You know normally I start out with some hey how ya doing crap, but today, lets just be honest, its a shitty day when you see a young person die for no good reason.
So I started doing some digging. We here at TJHN have been preaching for mandatory drug testing for years. We have preached about standards and actually having a system in place.
Come to find out, that even in the NHL once the playoffs start, the drug testing stops! Yeah, that’s right, get through the regular season boys and then all bets are off! What a load of crap that is.
Just in case you all don’t get it, when you are an athlete you are a role model. No matter if its for the kid who watches you play for your high school, or the kid who watches you on a junior team, or you make it to the show. Someone is watching you, and someone is a fan at one level or another.
Well, when you sign up for that, whether you acknowledge it or not, you are signing a social contract of sorts to be a role model. You are saying you want people to watch you perform on the ice, and therefore you are saying people need to watch you off it as well.
So I want to know who, or what makes it alright for anyone to screw up and not pay some kind of penalty?
If you use “Performance Enhancing Drugs” you can get suspended from every league. The NHL has a 20 gamer then a 60 and then a lifetime ban for PED violations. But marijuana isn’t a banned substance? Testing ends when playoffs begin?
What the hell kind of example are we setting for young people?
Yeah, I know, owners and players at every level don’t want to talk about it. It would take a strong owner to suspend a player for smoking a joint when its his best player. So why even make it an option?
Every sport should have mandatory random drug testing. If you are caught once, a minimum of 20 game suspension. Caught twice, public announcing of the second positive test and a full season suspension. A third time is a lifetime ban.
If the leagues wont do it, individual teams can do it. A team policy to enforce that standard signed by every player and parent makes a statement. It says more than simply running a clean program, it says you actually care about the kids.
Anyone who says that’s too harsh is a drug use sympathizer. Anyone who says its an invasion of privacy is an extremist. Anyone who thinks that kind of policy wouldn’t save a life or two is a freaking moron.
Sorry if I am being a little tough on the dope fiends, but in case you didn’t read about it, another young man died the other day, and his death might have been preventable. TJHN has a social contract too, and that’s to help promote positive change. If you feel like we do, spread the word and drop a line to all these so called governing bodies, leagues, and your team demanding mandatory testing and a strict set of penalty guidelines.
Then again, you can always stick your head in the sand, continue to not talk about it, and start counting the days until the next young person passes away needlessly.
Sure, getting caught using is embarrassing. Of course no one wants to talk about it. Of course the player will be teased when caught. That’s all part of the experience.
But I tell you what, that embarrassment, or silent treatment from others, or the teasing is all temporary and will go away when you make pay the penalty for your actions. A little temporary pain and humility is a small price to pay if it ends up saving your life.
David Wagner – The Angel Of Death – For Those Who Live Stupidly I salute You
*The Death Pool is a mix of comedy, and satire in connection with recent events. It is not an official report of current events although it may look as though the news is so accurate that it could one day happen or may be happening.
