Dara Torres and the Olympics, Steroids, and Shit

All right, so everybody thinks Dara Torres is on steroids and some dude on Rome is Burning just said that he won’t watch the Olympics because “somebody out there is trying to get an advantage over everybody else.” Well, uh, obviously. Isn’t that the idea of sports? Now I’m not condoning steroids, but seriously, to not watch the Olympics because people have a competitive instinct is fucking retarded.

Barry Bonds is getting a lot of shit because he supposedly took steroids when he was in his late thirties; he wanted to stay at the top of his game. At this point, steroids aren’t really even illegal—at least not the stuff he was taking. Whether you agree with that or not, how is this different from Babe fucking Ruth having an entire stadium customized for him, so he can hit more home runs? That right there is a pretty fucking big advantage. Also, remember that Barry Bonds still played at a Hall of Fame level before he is even accused of steroid use. Attributing all of Bonds’ success to steroids is ridiculous, and insulting to Barry Bonds’ talent.

Back to swimming. Dara Torres is accused of steroid use because she is old and obviously old people can’t do the same stuff younger people can. Tell that to the millions of workers who are suing because their employers are saying they’re too old to work. Obviously they don’t hold the same point of view. But even if the masses aren’t right, look at Gary Hall Jr. Same sport, same damn fast times. Granted he’s about six years younger, and he didn’t have a kid, but he’s still performing just as well as the fastest kids in their twenties.

Dara Torres has been checked constantly for steroid use, before she practices, while she practices, after she practices, all because she asked to be. Obviously this is a women with a guilty conscious, right? 

Wrong. This is a athlete who is still at the top of her game after twenty years, and doesn’t want her competitive drive and training to be for nothing—she doesn’t want her success to because “oh, she was using steroids. It doesn’t mean anything.” 

Because it does mean something.