Cheating — a reality check

There are so many ways to cheat that do not break rules, need performance enhancing drugs or skirt fair play.

Yes, steroids are an unfair advantage, but only if you monitor all steroid consumption by every athlete. Do the hormones put in cattle feed in America count as cheating? Nope, the FDA says they are safe (yet the FDA doesn’t actually test meat, only blood — and all final animal feed carries the instruction “Stop Feeding Three Weeks Before Slaughter”).

Do you really think American teenagers are naturally bigger, faster, stronger than kids from less affluent countries? Do kids from, say, Kazakhstan, cheat when they supplement their dietary hormones to match the American ones?

And what about the technology of swimsuits, more slippery than normal fabric, that Nike made for the U.S. Olympic Team at great expense? Did they give them to all the countries’ swimmers? Nope.

And how about the $7 million snow half-pipe test facility built especially for our snowboard team by Red Bull, is that cheating?

The fact is, when sport is a commercial enterprise and there is profit to be made by athletes, managers, coaches, agents, licensees, and, of course, the athlete, pressure builds to find a way to maximize revenue.

If maximizing revenue means winning, then every means available will be employed to and for the athlete to deliver the reward he or she is expected to deliver. And when that athlete does not deliver, there are penalties for the whole team, not to mention the athlete’s psyche and well-being.

What? You thought these tennis players, skaters and gymnasts were weak to have mini-breakdowns?

The pressure on them to deliver everyone’s paycheck is overwhelming.

And that’s the issue here. If you told your 5-year-old that she would not get dinner unless she won the playground sack race, you could, reasonably, be accused of abuse.

Professional sports is like that. The threat is always behind achievement potential. Fail to catch the winning football pass and your contract gets dropped, your agent drops you, your manager quits, your personal trainer wants more money, your banker sees a drop in your income and forecloses on your mortgage. Think that doesn’t happen? It does, all too often.

Now tell me you would not try and gain an edge, with all that weight of responsibility on your shoulders? Any professional sport is a business, tainted by a desire to win at all costs for profit. Sometimes, the human carnage, like a Russian 15-year-old skater, is just the inevitable outcome.

 

Peter Riva, a former resident of Amenia Union, now resides in New Mexico.

Latest News

Honoring the past: bearing witness at Auschwitz

Jan. 27 marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. I traveled to Poland as part of a delegation for the commemoration and spent a few days before the event with my father and sister learning, remembering and gathering information.

My dad’s parents, Miriam and Yehuda, of blessed memory, were deported to Auschwitz -Birkenau from the Lódz Ghetto. They both had families that perished and met each other after the camp was liberated.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dina La Fonte at Mountainside and the rise of the ‘sober curious’ movement

Dina La Fonte

Photo by Dina La Fonte

The “sober curious” movement has gained momentum in recent years, encouraging individuals to explore life without alcohol—whether for health reasons, personal growth, or simple curiosity. Dina La Fonte, a certified recovery coach, is theSenior Business Affairs Associate at Mountainside, an alcohol and drug addiction treatment center with a holistic approach to wellness that has several locations, including the one in Canaan, Connecticut. With nearly five years of sobriety, La Fonte blends professional expertise with lived experience, making her a powerful advocate for recovery.

Like many, La Fonte’s path to recovery was not just about removing alcohol; it was about rediscovering herself. “Once you get sober from a substance, whether it’s alcohol, drugs, gambling or what have you, emotional aspects of change come into place,” she explained. “It’s not a hard stop; it’s a continued process of integration and struggle.” Her own journey has led her to a career in recovery coaching, allowing her to help others find their own path.

Keep ReadingShow less