indeed... our entire culture of sports at all levels have become
ultra competitive across the world, and across disciplines for this reason it is very important to keep
the damned drugs off of ANY sport.. i can see the logical 'incentive' to use physical performance-enhancing drugs to get that extra edge.... i am strongly against it, not only because they will ultimately hurt the athlete, but more importantly, because it is cheating.
take the case of lance armstrong.... for years, i believed he was telling the truth, and i considered him a super athlete... it turns out.... he was on drugs all this time.... i do not know if he came across the idea after fighting cancer or not (i do not know the story), or he just simply decided to use them to enhance his performance... but here is the deal about cheating.... not only his seven tour de france victories were bogus, but then he was stripped of all of his titles.... now... think in terms of what he robed the world from the possible competition it would have existed without his drug enhancing bs, and indeed he robbed those athletes that could have beat him at the time... assuming he would have been at all super competitive as it appears the drugs made him...
frankly, i personally do not understand the mentality of drug taking even for the so called "recreational purposes" indeed... the society (primarily in the USA has been 'trained' by physicians that a damned pill will cure you from all ills, which follows, (once you acquire that mentality), that a damned pill will make you super-human.... i may have a very strict view in this particular matter because since my childhood i have been surrounded AND influenced by sports including family members at very high competitive levels... this injected a competitive mentality, based on fairness, and performance, that simply made the idea of using drugs (for ANY reason) simply a non-starter for me.
having said that...... as pointed out above.... the entire sports world has now become super competitive in the extreme.... only recently a friend of mine (who at some point was a member of the hungarian national team) reminded me that the footballer of today is more like a gladiator, compared to the days back in say.. the 70's and earlier and as athletes, compared to those days, are far superior....
I am CERTAIN that money has played a role into this super competitiveness but what aspect of life is not influenced by money ? but this is NO EXCUSE to allow the use of drugs.....
of recent, a modern sport (since the year 2000) has been developed that personally, it AMAZES me what these athletes can accomplish... that sport is crossfit.... as the names call it... it is a sport across several disciplines, based on strength, speed, aerobics, and stamina.... think about it.... in futbol, the athlete is required to be super fast, and have enormous stanima to last 90 minutes (plus) of constant running.... while you train, (in the old days) they told you to NEVER use weights training because it would slow you down... and while true if the training is not done properly, today is very important to use a limited amount of weight training to give you that extra strength you may need at some point.... without losing your speed
crossfit by design does all that.... in fact... i believe that having a basic training in crossfit (as background) to then further develop a particular 'other' sport would be of tremendous value for the athlete....
it also has another benefit..... like martial arts, crossfit will force you into a rigorous discipline through which, you educate your body to s l w o l y increase how your body can perform super tasks, and in the process, i also believe that will give you a very strong psychological edge....
crossfit has succeeded and has taken the globe by a storm of popularity and dedication
one of the BEST things i like about crossfit is that the 'tests" or work-outs-of-the day (WOOD) as they call them is the fact that many of them (with the exception of weight capacity) are THE SAME for men as well as women.... the other thing i like (in the same vein) is that do you want the prize ? then YOU WORK FOR IT... and even (as always) there are IDIOT judges... (think futbol referees, which without a doubt are the worst in the world).. you are trained to see those failings as part of the challenge.... therefore you prepare yourself both physicall AND MENTALLY to overcome any and all obstacles....
it is the ultimate place were individuality can shine, in today's world of.... "community organizers" -g
and it does a FAR better job to bring positive influence to the world than 50 campaigns against human injustice and atrocities than FIFA and similar liberal-guided theater of the absurd organizations.
what surprises me the most about this sport is that it was created in the middle of a society with a sickening mentality of 'entitlement'... yet crossfit is the antithesis of 'entitlement' (perhaps, it was a form of motivation), over the last few years, i have become not only a fan of the sport, but a true admirer of the participants, not only by the AMAZING feats that this super-athletes perform, but for the mental strength that it forges....
as they like to say.... crossfit.... 'forging elite fitness'
an elite based on WORK ETHIC & PERFORMANCE, as opposed to entitlement *just because* (this is my own thought, based on what i see).... for me, these athletes deserve their wins, in a society that i have grown to DESPISE based on the theory that .... 'everyone is a winner, everyone deserves a medal, and your ego must not be hurt'
i think it is a sickening mentality... and it is destroying this country... (that is my opinion)... the reality of things is.... as much as it is harsh.... "second place is the first loser" -lol but it is a reality that will forever motivate you in order to improve.... of course, you ALSO have to be mentally strong to deal with defeat and ALWAYS get up and fight again.... and again, and again, and again..... never give up.
anyway... end of rant....
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