PCB Hands Out Bans - Discussion and Aftermath

[silentstriker]

Where the line is drawn isn't the important part though, you could try and outlaw protein shakes and other supplements if you wanted to.
The fact is that all sportsmen can take protein shakes and supplements if they'd like to but they're prohibited from taking steroids, taking steroids is therefore cheating.
If protein shakes and supplements achieve the same thing then how ******** are they to choose to break the rules and risk being caught when they could get similar benefits from competing fairly?
But they don't offer identical benefits do they, thus they cheat and take steroids for the competitive advantages.

I am clearly not saying that steroids are allowed in sport......

I am asking why they should be illegal to take in sports.

 

[Jarquis]

Because the line has to be drawn somewhere. If you make everything legal then it becomes the competition of who has access to the best drugs, supplements and steroids.
If you can regulate what people are taking and measure it etc, via means such as drugs tests. Then you can make sure that it's a competition of sporting ability.
Even if things such as protein shakes or whatever are available, everybody has access to it. So it's still a coompetion of ability.
Of course it would be practically impossible to make things such as protein shakes illegal because as far as I know it doesn't flash up in your piss sample like the illegal drugs do.

 

[zaremba]

I am asking why they should be illegal to take in sports.

For one thing, I'd have thought that if it were permitted their use would become the norm, and much more widespread than it is even now. And steroids are, from the little I understand about them, generally pretty unhealthy for those that take them. And by and large it's A Bad Thing to introduce a new norm of unhealthy drug taking into athletic competition.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Yeah, surely there'd be a duty of care on behalf of the sporting organisations.

 

[benchmark00]

I am clearly not saying that steroids are allowed in sport......

I am asking why they should be illegal to take in sports.

Do you think baseballers should be allowed to use corked bats?

Should 100m sprinters be allowed to use jet packs?

 

[Xuhaib]

in a recent interview PB chairman bluntly made it clear that there was political pressure on him to remove ban on one player so the chairman put the foot down and made it clear that there would be no discrimination; either we lifted the ban on all or none.

I am quite sure that one player was Malik sine he and his new wifey are pretty close to the Prime ministers son and once you have backing from such a strong lobby in Pakistan no body an do any thing.I say fair play to PCB on this.

 

[jeevan]

I am clearly not saying that steroids are allowed in sport......

I am asking why they should be illegal to take in sports.

Matter of preference, I suppose.

Some of us want sports to be an arena to marvel at what men & women can do by their own talents. Rather than what nameless, faceless biochemists or other types of scientists can do for them. We have many other avenues for appreciating the work of steroids designers.

The line drawn between protein shakes and steroids, to some of us, does not appear arbitrary. The former enables the metabolism of the body to run as smoothly as possible. The latter tries to change the metabolism itself.

 

[silentstriker]

And steroids are, from the little I understand about them, generally pretty unhealthy for those that take them.

No, they really aren't, comparatively speaking.

The line drawn between protein shakes and steroids, to some of us, does not appear arbitrary. The former enables the metabolism of the body to run as smoothly as possible. The latter tries to change the metabolism itself.

Change the metabolism? Have you seen the supplements that people take legally that are allowed?

If you make everything legal then it becomes the competition of who has access to the best drugs, supplements and steroids. .

It's already like that. Steroids won't grow muscle if you sit on your ass, same as protein shakes.

 

[Top_Cat]

The 'level playing field' argument is a bit of a furphy too. Consider that the surgery Shane Warne had perfomed on his shoulder meant he played Tests for > 5 years afterwards whereas had he been born in Pakistan, it likely would have been career-ending.

The line between steroids and other things you can take legally is pretty blurred these days and, tbh, some of the legal stuff is pretty effective. Creatine, like 'roids, isn't that nice to the body either but it's legal and essentially recycles ADP back into ATP to increase the amount of energy available to muscle cells, gets in the way of lactic acid build-up (i.e. quicker recovery, less fatigue) and kicks the body into a higher state of protein synthesis. Some (expensive) stuff you take to specifically prevent muscle catabolism and it's perfectly legal too.

Could probably build a better/stronger/faster cricketer with the whey powder stacks body builders use these days than roiding them up anyway. Steroids get a bad rap but a lot of the info around is out of date. I've never partaken because I can't afford them, though and the gains from stacks have caught right up.