That is the only point being made, that it is a VERY hard choice. Blue collar dudes do not live in near an idealistic world as many slowtwitchers, and they may actually be racing to EAT.
Kohl is trained as a chimney sweep so that was his other option besides cycling. It doesn’t justify it but is helpful in understanding motivations.
I love all the talk of morals and ethics that always come up in these threads. Amazing how effective a semi-annonymous forum is in bringing out the self righteous moral outrage.
Then it makes your point a moot point, because there is always an infrastructure. It’s not like they can do without buying online and checking the info online also…They don’t have a lab to synthesize their own EPO. So there is always an infrastructure…
As for the athlete understanding…you’re making 2 mistakes in my opinion. You’re not giving enough credit to athletes who are willing to do anything to get faster, and you’re giving too much credit to doctors who don’t always understand the constraints of racing and the use of drugs…That’s why some still get caught.
That is the only point being made, that it is a VERY hard choice. Blue collar dudes do not live in near an idealistic world as many slowtwitchers, and they may actually be racing to EAT.
Kohl is trained as a chimney sweep so that was his other option besides cycling. It doesn’t justify it but is helpful in understanding motivations.
I love all the talk of morals and ethics that always come up in these threads. Amazing how effective a semi-annonymous forum is in bringing out the self righteous moral outrage.
Yes, I’ve gone to great lengths to conceal my identity. first initial and last name as my logon, link to my blog in my sig…
Kohl’s other option, besides being a chimney sweep or a doper, would be to go to college, go to a trade school, or (shocking, I know) work a bit harder and be a good *clean *cyclist. We can always make excuses for why we had no choice but to do the wrong thing.
I think it is ridiculous to give the athletes the prison sentence…give it to the “support infrastructure around them”…managers, doctors, pushers etc…without all these guys “supporting it”, none of it every gets to the athletes. I’m not removing the blame from the athletes, but you have to weed the “system” by giving them the threat of prison…then it ends quickly. Just give the athletes a suspension from the sport…put the rest of the dudes in the background in the slammer.
Dev
I agree that the support infrastructure contributes to the problem, but it’s the athletes that stand to gain the most, so why shouldn’t they also face the highest punishment? If you make the consequences of getting caught greater than the benefit of not getting caught, then athletes might reconsider their choices. Clearly a 2 year ban alone is not enough of a deterrent. If demand from the athletes were to go away, the infrastructure would also go away.
the athletes that stand to gain the most
I don’t think this is necessarily true. Sure, there is a potential for the athlete to earn more money, but that hinges on the athlete actually winning (or at least doing better) However, the supplier gets his money regardless, just like any drug dealer. They need punishment too!
If convicted, they should all be burned rather than imprisoned! Prison (and previously sporting suspensions and bans) hasn’t been enough of a deterrent so just burn the mofo’s!
OK, so that might be a little harsh (*might…*and little) but something more has to be done to stop these A-Holes!