briskowl18 said:Nah, I don't know about that... though his speed and sheer strength are definitely something else—it's almost enough to make you wonder if it's all "natural."
Man, what a wild comparison! Look, Lionel Messi was just born with the physical build to be about 4'11". Vlade Divac was born with an average frame—a broken leg has nothing to do with hormone levels. Guys like Crouch or Zizic are just naturally built to be 6'7"; that's just how they came into this world. Personally, I'm a bit too clumsy to play pro soccer, even though I've got decent physical traits—strength, okay height, good vertical, stamina, stuff like that—so I don't pursue it professionally. There's even a "dwarfism national team" made up of players who are incredibly talented but just aren't physically built for the standard game. It's the same story with tons of gifted people who simply lack the physical capacity to compete at the highest level. If they used hormones after treatment, they'd probably be suspended or penalized, right? So why should there be exceptions?
What are you even trying to say here?
Are you claiming Lionel Messi is some kind of superstar just because he received growth hormone treatments back in the day?
Most of those athletes getting banned are women who used male hormones to essentially become men—like that whole situation with the female track stars in China—which was medically unjustifiable and clearly meant to boost physical strength.
If someone who’s 4'3" needs growth hormone, you're treating a medical condition. That isn't doping... it's medicine.
Or do you think Lionel Messi should have just accepted being a dwarf and quit playing soccer?
Besides, if a kid in Africa tears his ligaments, his career is over. But a kid at Real Madrid gets surgery to rebuild those ligaments and keeps playing. So, since you're such a genius, let me ask you this:
Does that make the guy in Madrid a doper, just because the kid in Africa couldn't get that same treatment?