OT..Effect of steriods on college FB

Submitted by jmdblue on

People on this board are generally pissed regarding the state of college football affairs.  I am. This generally stems from some combination of the three following factors: 1 We have been underperfoming for a decade or more; 2 we seem to be playing on an uneven playing field given the shenanigans we've seen at OSU, Auburn, Ole Miss ad infinitum (this is compounded by our general pride in not going down those roads to compete...we'll win and we'll do it right); 3 general feelings that the whole mess is just getting worse everywhere ie ticket prices/licenses etc, amateurism/player pay/ coaching salaries, stadium experience, etc. 

So here's my thought.... one of these days we're gonna hear about a major steriod abuse scandal ... Many players clearly use these substances as evidenced by their crazy weight gains and the fact that no one ever gets caught/punished.  If there was any effective controls on steroids, clearly we'd hear about someone getting popped from time to time... we don't.

When this bit of cheating comes to light, whether we are involved or not, will it be a "last straw" for college football fans?

cbuswolverine

January 14th, 2014 at 1:20 PM ^

No, you won't.  Neither will anybody else.  Steroids were actually a larger point of discussion during the great Roid-Rage Fear Mongering of the '80s and '90s.  We've reached the point where pretty much everyone assumes that many athletes use PEDs.  We just don't know exactly which ones.  People may be surprised by the individuals who are discovered to be using them, but they won't be surprised at PED use in college football in general.  

I don't know what sort of scandal you are expecting, either.  The NCAA runs somewhere around 10,000-15,000 tests on over 400,000 athletes a year.  They aren't going to catch half the Alabama football team testing dirty in one shot.

jmdblue

January 14th, 2014 at 1:32 PM ^

we could find out about it... Disgruntled player decides to tell a story about his former team's strength program... Son of Rosenberg does an investigative piece on his local team (maybe precipitated by a case of roid rage or illness)...  Son of Balco testifys to a client list that includes a large part of a college team... The NCAA decides maybe the size and speed of players is putting the whole profitable mess at risk and decides to get serious about testing.  It's just hard to believe something that appears to be fairly rampant results in little to no controversy. 

LordGrantham

January 14th, 2014 at 1:03 PM ^

Every coach in the country could be handing out heroin at practice and the sport wouldn't lose popularity.

Nosce Te Ipsum

January 14th, 2014 at 1:04 PM ^

What is up with the shitty titles by posters lately? Are you just unable to come up with a title that expresses what the post will actually entail? My thoughts on steroids are that they're extremely dangerous if dosed improperly. Suffice?

Monocle Smile

January 14th, 2014 at 1:38 PM ^

The '40s called. They want their obnoxious-belligerent-asshole-dad-who's-clearly-compensating-for-something back.

I knew you were one of those twits who yearns for the mythical "good ol' days," but it's just humorous to see it in action.

In reply to by ijohnb

Nosce Te Ipsum

January 14th, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^

Absolutely not. Aren't you aware that a woman out of place with speech should be sent back to having tight lips with a swift fist? Are you serious, Clark? I was responding to LordGrantham or whatever his sn is. Maybe, just maybe, that would be how that character or those around him spoke? It's called a joke. If only all of you and your kind were so quick to jump at injustice and rudeness in your everyday lives when others are threatened by it. What a place that would be. 

jmdblue

January 14th, 2014 at 1:58 PM ^

and threw an outlet pass that hit the opposite wall about 20 feet up.  An opposing player suggested I seek some.... female companionship.  It was sound advice that I'm passing on to you, NTI, in the friendliest possible manner.

Nosce Te Ipsum

January 14th, 2014 at 2:17 PM ^

You gave up being able to have that kind of vigor? I am not at all insulted by what you said. I wanted to make that clear. Woman can be had at any time if one so wishes. Our friend and reliable MGoPoster MGrowOld's wife met me and remarked on how handsome I am at UTL2. That part of life has never been too difficult. However, getting attention from women and gaining their affection is not the end all be all to life. What if that energy within you could be focused on something greater? A life's work, perhaps. I could delve much deeper but this is a sports blog and I'm going sledding. Laters. 

JeepinBen

January 14th, 2014 at 1:05 PM ^

Just look to the NFL. Everyone talks about the Seahawks and their great, hard hitting D... with out mentioning that half of them were suspended for substance abuse. Count the times ESPN talks about it all week leading up to 9ers/Seahawks.

Nobody cares about them in football, because bigger/stronger/faster/deadlier/YAY!

wolverine1987

January 14th, 2014 at 1:08 PM ^

Steroids only bother me in baseball, because only baseball has records and stats that actually mean something and can be compared throughout history. Football doesn't. I'm not exactly for steroids, and am for testing, but ultimately for foootball you are messing yourself up, no one else.

ca_prophet

January 14th, 2014 at 6:36 PM ^

... But between
- league expansion
- breaking the color barrier
- changing season from 154 to 162 games
- splitting the actual game rules to add a DH in 1973
- playing in Colorado and San Diego (two parks which vary by as much as 50% in their effect on the game)
- changes in pitcher usage
- invention of Tommy John and arthroscopy
- strength and nutrition training
- rise of amateur leagues providing sophisticated baseball training without going to college

... There's just no way baseball statistics and records can be compared in any meaningful way. The various saber metric methods essentially reduce everything to a normalized league which is continually updated and even that is often wildly wrong (as in, next years numbers change the value of the weights).

No baseball record has any real integrity, because the players have played very very different games over the years.

Sac Fly

January 14th, 2014 at 1:10 PM ^

Players have always taken them and they always will. There won't be any scandal because the schools aren't willing to pay for a drug testing program that will catch anyone using steroids.