Planet Tapout 7.24.07: The Steroids Epidemic!
Posted by Lotfi Sariahmed on 07.24.2007
With the last two weeks or so in sports, it's hard for even the most pessimistic of sports fans not to be affected. We had the NBA ref scandal, the Michael Vick dog fighting ring and now more positive steroids test in MMA. In his latest edition of Planet Tapout, Lotfi Sariahmed gives his views on the positive steroids tests from Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca. Lotfi delves into what the UFC should do, what the punishments should be, a different view on steroids and more in the latest edition of Planet Tapout!
Welcome to my humble abode. What is that humble abode you ask? I call it Planet Tapout. Who am I? Well they call me Lotfi Sariahmed. There will be fictional food after the presentation so be sure to stick around for that. There is no mailbag this week but you can always send me your thoughts, musings, love, hate, recipe ideas and otherwise to PlanetTapout@gmail.com . Now lets get into this week's topic.
I debated for a while as to whether or not I wanted to get into the steroids topic. My column comes out on Tuesdays and this news came out Thursday of last week. We've had ample opportunity to have our columnists' cover the story just on our site, not to mention all the other MMA sites out there. Damian got into it in his latest edition of Smacktalk. Bren put together this piece on the steroids fiasco. Then of course there's the man who got the first crack out of all of us. Larry Csonka examined the news in his latest column.
So I've read and listened to all the coverage out there that I could and decided I needed to throw my hat into the ring as well. The issue is too pervasive and too dangerous in not just MMA, but in too many other sports that I could simply let everyone else handle it. Hopefully I offer you guys a bit of a different perspective on this issue.
Allow me to preface this whole thing by reminding everyone that while Hermes Franca has essentially admitted he took steroids and he is guilty, Sean Sherk has not. So we might be looking at another Nate Marquardt situation with Sherk and a possible false positive. Just keep that in mind before you throw Sherk to the wolves.
So we all know steroids are bad for you. Even if you don't know exactly why they're bad you, it's something you've been taught and with good reason. I've taken steroids in the past. Mind you not nearly for the same reasons some of these athletes are doing it now, but I've done it (medical reasons folks). Speaking from that first hand experience, it screws you up almost as much as it helps you. But if you still have your doubts go google steroids and read up about them for yourself.
But because we here at the Planet do our best to be fair, here is another side to that story. HBO Real Sports always does some great work putting together its pieces and this one was no different. This time around they took at steroids and its benefits.
HBO Real Sports piece on Steroids
So clearly like the piece says, in certain situations used in certain respects it's not as bad for you as you might believe. The reason why I particularly like this piece is because it doesn't say steroids are good for you. What the piece portrays is what's happened to people who have used steroids responsibly and they report on steroids at an angle you wouldn't expect. So it's there to give a nice balance.
So what does this all have to do with MMA? Well, if you haven't heard by now I'd love to live in the same cave you're living in. UFC lightweight champ Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca both tested positive for steroids (Nandrolone Metabolite and Drostanolone respectively) following their bout at UFC 73. The California State Athletic Commission has suspended both fighters and fined them $2,500 each. Both Sherk and Franca have filed appeals that will be heard on August 6th.
These positive tests for performance enhancing drugs are part of a growing epidemic in a sport that can ill-afford it right now. Sure, EliteXC is on Showtime, BodogFIGHT is a promotion backed by a man who spends money like he drinks water and the UFC is the biggest MMA organization in North America right now. But none of these organizations have reached the peak of its popularity yet. While ESPN is covering this sport it's only been with ESPNEWS showing the weigh-ins and having a brief TV spot to recap the event with Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan. ESPN.com's MMA coverage is just a larger platform for Sherdog.com. ESPN hasn't done much of it's own work here. So when you have so much more room to grow as a sport, this epidemic can derail any momentum the sport has to continue its climb. Right now one of the biggest media outlets that have their own coverage of the sport is Yahoo Sports. Kevin Iole recently shared his thoughts on the steroid epidemic on MMA. To put in nicely, he wasn't exactly too kind in the column. So if this is the kind of coverage that Yahoo Sports is giving this problem now, just imagine what would happen when the "big boys" get a hold of the story.
With only a few smaller media pundits having run with the story, they've been turned into cannon fodder for having the audacity to criticize MMA. Of course I'm talking primarily about Josh Gross' Letter to Dana White on Sherdog.com but there have been other pieces out there. Criticism has been doled out of all kinds saying these pundits are simply criticizing for the sake of criticizing with underhanded motives. But blaming the media really is nothing more than a cop-out. Lets just say all the conspiracy theories were true and Sherdog just has that letter up there to take advantage of a vulnerable UFC or Kevin Iole wrote that column to make a quick buck. Does that mean all of a sudden these problems don't exist?
Media coverage is just one of the reasons why this news isn't just horrible for the sport but for the UFC as well. The big issue raging on MMA forums, websites and talk shows alike is what role the UFC should be taking in the process. A lot of people say the UFC has no business getting involved. It's up to the fighters to police themselves. But the UFC is the most powerful MMA organization in North America. Like I've said on many occasions, they have been jumping through hoops to make sure you know that and it stays that way. So why, when they're spending all this time to build up there brand and get the UFC name out there, would they risk losing it all on a steroid epidemic? MMA to the majority of people in North America right now is the UFC. No one is saying Dana White should be held responsible for Phil Baroni's positive test following his fight with Frank Shamrock. But if White does something proactive in this fight against performance enhancing drugs, you better believe other organizations will follow. Gary Shaw and Calvin Ayre are playing a game of catch-up with the UFC and they can't afford to be the promotion that doesn't test their fighters.
So what should the UFC do specifically? I mean here I am calling for change; I should at least have something to offer right? Well never fear my friends. There are some things that I would like to see put into place to help improve the current state of affairs.
The first thing I'm going to do is steal an idea from Damian's latest edition of Smacktalk. There's no doubt that these fighters should be paid more money for their work. But that's for another column all together. So in lieu of that happening, why not have that $2000-$5000 stipend of a fighter's purse be guaranteed even if a fighter is forced to pull out due to an injury? Hermes Franca released a statement basically saying that there was this immense amount of pressure on him to fight Sherk at UFC 73 despite an injury he suffered prior to the fight. According to Franca, the UFC told him he had to try and fight because Sherk had to defend his title. If you're Franca, you also have to consider the Karo Parisyan effect. He was supposed to fight for the welterweight title at UFC 56 but had to pull out because of an injury. He has since come back and fought four times without receiving his title shot. If you're in Franca's position, it's easy to let your mind wander and think if you'd ever get the same chance again for a title. So the pressure built up to a point where he felt he needed to take steroids to heal up and be able to fight. On top of that, he said his family is basically living from paycheck to paycheck. So if you guarantee a stipend of the fighter's purse no matter the circumstances, it could at least pacify those pressures on a fighter to get into the Octagon no matter the cost.
But of course that alone won't really cut it. The lure of the money and fame is enough to push any fighter to try and cheat to get there. Mind you I'm not saying everyone does it. But you'd be naïve to think that threat wasn't there. As it stands now the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) and the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) are a bit hamstrung when it comes to dolling out punishment. The NSAC and CSAC can both suspend fighters one year following a positive steroid test. The fines both commissions hand out are different though. The NSAC can fine a fighter 10% of his entire purse while the CSAC can only fine you up to $2500. If I'm the UFC, why not send a stronger message. Leave the testing up to the respective commissions to figure out who's using performance-enhancing drugs and who's not. But if a fighter is found to test positive for steroids, you fine him 25% of his purse and suspend him for 18 months on the first offense. I specified the first offense because the second offense would get you a three-year suspension and you'll be fined 50% of your purse. A third offense would get you a lifetime ban from fighting and you'd lose your entire purse from that fight.
Go ahead and flame me all you want. Send your emails to PlanetTapout@gmail.com . But here's the scariest thing I've taken from this latest steroid debacle. The fan reaction. People have become virtually numb to the entire thing. Has this really become so invasive in sports that fans just don't care anymore? While MMA certainly has helped contribute to the aforementioned landscape it certainly isn't the only sport to do so. But the point is, this isn't a good thing. So what needs to be done? Better compensation for the fighters, harsher punishments for positive tests for steroids and other performance enhancers. Do my punishments for steroids sound like baseball's punishments for positive tests? Absolutely. Baseball has done a lot of things wrong over the last decade but they (or should I say Congress) got this right. Will you completely take these drugs out of the game? No. Someone will always be stupid enough to think the reward is greater than the risk. But at least now, the UFC, and hopefully other promoters, can say, "Well look at what we've done." It will be better than Dana just saying we support the commission's decision."
And that does it for another edition of Planet Tapout. As always send me your thoughts, questions, comments, recipe ideas, whatever to PlanetTapout@gmail.com .
It's been a pleasure as always and make sure you come back next Tuesday for another edition of Planet Tapout! This week in MMA SHOULD give us two cards on Friday with King of the Cage and Gladiator Challenge putting on shows (Emphasis on SHOULD folks). Also don't forget your favorite Smacktalk artist (that would be Damian) and yours truly will be headed to East Rutherford for full coverage of the IFL semifinals on August 2nd! Make sure you check out my interviews with the IFL guys so far and I'll have a preview of the card coming up soon. Make sure you keep checking back for all that. As always, enjoy the fights everybody.
