Fans do not care about steroids, some anecdotal evidence....

[Byron Carter]

This post is mainly in reference to the article on the front page.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles...ot-Equal-49829

Now, we "hardcore" fans of course would love to see a pure sport. Most of us are against cheating. I know I am. But, I don't think the overwhelming majority of fans care.

Here are a couple of examples...

Some of you know me from the Video Game forum here on Sherdog. I'm a pretty active gamer. Over the past couple months, I've been playing the game Planetside 2. It's pretty good, but it could be better. One of it's issues, is that it is filled with hackers. The hacker videos on youtube have blatantly said it's one of the easiest games to cheat in, ever. There is no anti-cheat program, there are no live moderators to oversee the issue, anyone caught is given a 7 day suspension instead of permanently banned... There are deeper issues (no read only files, client side hit detection, etc.), but I won't get too far into that.

How does this tie into MMA? Well, I'm getting there.

You see, I've been railing and screeching at the top of my internet lungs, posting almost every night about the hacker issues. I'm usually met with "It's not that bad." - or "I don't see the hackers.", and my favorite "I just play for fun/They don't bother me."

Now, think about that for a second. People playing a game, don't care if they're being impacted by cheaters.

Sony Online Entertainment, the company who made PS2 - essentially takes a "Hear no evil, do nothing" stance. They silence any threads where people talk about cheaters/hacking, they have videos of hackers removed from Youtube with DMCA claims.


I'm also a big football fan. Mainly the NFL. I post on forums, talk to my friends, etc. The apathy towards steroids and HGH among fans, both in the stands, and online - is shocking. No one cares. Unless it's someone like Ray Lewis who everyone wants to hate anyway - no one gives a shit about steroids in the NFL.


If you're a fan, you've probably noticed that there is almost no mention of drug tests during a broadcast. Nothing on NFL network. It all comes, mainly, from outside news agencies. ESPN, Newspapers, etc.





TLDR: And finally, to my main point. Casual fans don't care. And bringing all of this attention to our sport seems to only do more harm than good.


How would you guys feel about taking the SOE approach, and just being silent about the cheaters? Keep everything under wraps, no more public announcements or press conferences.

[Kneeuinthenutz]

They never have and never will....NOBODY!

The only care when it conflicts with their own personal interests, or are told to care about a specific case by the media.

[arugala]

I dont think steroids are fair. But then again people lose all the time while on them.

[Michael13]

Everytime i see a so called 'fan' say they don't care about drug use.....i just try to laugh and shrug it off.

If you don't have a problem with it, go and watch the WWE. That's more suited to your interests if you want to see big steroid using freaks 'entertaining' you.

I consider MMA a sport....and i can only hope there are some other people out there that think the same. Drug use is frowned upon in other sports.....so why should this be any different?

[AndreDGiant4eva]

I don't really understand what point you were making with the video game stuff. You hate cheating, but other people don't care? I care about cheating, and it makes me want to watch a sport less if I believe the participants are actively operating outside the rules.

[Byron Carter]

Originally Posted by AndreDGiant4eva

I don't really understand what point you were making with the video game stuff. You hate cheating, but other people don't care? I care about cheating, and it makes me want to watch a sport less if I believe the participants are actively operating outside the rules.

The point is.. no one cares about cheating in games. Video games, football, or MMA. Only a select few. I think it hurts us more than it helps us to sit here and rant about the evils of cheating.

[Namek]

I care about cheating.

[kriminal.pro]

everybody is on it so it kinda makes it fair..

i honestly don't really care when a fighter gets caught... and i'm quick to forgive.. because i know it's wide spread and every fighter says that

[textwarrior]

Originally Posted by Byron Carter

This post is mainly in reference to the article on the front page.

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles...ot-Equal-49829

Now, we "hardcore" fans of course would love to see a pure sport. Most of us are against cheating. I know I am. But, I don't think the overwhelming majority of fans care.

Here are a couple of examples...

Some of you know me from the Video Game forum here on Sherdog. I'm a pretty active gamer. Over the past couple months, I've been playing the game Planetside 2. It's pretty good, but it could be better. One of it's issues, is that it is filled with hackers. The hacker videos on youtube have blatantly said it's one of the easiest games to cheat in, ever. There is no anti-cheat program, there are no live moderators to oversee the issue, anyone caught is given a 7 day suspension instead of permanently banned... There are deeper issues (no read only files, client side hit detection, etc.), but I won't get too far into that.

How does this tie into MMA? Well, I'm getting there.

You see, I've been railing and screeching at the top of my internet lungs, posting almost every night about the hacker issues. I'm usually met with "It's not that bad." - or "I don't see the hackers.", and my favorite "I just play for fun/They don't bother me."

Now, think about that for a second. People playing a game, don't care if they're being impacted by cheaters.

Sony Online Entertainment, the company who made PS2 - essentially takes a "Hear no evil, do nothing" stance. They silence any threads where people talk about cheaters/hacking, they have videos of hackers removed from Youtube with DMCA claims.


I'm also a big football fan. Mainly the NFL. I post on forums, talk to my friends, etc. The apathy towards steroids and HGH among fans, both in the stands, and online - is shocking. No one cares. Unless it's someone like Ray Lewis who everyone wants to hate anyway - no one gives a shit about steroids in the NFL.


If you're a fan, you've probably noticed that there is almost no mention of drug tests during a broadcast. Nothing on NFL network. It all comes, mainly, from outside news agencies. ESPN, Newspapers, etc.





TLDR: And finally, to my main point. Casual fans don't care. And bringing all of this attention to our sport seems to only do more harm than good.


How would you guys feel about taking the SOE approach, and just being silent about the cheaters? Keep everything under wraps, no more public announcements or press conferences.

I understand, people are putting their whole life into their sport of choice....So Their "soul and life" into something. Now just take 10 minutes and meditate on that. Smoke a joint and think about it.

So, I get it. I really do!!! In fact, I don't blame them at all. The real problem is not the athletes. But, PED itself. When we hear cheat, we associate it on a person problem instead of a system problem.

The only way the system can cure this problem is by enforcing a zero tolerance policy. But, then people claim they have low testosterone levels. Yeah, we know thats a side effect from people who took too many steroids before. So now we have this grey area. Which leads to, anytime someone has elevated testosterone levels the athletic commission says "guilty until proven innocent." The guilty until proven innocent lets the defendant become a martyr while the grey area lets certain fighters have the good stuff.

For those reasons, I think the answer is black and white. Zero tolerance policy, or, the problem will persist. I wouldn't mind athletes in football and UFC being smaller. So we may see less touchdowns and KO's. But I think great speed and skill will come out of this, which will override the facade of power.One example of this, is Mickey Mantle hit the ball further then Mark McGuire ever did. Look at how much bigger McGuire was. Well, back then...baseball focused on speed and skill with technique that override power.

[danafan]

no way the fighters can train that hard without the peds. even the hardcore fans want them to cheat, just to cheat intelligently