Blown Away: 10 games is not enough

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Written by Don

Saturday, 08 August 2009 00:10

I'm inclined to believe Rashard Lewis when he said

"First and foremost I take full responsibility for the situation and accept the corresponding penalty. I apologize to Magic fans, my teammates and this organization for not doing the research that should come with good judgment. I hope every athlete can learn from my mistake that supplements, no matter how innocent they seem, should only be taken after consulting an expert in the field." Lewis

I believe that he's repentant, and guilty of no more than a bit of stupidity, and maybe laziness.

But come on: 10 games?

Major League Baseball used to come under a lot of fire for being too lenient with their penalties, and rightly so - it was even more ridiculous than the slaps on the wrist the NBA administers. Currently MLB's performance enhancing drugs penalties are a 50 game suspension for the first offense and a 100 game offense for the second offense. For a third offense the player will receive a lifetime ban. That's nearly a third of the season for the first, nearly two thirds for the 2nd offense - and three strikes? You are most definitely out.

Even with that in place, calls go out periodically for drug-testing and penalties to be even tougher in baseball.

However, compare that to what the NBA has in place. 1st offense, a ten game penalty (as we know). The second infraction is 25 games, and the third a full season. It's not until your fourth strike that you're booted out of the league. Even when taking into account the very long nature of a baseball season, basketball's penalties are a joke.

MLB is often taken to task by the media and politicos (wanting a bit of media attention) for it's laxity of stringent penalties. Bud Selig's turned into quite the whipping boy on this.

How is David Stern getting a free pass?

Still... the NBA and the MLB's chastisements pale into insignificance when held to the mirror of the Olympic model: a two-year suspension for a first drug offense, a lifetime ban for a second.

For quite a few years now, US politicians have been pushing this barrow, and even wanting a standardized testing and penalty process applied across all sports - and seeking to implement punishment more in line with that of the Olympics.

Thus far... no dice.

The most traditional image of a steroid-using athlete is one who uses PEDs for bulking up, and increasing strength... generally not something every basketball player would be inclined to do. But there are many advantages that a player could reap if he were inclined to take the plunge into the dark side. Becoming faster, increasing jump height, better endurance, and increased recovery from fatigue and injury. There's a laundry list of benefits to be had from a slipping off the straight and narrow.

As alluded to earlier, the worst that Lewis is guilty of is probably trying to gain an edge in injury recovery, not too long before last season's playoffs. But rest assured: there are the more nefarious crying