things. The records-keepers of baseball are so anal they gave Roger Maris a * by his 61 home runs in a season because the season had like three more games then when Babe Ruth hit 60. They ban aluminum bats because they work so much better, they'd completely lose the comparison to the old stats. And probably endanger the pitchers even more if it was hit right back at them. So yeah, from that point, things like steroids destroy the comparison to the older stats. The same with the Olympics.
On the other hand, with new methods of training, nutrition, and equipment, the boundary of what's possible keeps changing. Is it cheating to train athletes by having them live in houses with lowered oxygen levels, that makes their bodies work more efficiently? There's no good place to draw a line, really.
Of course, the important thing is there was no bloody reason for Congress to waste a whole day on this crap, anyway. Aren't there more important things for them to be doing? Like, y'know, a war, looming deficits, crappy economy, etc, etc, etc?
Tags: Mindscribbles, Politics, News
Now, one of the main draws of baseball is its traditions and links tot he past, stories and records and things. The records-keepers of baseball are so anal they gave Roger Maris a * by his 61 home runs in a season because the season had like three more games then when Babe Ruth hit 60. They ban aluminum bats because they work so much better, they'd completely lose the comparison to the old stats. And probably endanger the pitchers even more if it was hit right back at them. So yeah, from that point, things like steroids destroy the comparison to the older stats. The same with the Olympics.
On the other hand, with new methods of training, nutrition, and equipment, the boundary of what's possible keeps changing. Is it cheating to train athletes by having them live in houses with lowered oxygen levels, that makes their bodies work more efficiently? There's no good place to draw a line, really.
Of course, the important thing is there was no bloody reason for Congress to waste a whole day on this crap, anyway. Aren't there more important things for them to be doing? Like, y'know, a war, looming deficits, crappy economy, etc, etc, etc?
Tags: Mindscribbles, Politics, News
