Tiger Woods' Absence from the PGA Tour

Anything's possible but you're basing this slanderous inquiry on what? Your imagination?

Tiger Woods had knee surgery (ACL reconstruction) and a torn ligament in his left knee, and sustained a double stress fracture in his left tibia.

Personally I doubt he uses steroids. The guy worked harder than anyone in the sport and is blessed with incredible athletic talent , unrivaled concentration and rock-steady nerves. To even suggest it could be seen as an attempt at smearing the reputation of arguably the greatest golfer in history.

"... many people on and around the professional golf tours remain skeptical about the drugs' bottom-line benefits on the scorecard.

"I don't think there's a pill that can help you do what we do," says Els. "Go ahead and test us, but I just don't see it as a big issue." Woods has said he's willing to be tested "tomorrow," but echoed Els' statement that drugs wouldn't be much of a benefit to a golfer because the game isn't just about strength. "

Even if he does use steroids, so what? I don't understand what the big deal is. If a body wants to use performance-enhancing drugs and screw up their body, that should be their choice. If that gives them an unfair edge over other players, again, so what? It's only sports, after all, nothing really important.

The implication about using steroids is that it's cheating and it also can and IS now illegal.

Also, on a different somewhat related issue, regarding their commercial endorsements as resulty of their celebrity position gained from this cheating, they misrepresent their image as being a role models for endorsement on Wheaties boxes, etc.

I don't know why it's illegal other than that most things are. Can't see why it could possibly matter to anyone if someone uses steroids.

... and golf and pro sports may not be improtant in "our elevated view" of the world but as multi-billion dollar industries, those "others" make it quite a big deal when someone by passes the law and gets an unfair advantage.

I find this role model issue that it represents important. That behavior filters down to how present day kids will do anything to make the team and enhance their performance on a team. It becomes the most important thing to them. Some kids will do anything to gain an advantage and their coaches or trainers will turn their heads or perhaps even supply them with illegal perfomance enhancing drugs.

Still think it's not important?

Yes, I still think it's not important. If you're the type to do steroids, you'll do them regardless of whether you know your 'role model' is doing them. If you're not the type, you won't. If someone is so weak-minded that they can't make that decision for themselves, well, I'm sorry for them and they deserve to do steroids. Most children know right from wrong and they make choices every single day not to do things that are wrong. How is this any different? If it's just the matter of their disappointment, get over it. This is probably the least of the disappointments in their life.

I don't know why people expect celebrities to be role models, anyway. They have a right to their own lives.

Michael Phelps wanted to swim. Did he want to be a role model? It's not fair to dump that on him or anyone else. If, however, his advertising contracts specified NO DRUGS, then okay, they could drop him if they want to.

So what if ARod got his success through steroid use or just plain sweat. None of us know if they're using but we love them until we find out that they are and then they're vilified. I wonder what the percentage of users is.

Much ado about not much, in my opinion. And as far as it being illegal, why?? All they're hurting is themselves and it's not like it's mind-altering. Jeez Louise, so much legislation and regulation!

Do sports matter to you?

I like watching some sports but that's as far as it goes. It's like movies - do I like them? Sometimes. Do I care if the actor is stoned? No. Do I care if he/she does steroids? No. In the big scheme of things, of important matters, this is not a big issue. It's not about the sports... this is two-themed:

1. Role Models

2. Cheating

I've already outlined my opinion on celebs being role models. What a society we've become that relies on famous people for what - guidance? What about people we know? Good Lord.

If someone wants to cheat, how can you stop them? It says more about them than the others. You will ALWAYS get cheaters. That's just human nature. One rule I learned as a mom was "Don't forbid something you can't enforce", and obviously ARod wasn't enforceable. Someone does a urine test for him or does the switch or changes the numbers... somewhere down the line there'll be an opportunity to cheat the system. People do it all the time on their taxes, their insurance claims, etc. Why is this any different? It's just the way some people are wired. Like you're not going to prevent every murder, either, no matter what you do.

So, let's learn to live with it. That's all I'm saying, and NO, again, sports is a big issue for me. I love to watch, but I could give a **** if the winning slalom racer is using steroids. Even if he beat my son, XXX. Whatever. My son XXX had the choice, too, and chose not to... doesn't make him better or stupider. Like we're not all up against this kind of thing in everyday life?

Tiger's body has not changed much since he was a youth. If he took roids he'd be bulked up. And he can hit the ball over 300 yards without them. Case closed.

I see your point Mame, re relative importance as the world turns.

On the other hand, Baseball is something like a century old (more perhaps, I think I remember more) and throughout that time records through the years have been a significant part of the interest in the game. Millions of little boys have memorized records and collected baseball cards. Some girls too, I bet.

Body enhancement through drugs can directly affect power, arguably more important in baseball than some other games such as golf. The cheating effect makes records sort of a joke to many - not only present ones where some people use verboten enhancers and some don't - but relative to baseball history, which people care about, are engaged about. Some people.

You don't have to care. I'm a long time sports fan but have cared less about records than sports "stories". I first got interested in sports from library books titled "sports stories of the year", long before I read a sports page.
But I can well understand disgruntlement about people roiding to fame in the game.

Quoting myself, since I can't edit -

"I first got interested in sports from library books titled "sports stories of the year", long before I read a sports page."

And that was just after our year in NYC, when we had a TV, and.. besides Hopalong Cassidy and Arthur Godfrey and CBS News and some damned music show with Snooky Lansen, there were the Yankees playing with Mantle, et al. I was a kid at a good time for baseball, in my view.

Exactly - they care about it and I don't. I think it's a non-issue and they are heated about it. I do root for teams in the Grey Cup, SuperBowl, Stanley Cup, Olympics (not so much teams, then), but really, what I don't know doesn't hurt me and I don't LIVE for it. So... I just don't care. At all. Your guy beats my guy and your guy uses steroids - oh well, that's the way she goes. Use 'em or work out more, whatever. You know you're going to be up against a 'user' at some point, so deal with it.

But within the game's community, whatever it is, people work for years to get good enough to get past the farm team, the minors, and secure a place in the majors. But the playing field isn't level, even to get on the field.

I'm in between on this, but more on the side of an old fashioned concept of pure sport, if there ever was such a thing, which I'll say right away there wasn't. But I still get the concept of that.


Back to the original question, I'm not at all concerned re Tiger.

On role modeling, I think it can have an effect, but mixed effects. Idiocy is usually not honored for long. Purity is suspect. So it goes.

At the same time, I cringe at the idea of everybody with any kind of a status in a profession or sport having to toe a line for living so that a child hearing about it might not be harmed.
The cruxt comes with disclosure after years of adoration - perhaps a good lesson for kiddo.

Or if you're after not the gross steroids but other helpers, maybe those present and future compounds won't show up in tests.
Then we could have kids with impossible goals.

Some of those guys trying out for the farm team, the minors, etc might be on steroids or something else that will soon be illegal. How do you monitor all this and why should anyone bother?

Aren't there more important things to worry about than whether an athlete is using steroids or an actress has had an implant?


Big F'g deal!

some steroids are dangerously mind-altering. ever heard of roid-rage? anyone who's worked with battered women has heard of it - and most folks in the industry have witnessed a few episodes. Frightening, and potentially life-threatening to the people around them.

Steroid use is something to be taken very seriously and illicit use, without supervision by a strictly ethical doctor, should be discouraged in any way possible .

From a long view, I don't think, myself, that taking any of these enhancers is healthy in general, and if I'm correct (maybe not) there's a whole spectrum swinging over to unhealthy practice, besides the unfairness for people who just exercise. It changes the very nature of sport, to me. Shall it be about who has the best additive provider? Shall we start them in second grade with the growth hormone, the erythropoetin?