tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post3309056353094548111..comments2024-02-17T04:00:25.925-06:00Comments on The Platoon Advantage: Fighting The Latest "Performance Enhancers"The Common Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09994070642805307798noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post-56277644069062877952012-02-14T23:11:56.656-06:002012-02-14T23:11:56.656-06:00Then you're not reading correctly, Vidor. Of ...Then you're not reading correctly, Vidor. Of course there are profound differences between using a "silly necklace" and using steroids. There are undeniable health risks associated with "PE"D use, especially when that use is unsupervised by a doctor. "PE"Ds are against the rules, and they should be against the rules. And players who are caught using them should be suspended according to the rules.<br /><br />But that doesn't mean that the accomplishments of the players who may be using them (or who may be suspected of using them without any proof) should be discounted or denied, when there's no evidence that they enhance performance. Nor should the users be demonized as monsters, even if they were and are in the wrong.The Common Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994070642805307798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post-53060531796824618862012-02-14T20:09:06.184-06:002012-02-14T20:09:06.184-06:00"The Common Man doesn't think steroids, o..."The Common Man doesn't think steroids, or HGH use is a good thing."<br /><br />Why not? What I read on this blog, and in other stat-friendly places on the Internet, pretty much continually dismisses the notion that PEDs are a serious problem, and generally mocks those that think it is a serious problem. That's what we see in this post, which compared taking PEDs to wearing silly necklaces. So if there's no evidence that PEDs enhance performance, and we are so skeptical of that notion that we must place the "PE" part in scare quotes, and if PEDs are no different than things like Lasik surgery or batting gloves or cortisone--just what is wrong with them?Vidorhttp://gg.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post-2783701129555120712012-02-14T08:02:39.203-06:002012-02-14T08:02:39.203-06:00You're wrong, Vidor. The Common Man doesn'...You're wrong, Vidor. The Common Man doesn't think steroids, or HGH use is a good thing. Quite the opposite. But, language is a powerful thing. And, based on the evidence we have, calling steroids and HGH and the like "performance enhancing drugs" is misleading, since we actually have zero evidence that they enhance baseball performance. <br /><br />Hence, "performance enhancing" drugs, or "PE"Ds, to remind us that it's stupid to discount the accomplishments on the field of the players who used, even if we seek to punish their behavior off of it.The Common Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994070642805307798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post-20150535557137044102012-02-14T00:00:13.683-06:002012-02-14T00:00:13.683-06:00I guess it doesn't need pointing out that putt...I guess it doesn't need pointing out that putting the "PE" in PEDs in quotes is also an effort to excuse steroid and HGH use.<br /><br />Not sure why the stathead community has decided to line up in defense of PEDs.Vidorhttp://gg.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post-52477820333194348062012-02-10T14:34:01.057-06:002012-02-10T14:34:01.057-06:00The Common Man doesn't buy that for a minute. ...The Common Man doesn't buy that for a minute. There are known health risks from using pain medication like cortisone too. And all we've heard for the past several years has been how the players using "PE"Ds are dirty cheaters who tried to get a competitive advantage over their honest and virtuous colleagues, and how they need to be punished for it. The "won't someone please think of the children" cause has long been eclipsed.The Common Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994070642805307798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post-41765987680841261952012-02-10T14:24:31.968-06:002012-02-10T14:24:31.968-06:00The reason "PE"Ds are banned are because...The reason "PE"Ds are banned are because of the health consequences of using them. If say a 16-year-old decides his favorite ballplayer got better by using steroids, he may try them as well. And there are known health risks with using steroids and other "PE"Ds.<br /><br />As for the necklaces and bracelets, they are essentially harmless, whether they work or not. That's the difference.<br /><br />It's not so much the enhancement (otherwise pine tar, batting gloves and eye black would be banned) but the possible health effects.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post-39872416843513950602012-02-09T16:22:01.503-06:002012-02-09T16:22:01.503-06:00"All of this is not to excuse steroid or HGH ..."All of this is not to excuse steroid or HGH use."<br /><br />Isn't it? It is self-evidently absurd to punish players for wearing silly necklaces. So if there's no difference between silly necklaces and performance enhancers, then we shouldn't punish players for performance enhancers.Vidorhttp://gg.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post-15237292255942162552012-02-09T15:47:21.310-06:002012-02-09T15:47:21.310-06:00Until the ban cortisone shots, nothing else is imp...Until the ban cortisone shots, nothing else is important.<br /><br />Being able to play without pain is much more important than healing faster. <br /><br />With one, you don't need to worry about the other.The Baseball Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02259799886656706541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post-948527817538577672012-02-09T11:22:02.009-06:002012-02-09T11:22:02.009-06:00It really begs the question as to where we draw th...It really begs the question as to where we draw the line for "PEs." Don't batting gloves enhance performance? Lasik surgery? Hell, how many more HRs could Babe Ruth have hit if only he could take a B12 vitamin and a 5 hour energy after a night of binge drinking?Pat Adairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05318379275375237105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5064547517730087223.post-27179637839483448412012-02-09T11:13:07.480-06:002012-02-09T11:13:07.480-06:00Heck, yeah. And cork in bats doesn't really wo...Heck, yeah. And cork in bats doesn't really work either. Great post.William J. Taskerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02313204947130235560noreply@blogger.com