Athletes hiding behind a Dr's prescription pad is not a valid excuse for using medications that are known to enhance performance.
Yes, he had high blood pressure,
There are those who know and those who think they know...Knowing what I know and knowing what @Started at 53 knows...I will err to his authority. Kinda like deferring to @Muleski when it comes to ski racing and the people around that.
To be fair 53 was coming on pretty hard earlier in this thread casting aspersions about Tiger using PEDs and the PGA covering it up. Price’s name still comes up twenty five years later as an athlete who took advantage of percrition meds to gain an unfair advantage over his competitors. Given the recent history of athletes letting their fans down by using PEDs and then blatantly lying about it, it’s not surprising that suspicion runs high. I don’t personally know what Price, Tiger, or any athlete has, or hasn’t taken.
If you are a pro golfer, you can't use the widespread, safe and most effective treatment? WTF? Kill the athletes? PEDs are restricted to protect athletes' health. The playing field has to be so level that an athlete's livelihood is taken away - or their health is damaged?
As someone with a family history of arthritis and early onset of symptoms, I am never 100%. The naproxen that I take has allowed me to compete over the decades. It used to be a prescription drug. Absolutely a performance enhancing drug for me. Was I cheating?
I'm healthier than my father at this age so either the drug or the continuing involvement in athletics has helped my health.
We don't want our athletes dying on the road, getting weird cancers or women growing beards. That has been reasonably controlled with testing. I'm not sure it's good to have someone go anemic on Mount Ventoux after a couple weeks of bike racing. I don't approve of a golfer having a stroke or heart attack so he can play "clean". And the idea that I have to quit competing (while I'm still competitive) because I'm old and arthritic is horrible.
Fancy equipment, extensive (and expensive) training programs, legal medical procedures (including legal drugs) and a host of other factors assures that the playing field is nowhere near level. The focus on PEDs is overblown. But here we are on a thread about golfing (a sport for old guys!) discussing "suspicions" of PED use. And too many otherwise fun discussions about exceptional athletic performances and performers gets derailed by such whispers.
Sorry about the rant.
I wish Tiger the best. He has a lot of work to do to reinvent his game to adapt to an aging and injured body. His path in that direction will be interesting and useful for us as we age.
Eric
If you choose to compete in a particular sport that is regulated, then yes, you have to abide by their rules. I’m not sure if it’s fair to blame the regulating body if you choose to risk your own health by withholding your medications to compete.
It should be about the long term health of the athletes foremost.
Eric
You figure a year? Maybe more? It sounded...not good. Marc Marquez in MotoGP had a fairly severe arm injury and ended up with a horrific outcome to date. He tried to resume racing early, the bone didn't heal, infection set in at the fracture site, compartment syndrome complicated things..at one point his arm was literally rotting from the inside.. They finally had to do ANOTHER surgery to go in and clean out the infection from the fracture area and reset the entire healing process...9 months later.. So hopefully Tiger avoids these complications..but I could easily see this stretching out to multiple years.Given the extent of his injuries he will have difficulty walking a course for a long time.
That's what I was thinking. One report mentioned "multiple open fractures" meaning multiple bones or pieces were sticking out of his skin. And it sounds like there are rods/screws in multiple places needed....but I could easily see this stretching out to multiple years...