Performance-enhancing drugs is a huge issue in sports today, and as usual, the real issue is being missed. Of course performance-enhancing drugs have no place with athletes, as this cheapens their accomplishments and is unfair. However, the real issue is that if there are drugs that can enhance performance, they SHOULD be given to referees and umpires. They are the ones who need their performance enhanced, and if there is a means to accomplish this, why not use it? In fact, why not have all referees and umpires randomly tested to ensure they ARE using performance-enhancing drugs?
I just noticed your article on giving performance enhancing drugs to referees and umpires, and I must say you make a good point. And yesterday in the Olympics we saw the need for an extension of the principle. An American gymnast failed to make the all-around finals because the rules say only two from one country are allowed to make it. In this case, the eliminated athlete, who finished third among her teammates, was the reigning WORLD CHAMPION. This irrational and stupid rule means that inferior gymnasts, who finished well behind the world champion in this Olympic competition, will make the finals instead. Surely this demonstrates that the members of ruling bodies and committees need performance enhancing drugs as much as referees and umpires do. After all, an athlete has to be in the competition before a referee or umpire can make a call. Another notorious case occurred a number of years ago when the NFL named the super bowl award the Lombardi Trophy. That came about because of rank sentimentality, Lombardi having just died. Obviously the award should be called the Halas Trophy. Halas founded the league, for crying out loud. And as a coach he won more championships than Lombardi did. So certainly, as with referees and umpires, we want the NFL brass to have their performance enhanced by any and all means, their personal health be damned.