What is the purpose of this blog?

Now, more than ever, extra emphasis has been put on sports and its place in society.  We idolize athletes as if they are superhuman. It often seems like we get so caught up in cheering for our teams and favorite players that when they lose, we actually take it harder than them. It is this same passion that causes us even more pain when we find out that the athletes we adore so much have been cheating by taking performance enhancing drugs. Anobolic steroids and other “masking agents” (used to prevent steroid detection) are currently banned within the sporting world. A detailed explanation of masking agents can be found here:

http://www.health24.com/fitness/Diet_Supplements/16-481-513,20910.asp

Unfortunately, testing for certain substances (such as Human Growth Hormones) cannot be done, even though they are considered to be harmful just the same way that steriods are. Furthermore, in sports such as baseball, they have a “3 strikes” rule where only if an athlete tests positve will they be suspended by the league. But why should we have to wait 3 times for an athlete to be suspended? Why can’t action be taken after the first positive test? Is testing positive once any better than testing positve 3 times? Should we be spending our hard-earned money to watch a bunch of athletes who claim to play by the rules but in reality are breaking them without any regard? A successful team can unite an entire city (as is evidenced by when the Canucks were in the playoffs this year), or it can tear a city apart (the 1994 riots after the Canucks lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the New York Rangers). This being said, this is a social problem because it concerns something that can have a big impact on a city and its people…the purpose of this blog is to inform people of what really goes on with regards to testing and enforcement of banned substances in sports.