Carnal Reason

I think we may be missing an opportunity here. Back in the day, when I was a kid and dinosaurs roamed the earth, knee surgery left a six to eight inch scar. Very Frankenstein. Today’s knee surgery is often done through tiny openings, and to much better effect. I give much of the credit for this remarkable improvement to the brave surgical lab animals of professional sport, with a special tip of the hat to the men of the NFL. Thousands of athletes have destroyed their knees for money, giving surgeons the opportunity to refine their art. The trickle down effect has benefitted countless weekend warriors.

I suggest pro athletes should be allowed to use steroids, HGH, gene doping, or any other performance enhancing technology they please. This would give scientists a means to study the long-term effects of such technologies on humans, and give fans enhanced athletic performance. Win-win. The lessons learned might one day help people with problems such as degenerative neuromuscular diseases.

Or we could continue to worry about the ‘purity’ of games, and keep on pretending that millionaire party animals ought to be role models for children. The kids might as well turn to Paris Hilton or Michael Jackson.

Posted on August 23rd, 2005 by pwyll
Filed under: General