Great Moments in Warped Public Perception
January 30, 2013 Leave a comment
I realize ESPN reader polls aren't scientific, but check this one out:
Baseball's confrontation with PEDs has been long and loud and public. It's the sport where people get hung up on the integrity of the record book way more than any other and where people get hung up on their relationship with the sport as a child more than any other, looking for heroes and purity and wallowing in more nostalgia.
The results of this poll is shocking. While I wouldn't call MLB's drug testing rigorous, it has helped to clean up the sport from the days where many (85% according to Jose Canseco) were using PED's. Having the system in place has helped cut the number of PED's significantly. I think that people may have voted that baseball has the worst problem because it's the sport you hear most about in connection with PED's because players keep getting caught. In my opinion Football probably has the worst problem for PED's of the sports listed in this poll. You don't hear about PED's as much in the NFL because there aren't as many people that get caught.
I personally think that the NFL is happy with it's testing program. It does get some people, so it looks like they are "trying to clean up the game", but they also want the players to be bigger, stronger, faster. The same reason that baseball once turned a blind eye to steroids is the same reason football is doing it. It's all about the money. The NFL knows their "gladiator" sports is very popular and very profitable, and they don't want anything to change that. They talk about "making the game safer", but I think that is all hot air. Think about it, the rule changes that are made in the NFL to make it safer are only rules that favor the offense. Why? Offense equals money. People tune it to see teams go back and forth on each other, and they love monster hits. The NFL won't take scoring and big hits away from the fans fearing the fans wouldn't be as interested. The league really doesn't care if it's players use PED's because it helps the league's pocketbook. Baseball was the same way until Congress had to step in. Until someone steps in and re evaluates the NFL's drug policy, the league will never do that on it's own.
