Like a nasty, lingering virus, performance-enhancing drugs continue to infect sports at the highest levels.
Ugly accusations against American hero Lance Armstrong blew up last week.
In a recent issue of ESPN The Magazine, the Chicago Bulls’ Derek Rose was asked to rate performance enhancing drug use in the NBA on a scale of 1 to 10. His response: “Seven. It’s huge and I think we need a level playing field, where nobody has that advantage over the next person.”
On Sunday, Rose issued a statement denying the quote, adding, “Let me be clear, I do not believe there is a performance enhancing drug problem in the NBA.”
Unfortunately, I believe Rose was telling the truth the first time. That’s how jaded I’ve become.
I have a running disagreement with a friend of mine about PEDs. I get angry and judgmental about the subject. I say that athletes who dope should be rooted out and punished. For me, this is not a gray area. I consider Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemons, Bill Romanowski, Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, Marion Jones and others to be cheaters. Pure and simple.
My friend rolls his eyes at my outrage. His basic premise: The physical risks of PEDs are overblown, and drugs have become an inescapable and integral part of athletics.
He views steroids, human growth hormone, blood doping and the like as part of the evolution of sports science. He sees nutrition, high-tech training techniques, advanced equipment and PEDs as all part of the same package.
Plus, he argues, it’s ridiculous for leagues and governments to spend millions of dollars in a losing effort to make sports drug free. Just sit back and enjoy the show, he says.
I know other sports fans share my friend’s view. In the wake of the most recent allegations against Armstrong, I saw numerous readers’ comments like this: “I don’t care what athletes put in their bodies. I just want sports to be as exciting as possible.”
Statements like that make me cringe. So I’m going to get up on my soapbox for a moment to shout my opinions:
Trivia time
Can you name the sprinter who won the gold medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, but was later stripped of his medal because he used the anabolic steroid Stanozol. (Answer below).
Nicknames
I got a lot of response to last week’s “Lunch Special” column about the absence of great nicknames in contemporary sports. I asked readers to submit their favorite Colorado sports nicknames.
I was reminded of “The Albino Rhino” (Broncos linebacker Karl Mecklenburg), the “Three Amigos” (Broncos wide receivers Vance John, Mark Jackson and Ricky Nattiel) and “The Big Cat” (Rockies first baseman Andres Galarraga).
The best nickname of all: Rich “Tombstone” Jackson, the Broncos Ring of Fame defensive end.
Quotable
No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Newton on to Yahoo! Sports, on speculation surrounding the NFL lockout: “It’s like a case of curiosity killed the duck.”
Reader’s rant
“Honestly, I can’t think of a more devastating loss for the Rockies. This is a 1000x worse than CarGo or Tulo going down. The starting pitching staff is completely right-handed.”
— Brooke E, posting on The Post’s story about Rockies lefty Jorge De La Rosa being lost for the season with an elbow injury.
In case you missed it
offers up this list achievements for being Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man in Sports:”
Trivia answer
Canadian Ben Johnson won the 100 meters in a record-smashing time of 9.79 seconds, shaving .14 of a second off the previous record.
Patrick Saunders: 303-954-1720 or psaunders@denverpost.com
