What exactly is the purpose of sports, beyond mere spectacle? Is it right to commend someone merely because they possess the ideal genetics? These genetics might make them naturally responsive to training or, controversially, to performance-enhancing drugs. But does it really matter? It's noticeable that sports are often pursued disproportionately by those from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds. Yet, paradox…
> It's noticeable that sports are often pursued disproportionately by those from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds Are you sure about that? That goes completely against everything I've seen, and I come from an area known for high performance athletes. So much so that I used to eat lunch in highschool with someone who would go on to compete in the Olympics. I associate sports, and especially their pursuit at…
Cycling Doping Fallacies
81–90 of 113 posts
Re: Cycling Doping Fallacies
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having just listened to it seemingly being proud[1] and coming across as completely unrepentant. The podcast only reenforced my view that Armstrong should not be given any form of celebrity or space on any platform. He needs to just go away. 1. "More than anything I'm just really proud...proud I didn't quit...with no support or anything."
Can you give a rough timestamp for that quote to establish some context?
1. Go to the link https://peterattiamd.com/lancearmstrong/
2. At the bottom "Watch Podcast on Youtube"
3. Click "More" on the Description field
4. It will expand
5. Scroll down past the field to Chapters
6. Scroll past that to "Explore the Podcast"
7. You will see a section titled "Transcript"
8. Click "Show Transcript"
9. A dialog box will open on the right
10. Use Cmd-F on Mac or Ctrl-F on Windows/Linux to get your browser's Find in Page functionality
11. Type in "proud"
12. You'll find it quite quickly past the 2 hour mark
Re: Cycling Doping Fallacies
#83> I do think that history has treated Mr. Armstrong unfairly for the essential act of his cheating. > To be sure, Mr. Armstrong brought much of his disparate treatment on himself. Perhaps history, but I think modernity has been far too kind to Mr. Armstrong. I'm floored that Lance Armstrong is still given a degree of celebrity and room as a public figure, and still more that he can make money off of that. That his ce…
People like Allen Lim who made millions off books and supplements. Lim almost certainly knew what was going on.
If you buy Skratch products you're directly benefiting people who stood right next to Armstrong.
Re: Cycling Doping Fallacies
#84What exactly is the purpose of sports, beyond mere spectacle? Is it right to commend someone merely because they possess the ideal genetics? These genetics might make them naturally responsive to training or, controversially, to performance-enhancing drugs. But does it really matter? It's noticeable that sports are often pursued disproportionately by those from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds. Yet, paradox…
> It's noticeable that sports are often pursued disproportionately by those from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds Are you sure about that? That goes completely against everything I've seen, and I come from an area known for high performance athletes. So much so that I used to eat lunch in highschool with someone who would go on to compete in the Olympics. I associate sports, and especially their pursuit at…
Re: Cycling Doping Fallacies
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's noticeable that sports are often pursued disproportionately by those from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds Are you sure about that? That goes completely against everything I've seen, and I come from an area known for high performance athletes. So much so that I used to eat lunch in highschool with someone who would go on to compete in the Olympics. I associate sports, and especially their pursuit at…
So I think there are many layers and levels to sport engagement, and also there are clear studies that wealthier societies pump more into sport. Studies do show that more well off societies get more super athletes etc. However there is also other data: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/02/24/sur... Yes their parents do need to be well off enough to support them, but these are people that still strugg…
Counterpoint: Rich people still end up with Heroin addictions.
From what I've seen, doping is almost irresistible if you start down the path of high performance and have the cash to support it. People who are doping don't think they are destroying their body, they think they are unlocking their true potential. This is doubly true if you have enough money to hire a professional team to monitor/regulate your PEDs.
Re: Cycling Doping Fallacies
#86Unpopular opinion but I really think that all competitions should be untested like WSM. As it currently stands, the competition in most sports is about who has the resources to best hide their PED use.
A French sci-fi author wrote a novel where they do what you proposed... It is called "La guerre olympique" - the Olympic war. Needless to say it is a pure dystopia.
OTOH bodybuilding (the part people care about) and some strength sports allow PEDs. Some people do die young from steroid abuse, but not a lot of top dogs.
Re: Cycling Doping Fallacies
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
So I think there are many layers and levels to sport engagement, and also there are clear studies that wealthier societies pump more into sport. Studies do show that more well off societies get more super athletes etc. However there is also other data: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/02/24/sur... Yes their parents do need to be well off enough to support them, but these are people that still strugg…
> I don’t think you will find many tech CEO sons doping to be the next Armstrong. Counterpoint: Rich people still end up with Heroin addictions. From what I've seen, doping is almost irresistible if you start down the path of high performance and have the cash to support it. People who are doping don't think they are destroying their body, they think they are unlocking their true potential. This is doubly true if you…
Re: Cycling Doping Fallacies
#881) Armstrong was (is) an asshole who destroyed careers and lives, which is part of why they threw the book at him as opposed to others 2) That said, 7 in a row is still incredible. While he had a few incidents, he was always able to recover and never had an injury or illness that knocked him out. If Roglic could say the same, he'd probably have won at least 2 Tours if not three 3) Of course they're still all doping.…
Re: Cycling Doping Fallacies
#89Unpopular opinion but I really think that all competitions should be untested like WSM. As it currently stands, the competition in most sports is about who has the resources to best hide their PED use.
It also makes cycling a competition of who has the best genes and training plan. Which is kinda gross honestly. Open up the drugs and then there are whole other aspects to the competition than being born with good blood (literally).
edit: and it seems pointless to "solve" the problem of different genetics, because genetics would also influence how you reacted to PEDs. It's just adding a thing.
Re: Cycling Doping Fallacies
#90> I do think that history has treated Mr. Armstrong unfairly for the essential act of his cheating. > To be sure, Mr. Armstrong brought much of his disparate treatment on himself. Perhaps history, but I think modernity has been far too kind to Mr. Armstrong. I'm floored that Lance Armstrong is still given a degree of celebrity and room as a public figure, and still more that he can make money off of that. That his ce…
Here is a good recent interview with LeMond that delves into the Armstrong era:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xq5PQvBFvI
Remember that Trek dropped LeMond's bike line because he was speaking out about the cheating.
Another recent interview of Armstrong with a sympathetic Bill Maher: