peeps for your peeps

cid Viscous 0wns the world

nike is releasing contacts that enhance your vision. just one more cool thing athletes can do for an edge, these days.

nikes's also got a program to build a better runner. i've misplaced the link, but i'll post it when i find it. wired ran an article on it. apparently, they've got a closed environment for training in--they work out all day in low pressure (simulated mountain altitude) and then repressurize it to sea level for resting and sleeping. that way, the maximize their workout and recovery time.

with all these new performance boosters, it brings up some interesting legal, moral, and scientific questions. how far is it safe to go, physically, i mean. how far will a body let you push it?

and where does the line get drawn? is a surgery that makes someone into a better pitcher okay if the arm's already injured? what if it's not injured? elective surgery has become common place in some circles, but should it be allowed in pro sports? 'normal' players may feel obligated to follow suit.

so, steroids are bad, but vitamins and supplements are fine. surgery is okay, even if it makes you better, but only if you were already hurt to begin with. genetic tweaking isn't yet understood well enough, and people are still too scared, at least in a public forum--there's no pee test to check for genetic tampering. but it's okie-dokie to buy sports equipment to get that edge--drivers with a bigger sweet spot, lighter, bouncier shoes, the aforementioned contacts, braces, and bands, and aerodynamicly efficient clothes, blah, blah, blah....

that's the message i'm receiving from the media lately. but people are gonna keep on doing what they wanna do, anyway. athletes will always go for that edge. leaders need to put their heads together and decide what's kosher, and what's not all right. but i think it'll take some big, public display of how far these new technologies can go. some upstart rookie will come onto the scene, smokin' everybody in his league, and eventually get caught. but some of these techniques don't really fall squarely into the jurisdiction of either league rules _or_ the law.

interesting times we're living in. later.

--cid