Finally, someone puts doping in cycling into perspective...

[Kalidurga]

From velonews.com's latest Monday Mailbag:

Editor,
There is so much sadness, So much wailing and gnashing of teeth. So much angst. Cyclists are cheats. Cycling is dirty. Cycling is doomed. It's so embarrassing.

Just hold on. Chill. It's not just cyclists who are on the road to "deceive, mislead, break rules to gain an advantage." Take a look at what a quick scan of the news found:

According to the study "Academic Dishonesty in Graduate Business Programs: The Prevalence, Causes, and Proposed Actions:" 56 percent of MBA students acknowledged cheating, compared with 54 percent in engineering, 48 percent in education and 45 percent in law school.

"The survey by an anti-piracy lobby group shows the percentage of illegal software in use in the UK has stayed at 27%, below the global average of 35%.

"As a physician leader, how concerned are you about unethical business practices affecting U.S. health care today?"

Very concerned 54.6% -807 responses
Moderately concerned 35.6% -527 responses

"Is there a physician - or physicians - WITHIN YOUR ORGANIZATION who you believe to be involved in unethical business practices?"

Yes 33.1% -464 responses

Cosmetic procedures among ALL AMERICANS in 2005:

Botox - 3,294,782
Breast augmentation - 364,610
Laser hair removal - 1,566,909
Liposuction - 455,489
Chemical Peel - 556,172

In 2000, there were approximately 22,000 drugs on Health Canada's list of drugs approved for human use.

CIHI (2002) reports that just over three quarters (78%) of Canadians aged 12 or older said that they had used one or more prescription or over-the-counter medications in the last month of 1998-99 .The most common drugs taken were painkillers. (taken by 65% )

In 1993, prescription and non-prescription medications were estimated to cost $9.884 billion. . In 1997, only France, United States, Japan and Belgium of the 25 OECD countries that reported their spending on drugs spent more per person than Canada.

The reported rate of use of steroids among U.S. high school age males is 6 percent to 11 percent, according to the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy.

"Dr. Charles Yesalis, a Penn State professor of health and human development widely considered the authority on teen steroid use, estimated that at least 500,000 to 600,000 U.S. kids have used steroids. "

"NASCAR set an example at the season-opening Daytona 500 by busting 18 crew chiefs for rules violations. Two crew chiefs, Tony Furr and Kevin Cram, were suspended for four races when their cars failed post-race inspections. In addition, Furr and Gary DeHart were placed on probation until the end of the year for multiple infractions.

"Today, there are so many templates, and there's a reason for it. Every time they put a template here, we'd start cheating over there. It's not cheating, it's just racing."

"He cited several cases, including that of U.S. Olympic medal-winner Marion Jones whose ex-husband said she used steroids. She denied the allegations. Rumors abound, said Wheatcroft, about a tennis player whose physique is "reminiscent of Barry Bonds." Bonds is the baseball player who took synthetic steroids, claiming he thought they were flaxseed oil.

The pressure to win pushes competitors over the limits of fair play in many ways, not all of them chemical. The outbreak of diving during this summer's soccer World Cup ("plain fraud," said Wheatcroft) was enough to turn any spectator deeply cynical.

The 2005 WADA report on Laboratory Statistics shows 3,909 Adverse Analytical Findings (positive results) out of 183,337 tests. (2.13%).

Cycling: - 3.78% - 482 positives out of 12,751 tests
Baseball: - 3.69% - - 390/10,580
Triathlon: - 3.14% - - 74/2,170
Archery: - 2.94% - 25/850
Golf: - 5.21% - 20/384
Rugby: - 2.46% - 113/4,601
Ice Hockey: - 2.87% - 79/2,751
Boxing: - 3.14% - 83/2433
Volleyball: - 2.06% - 54/2161
Weightlifting: - 2.50% - 146/5842
Athletics: - 1.67% - 342/20,464
Football (Soccer): 1.46% - 343/23,478
Billiards: - 9.96% - 28/281
Motorcycle Racing: 3.23% - 12/372
Underwater sports: 3.22% - 12/373
Orienteering: - 2.09% - 10/479
Bandy: - 3.94% - 8/203

55.2% of all Adverse Analytical Findings were Anabolic agents (43.4%) or stimulants.

60.7% of AAF for Anabolic agents the identified substance was Testosterone.

"Victory in the ancient Olympics ensured rich rewards in the form of money, food, housing, tax exemptions and release from army service. Not surprisingly, bribing and cheating became commonplace.

Drug use was ultimately one of the major reasons for the dissolution of the ancient Olympic Games."

Cycling has problems? Just look around.
Leen Tuk
Hamilton, Canada

There's doping in Bandy!? What is there left to believe in? - Editor

Golf and billiards have higher incidents of doping than cycling! Take that, D-i-c-k Pound!!

And what the heck is bandy, anyway?

[snapdragen]

Yay Wikipedia!

Bandy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bandy is a winter sport, where a ball is hit with a stick. It is the ancestor of ice hockey. It likely descended from shinty (Scotland) or hurling (Ireland) and in turn field hockey. Bandy is played outdoors on a sheet of ice, and has rules that are similar to association football.

A synonym to bandy used to be the term hockey on the ice, due to the sport being "field hockey played on ice", but since this term can be confused with ice hockey, most people prefer the term bandy nowadays.

So now the question is --- what is shinty or hurling?

[SadieKate]

Isn't hurling the same as caber tossing?

I'm trying to fiture out what this statistic has to do with illegal doping.

In 2000, there were approximately 22,000 drugs on Health Canada's list of drugs approved for human use.

CIHI (2002) reports that just over three quarters (78%) of Canadians aged 12 or older said that they had used one or more prescription or over-the-counter medications in the last month of 1998-99 .The most common drugs taken were painkillers. (taken by 65% )

[Aseradyn]

I'm trying to fiture out what this statistic has to do with illegal doping.

In 2000, there were approximately 22,000 drugs on Health Canada's list of drugs approved for human use.

Maybe it's just to illustrate that people take drugs as a part of normal life, so it's no surprise that they take them for sports?

Actually, when I think about it, that may be the most important statistic of the lot. It's not a crime to take drugs to help you focus or to stabilize your mood - it's increasingly normal. Is it any wonder that an increasing number of people think it's acceptable to take drugs to help with sports? When drugs are everywhere, and generally accepted, it becomes much easier to rationalize using them.

[CycleChic06]

I always suspected those top billiards players of blood doping. That explains things.

[Bikingmomof3]

Billiards? There is a need in Billiards?

[Cassandra_Cain]

Doping happens in cycling, but then it happens in the vast majority of sports.

I mean just recently two cricket players, (yes I said cricket), from Pakistan were banned for doping offenses. The stuff is rampant in american football and baseball. Plus they don't even test for many known enhancers (like HgH) in those sports.

I've stated my opinion on Floyd Landis and all, but this is a general comment.

Somehow, you only hear about doping as it relates to cycling, but rarely about other sports anywhere near as often. I mean take Operation Puerto, where Vino, Ullrich, and Basso were banned from riding in the TdF....yet, Puerto supposedly had data on far more big-name athletes in sports other than cycling. Where are their names? Where are the suspensions? Why did we only hear about cyclists?

I don't know if other sports just have better spin doctors, or are better at covering things up, or if it is just what the media focuses on....but cyclists get a far worse rap than other athletes when drug use is rather widespread.

[alpinerabbit]

Billiards? There is a need in Billiards?

beta blockers for calmness? they are also very popular in Biathlon (that's crosscountry skiing and shooting) and I would betcha in Golf....

[Cassandra_Cain]

beta blockers for calmness? they are also very popular in Biathlon (that's crosscountry skiing and shooting) and I would betcha in Golf....

Beta-blockers....also used on stage, namely for performers such as musicians and some thespians.....is is ok vs. taking drugs for a sport? What do people think about that?

[han-grrl]

Many drugs are banned substances according to sport governing bodies. But what does a poor athlete do when they catch a cold and feel miserable??

So illegal doping is not only limited to the stereotypical hormone thing, but can be as simple as someone taking some over the counter meds to deal with pain.

Isn't hurling the same as caber tossing?

I'm trying to fiture out what this statistic has to do with illegal doping.

In 2000, there were approximately 22,000 drugs on Health Canada's list of drugs approved for human use.

CIHI (2002) reports that just over three quarters (78%) of Canadians aged 12 or older said that they had used one or more prescription or over-the-counter medications in the last month of 1998-99 .The most common drugs taken were painkillers. (taken by 65% )

[ridethewind]

Doping happens in cycling, but then it happens in the vast majority of sports.

Somehow, you only hear about doping as it relates to cycling, but rarely about other sports anywhere near as often. I mean take Operation Puerto, where Vino, Ullrich, and Basso were banned from riding in the TdF....yet, Puerto supposedly had data on far more big-name athletes in sports other than cycling. Where are their names? Where are the suspensions? Why did we only hear about cyclists?

Yes, cycling takes a very bad rap when it comes to doping. Yet, cycling takes doping more seriously than any other sport. The penalties for doping are far more serious than the slaps on the wrist given by other sports. Suspensions and lifetime bans and that happens after only a few offenses. I'm not aware of any sport that even comes close to this.

Jean

[Meaux]

beta blockers for calmness? they are also very popular in Biathlon (that's crosscountry skiing and shooting) and I would betcha in Golf....

I would think that the boredom of playing golf would be calming itself. Anytime that's on TV, I get sleepy. I wonder what the stats are in American football.

[Kalidurga]

Somehow, you only hear about doping as it relates to cycling, but rarely about other sports anywhere near as often. I mean take Operation Puerto, where Vino, Ullrich, and Basso were banned from riding in the TdF....yet, Puerto supposedly had data on far more big-name athletes in sports other than cycling. Where are their names? Where are the suspensions? Why did we only hear about cyclists?

I don't know if other sports just have better spin doctors, or are better at covering things up, or if it is just what the media focuses on....but cyclists get a far worse rap than other athletes when drug use is rather widespread.

Exactly!! I'm to the point now that I don't care whether Floyd, Ivan, Jan or any other cyclist has doped or not, because WADA (and D-i-c-k Pound specifically) has blown everything so ridiculously out of proportion. The mission statement at the WADA website begins:

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is the international independent organization created in 1999 to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against doping in sport in all its forms.

Composed and funded equally by the sports movement and governments of the world, WADA coordinated the development and implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), the document harmonizing anti-doping policies in all sports and all countries.

Did D-i-c-k Pound get dropped on a bike ride in his younger years? Did he lose money betting on the TdF? What on earth accounts for his seeming vendetta against pro cycling? Because WADA doesn't seem to truly "harmonize anti-doping policies in all sports", I just can't find it in me to worry about whether my favorite riders will be doped next season or not.