reality

I watched Black.White. on Fx tonight and one thing was clear.

I heard about Barry Bonds and steroids this week and one thing was clear.

Your reality is your first value.

In self improvement living your values is just about at the top of the list. When we try to put a finger on our own personal values, the character traits that mean the most to us, we naturally start looking at a list of adjectives.

We then miss the most important one.

Our own reality is the first value, right or wrong, and if it is wrong then it needs to be put right.

Let's look at Barry Bonds vs. sports writers.

First there is the question of taking 'performance enhancing supplements.'

We live in a competitive culture where we have long admired people who do more to get ahead. Athletes knew a hundred years ago that if they ate more liver than their competition it would give them an advantage. They learned that if they exercised it would give them an advantage. They learned that if they got enough rest and didn't drink alcohol or smoke tobacco it would give them an advantage. They kept learning.

Vitamin and essential nutrient supplements came along and athletes took these to have an advantage over the other guy. That was okay.

All during this period sports writers would sing the praises of the athlete who worked harder. They would be happy to tell us about the athletes dedication, competitivness and clean living.

Every action generates a reaction and the work outs got harder and more precise, the supplements got more complicated and everything was timed and measured.

We have moved into an era where people expect more of athletes but don't understand what it takes to get more.

Trainers and coaches began to learn new techniques and practises and they would pass them on. Bodybuilding magazines had articles about diets that would promote muscle growth. This was okay.

Then chemists got involved. They identified naturally occuring substances in humans and duplicated them with the idea that if you supplemented with these your body would make it's own steroids, primarily testosterone.

Who can blame athletes for going along with the plan, after all more was always expected of them.

It took science to identify vitamins and they were okay to use.
It took science to identify esential nutrients and they were okay to use.
It took science to identify exercise practises that would give an athlete the edge and that was okay.

Testosterone precursors were okay when they came along too. They were legal, they were advertised, they were sold over the counter.

They were also one step beyond the understanding of sports writers. Outside their version of reality.

Precursors were probably beyond the understanding of most athletes too. The athletes knew one thing, that these were the supplements that guys were taking to get stronger and they had better get on board or be left behind.

This is the same thing that athletes knew in the sixties when they started taking vitamins.

There wasn't much question about taking these things. Athletes were expected to do whatever it took to get better and the leaders of the sports had nothing to say on the matter. That was the reality.

Today we face a split reality in sports. Athletes are still expected to get bigger, stronger and better but they are also expected not to cross a line that has advanced for a hundred years.

Where that line is a sports writer can't tell you but he knows it when he sees it.

Barry Bonds reality is to get bigger, stronger and better as he is expected to do.

Sports writers expect athletes to get bigger, stronger and better but not by utilising the latest advances in science. Even though that was okay up until now.

I think the leaders of the sport need to spell out todays reality. If that reality doesn't fit well with the past ten years that is just too bad. You shouldn't damn the athletes for doing what you expected them to do.