The following is in response to a couple of college buds in the wake of the Ray Rice wife beating video.
Guys-
I thought/think the same as TB; TMZ [who broke the full video inside the elevator] (an LA company and reference, btw)! nuff said.
Add this to the Chomsky-an take of Americans not being stupid based upon their involvement in sports analysis, as being thoughtful about very complex things from trades to matchups. maybe he's added to his thesis. But when you think about sports turning over every rock to expose the vermin underneath, it makes the msm slimes "reporting" on EM08 (econ meltdown 2008) look like cub reporters. Let's not forget, the City of Bell scandal was an accidental discovery.
Other thoughts: with roids, here again, i think, we see the hidden hand of economics. when i was a kid in love with the Rams, a 300 pound lineman was a rarity, and, in fact, i only recall ONE: Roger Brown, who actually played for the Rams for a sec. Deacon Jones, a hall of famer and one of the most revered d-ends in history, would be a linebacker today - at best; he was a mere 235 or so.
Chasing the big brass ring of big bucks, the players are shockingly bigger, faster, stronger than ever. i mean, who ever heard of a lineman at 300 pounds who could clock a 4.6 forty and have a 26"-30" vert??? And some of them, like Michael Oher -- the subject (ostensibly) of Lewis' The Blind Side, one of the greatest books i've ever read -- who also was a huge lineman but could ball hoops and dunk!
Roids have long been associated with not just physical but mental performance; testosterone exhibits aggressiveness, pretty much a scientific fact. However, brains are complicated things and subject to a myriad of contingencies, from genetics to food to hydration to drugs (prescription and otherwise), let alone pollution. Now, with football, we throw in high impact, and you've a volatile lab. At least.
And of course, the leagues, owners and law enforcement don't care. There's simply way too much money, and here's where we come full circle: It's media, television, that, much like the Saudis funding Al-Qaeda (and trickle to Isis, Boko Haram and god knows how many other bad actors) - is the oil and gas greasing and fueling the infernal machine. There's other money too, but it pales.
On the athlete side, it's companies like Nike that provide the economic imperative, at least for the name athletes. Lance Armstrong was a Nike guy for how many years...? funny how Nike never made a commercial addressing the fact that Marion Jones -- a Nike athlete during the Olympics -- did a perp walk while king roids Armstrong gets to do a mea culpa on Oprah and retire to his home in the Hamptons. What a bunch of Janus faced donkey crap.
When have you ever heard Sportscenter lead with: ESPN will not broadcast teams that do not avidly police illegal drug use, because anything that provides an edge beyond your genes and work ethic happens to be CHEATING. Furthermore, that goes for anyone caught fixing games, including refs.
Other than Congress and Wall Street, I've never seen such in your face cheating. Look at the World Cup - confirmed cheating (refs again). It's a stark contrast to my childhood and while what Uncle Scam and Wall Street do makes my head explode, perhaps sports provides the greatest lessons of all, simply because of the passions involved.
