This country is the \"White Mercedes\",and trying to reverse the situation is akin to prohibition.With the same results.
Frankenstein is yesterdays\' news.
Bad analogy. Prohibition was an ill-advised attempt to save people from themselves. The juicing trainers aren't drugging themselves but horses, who don't exactly have a choice.
Oh yes, there's the additional matter of defrauding the bettors. What little progress there has been in catching the cheaters is still a lot better than just giving them carte blanche.
Bob
Bob,
That white Mercedes doesn\'t just pertain to the ponies,but to all sporting events that this country follows.
The NFL got busted today with players who passed their tests,yet still admitted to being dirty.And nobody cares.But let Bonds surpass Aaron and the witch hunt shall reach fever pitch.
More money is bet on football in a 6 month period than any other attraction in this country,but the restrictions put on baseball and racing are much more stringent because he powers that be,pull the strings with the bottom line as deciding factor.
Again the early week is about anything but a good race......
In keeping it simple I would point out the following from the physician position
1) Drugs are by the definition involved in abuse.....if they were not we would be calling them ......MEDICATIONS
2) It\'s the same issue as addiction.....stopping the trainers is one thing....staying stopped is a whole other problem. The addict or cheater will always try to be one step ahead of the \"law\"
3) There is an inherent \"disease\" to the use of these substances that has another dimension to it which is about \"self centered rule breakers\" in the same way the alcoholic or addict deals with core issues of self centeredness at the center of the problem......hence why only strict enforcement provides an environment that rewards clean....never completely but closer than any other system
.
Just ask P Val about cheaters and cheating in the training arena and you will get a story that burns your ears....if you speak spanish that is. You may never see P Val with a racing license in California again!!!
Stay safe all....
Dr Dave
David,
True. The extent to which the powers that be go after the cheaters in any sport depends on their self-interest. That's why everyone involved with racing (bettors, fans, sports writers, jockeys, honest owners and trainers) has to exert whatever force they can (economic, political, etc.) to force the authorities to keep the sport clean. We can't let pessimism keep us from doing anything and just abandon racing to the cheaters. Surely, You can\'t be advocating that.
Unlike prohibition (and the \"war on drugs\"), a "cure" that was worse than the disease, recent measures at drug detection and penalties in racing are at least improving the situation. These measures need to be stepped up, not abandoned.
The country is not the White Mercedes. The White Mercedes is a problem the country has that it needs to fix.
Bob
davidrex Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bob,
> That white Mercedes doesn\'t just pertain to the
> ponies,but to all sporting events that this
> country follows.
> The NFL got busted today with players who passed
> their tests,yet still admitted to being dirty.And
> nobody cares.But let Bonds surpass Aaron and the
> witch hunt shall reach fever pitch.
> More money is bet on football in a 6 month period
> than any other attraction in this country,but the
> restrictions put on baseball and racing are much
> more stringent because he powers that be,pull the
> strings with the bottom line as deciding
> factor.
>
Speaking of betting on the NFL...I like a future play on the New York Football Giants to win the NFC Championship at 11-1 and to win it all at 18-1...Might have to get down on that
So let the goverment solve the problem for us, because \"We the People\" are too dumb to solve it ourselves..........
Now you have to ask yoursleves, are the politicians immune from corruption and greed? Is the betting public relly that concerend? If you answer that question honetly, I think you can deduce what might happen at the end of the day.
NC Tony
UBie-
Now you might have really found value there.
NC Tony
As \"we the people\" implies, we are the government - it\'s elected by the people. We the people have a mechanism, for which we pay taxes, to deal with crimes such as fruad. It\'s called the Dept. of Justice. I\'d like to see my tax dollars at work in stopping people who are trying to pick my pocket, whether it be on the street or at the racetrack.
Should we stop letting the police and D.A.s go after criminals, whether they be murderers or theives, because they may be subject to corruption?
Bob
It\'s not a perfect system. Not designed well. Not controlled well.
You know it, and I know it going in to the track or simulcast facility. But we go anyway.
It is what it is.
The correct thing to do whould be to stop supporting the product to invoke change. I\'m not willing to do that. I\'m still going when I can.
My personal choice is to accept it the way it is and deal with it that way.
I\'m not Elliot Spitzer.
NC Tony