Viva Italia - November 2nd, 2005
The Italians have contributed so much to our society; we sometimes fail to give them the full credit they deserve. From Pre-Roman and Roman times, through the renaissance and up until today they have made the earth a better place to live in.
Not for the pasta, the pizza or the Moretti beer. Nor for Michael Angelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Georgio Armani or the incomparable Sophia Loren.
It?s for their overall sensibility when it comes to life ? and the way they live it. Look at the way they deal with sports for example. In 2006 they will host the winter Olympics, and this past week they revealed their strategy for dealing with athletes caught using banned substances.
Like many other things, the Italians take their drug testing very seriously - so seriously that some prominent athletes may start to come up mysteriously lame in the next few months.
In the bad old days, all Olympic athletes had to worry about was the standard public humiliation, the crying at the news conference, having their medal taken away and then being suspended if they tested positive to performance-enhancing drugs.
Not any more.
If caught in Turin they could end up in jail.
An Italian jail.
For a long time.
What a concept! Actually punishing the athletes for crimes against their sport! No token hand slap this time. Instead it?s some quality time in a small cell with their new pals Guido and Luca.
Now ? you would think this ?scared straight? concept would be embraced by the high talking International Olympic Committee, wouldn?t cha?
Fergeddaboudid.
The IOC are the ones who are scared of images potentially being broadcast around the world of their high profile stars taken away in handcuffs.
They are so concerned in fact they lobbied the Italian government allow them to police themselves, something that has worked so wonderfully well in the past.
''You think American professional hockey players, paid in the millions, will risk being put in handcuffs to come play in Turin? Come on, let's be realistic,'' IOC member Mario Pescante was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Two concepts that never go together are ?Realistic? and the IOC.
After all, this is the same IOC that is critical of all other sporting organizations on their respective drug policy.
WADA chief Dick ?Please don?t Google my name? Pound has openly mocked baseball for its testing programs. He has positioned his organization, and by extension the IOC as the ultimate tough guys on drugs in sports.
Now the first time they come up against a policy that might actually work ? and their first reaction is to try to get a ?Get out of Jail Free? pass.
''The Olympic rules and the WADA code never contemplated having doped athletes locked up,'' Pound told The Globe and Mail last week.
''Just get them out of sport.''
That policy has never been good enough for we sports fans however. For years we?ve been wondering, where is the true deterrent? Where is the policy that will make athletes so scared of taking the junk, they might actually consider stopping?
Here it is: Athletes caught using banned substances at the Turin Games risk prison sentences ranging from three months to three years.
Health Minister Francesco Storace stated that athletes who might test positive should simply ''stay at home.''
The IOC are lobbying the Italian government hard to lighten up. Thus far they aren?t budging an inch.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald ? AKA Couch
Remember to drop us a line at rants@betED.com to voice your opinion on one of McDougald's articles or on anything else you read at betED.com !
The Italians have contributed so much to our society; we sometimes fail to give them the full credit they deserve. From Pre-Roman and Roman times, through the renaissance and up until today they have made the earth a better place to live in.
Not for the pasta, the pizza or the Moretti beer. Nor for Michael Angelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Georgio Armani or the incomparable Sophia Loren.
It?s for their overall sensibility when it comes to life ? and the way they live it. Look at the way they deal with sports for example. In 2006 they will host the winter Olympics, and this past week they revealed their strategy for dealing with athletes caught using banned substances.
Like many other things, the Italians take their drug testing very seriously - so seriously that some prominent athletes may start to come up mysteriously lame in the next few months.
In the bad old days, all Olympic athletes had to worry about was the standard public humiliation, the crying at the news conference, having their medal taken away and then being suspended if they tested positive to performance-enhancing drugs.
Not any more.
If caught in Turin they could end up in jail.
An Italian jail.
For a long time.
What a concept! Actually punishing the athletes for crimes against their sport! No token hand slap this time. Instead it?s some quality time in a small cell with their new pals Guido and Luca.
Now ? you would think this ?scared straight? concept would be embraced by the high talking International Olympic Committee, wouldn?t cha?
Fergeddaboudid.
The IOC are the ones who are scared of images potentially being broadcast around the world of their high profile stars taken away in handcuffs.
They are so concerned in fact they lobbied the Italian government allow them to police themselves, something that has worked so wonderfully well in the past.
''You think American professional hockey players, paid in the millions, will risk being put in handcuffs to come play in Turin? Come on, let's be realistic,'' IOC member Mario Pescante was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Two concepts that never go together are ?Realistic? and the IOC.
After all, this is the same IOC that is critical of all other sporting organizations on their respective drug policy.
WADA chief Dick ?Please don?t Google my name? Pound has openly mocked baseball for its testing programs. He has positioned his organization, and by extension the IOC as the ultimate tough guys on drugs in sports.
Now the first time they come up against a policy that might actually work ? and their first reaction is to try to get a ?Get out of Jail Free? pass.
''The Olympic rules and the WADA code never contemplated having doped athletes locked up,'' Pound told The Globe and Mail last week.
''Just get them out of sport.''
That policy has never been good enough for we sports fans however. For years we?ve been wondering, where is the true deterrent? Where is the policy that will make athletes so scared of taking the junk, they might actually consider stopping?
Here it is: Athletes caught using banned substances at the Turin Games risk prison sentences ranging from three months to three years.
Health Minister Francesco Storace stated that athletes who might test positive should simply ''stay at home.''
The IOC are lobbying the Italian government hard to lighten up. Thus far they aren?t budging an inch.
Cheers ? Gavin McDougald ? AKA Couch
Remember to drop us a line at rants@betED.com to voice your opinion on one of McDougald's articles or on anything else you read at betED.com !