...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor
MMATorch columnist Brad Walker recently wrote a piece about how he believes that TRT isn't the unacceptable devil that some believe it to be. His reasoning is that TRT helps people to deal with a legitimate medical problem. That's true; however, it is also something that can be easily abused to gain an advantage.
I've been watching sports for 25 years. One of the things I've learned is that athletes will do ANYTHING they can to gain an advantage. They'll flop in basketball or soccer, they'll use pine tar or spit in baseball, they'll do anything they can to gain even the slightest advantage. Brandon Marshall of the Chicago Bears said last year that he knows guys who take Viagra to get an edge. This was met with confusion from many of his teammates who wonder how that could possibly give you an advantage, but I would be willing to bet that at least a few guys in the NFL have an idea of what he was getting at.
Athletes are some of the most superstitious people you could ever meet. Over the weekend the Chicago Blackhawks finished off the Los Angeles Kings to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. Not one player on the Blackhawks would touch the conference championship trophy during the quick ceremony. Why? Because it's considered bad luck to do so.
Some athletes will eat the same meal in the same way before a game or fight. Why? Because it's lucky. We've all heard of lucky underwear and other such nonsense. This is all mental stuff that doesn't provide any tangible benefits, but it gives you a look into the psyche of some of these guys. They will do anything they can to try to gain any sort of advantage.
TRT can return your life to normal. I have no problem with that, and I certainly have no problem with the average person using TRT. I have no problem with anyone using whatever means they can to try to bring some normalcy and happiness to their lives. However, that goes for average people like myself. In a competitive sport like MMA I don't think there's any place for such things. If you need TRT to compete in MMA maybe it's time to stop competing. Is that fair? No, but that's life. That's very harsh, but life is harsh.
I'm sure a guy like Dominick Cruz just wants to live a normal life and fight, but he can't because of injuries. I'm sure he'd like a pill or injection that would allow him to fight. I'm sure Greg Oden and Brandon Roy would love to be able to get a pill or injection that would allow them to play in the NBA again. I could bring up a list of guys longer than my arm who are or were in the same boat, their career got derailed by injury. Perhaps it's Mother Nature telling these guys that they can't compete anymore? Perhaps low testosterone is Mother Nature telling these fighters that they can't fight anymore?
Chael Sonnen, Frank Mir, Vitor Belfort, and Dan Henderson are some of the better-known guys in MMA who use TRT. Why are they allowed to use science to still compete when these other guys can't? Let's assume that these guys are legitimately afflicted with low testosterone. Submit to blood testing then. Make that a condition of them using TRT. MMATorch Editor-In-Chief Jamie Penick knows a hell of a lot more about this topic than I do, he's done the research. I'm just a guy who's trying to understand all this.
To me, allowing a fighter to use TRT is like looking at a guy before a middleweight fight and saying, "He looks 185 lbs. so there's no need to weigh him." Maybe he really is 185lbs. right on the dot, but maybe he weighs 195 lbs. or even 200 lbs.. Sort of defeats the purpose of having weight classes, doesn't it? Which brings up a whole other topic about why guys are allowed to gain weight back before a fight. That's a topic for another day, though.
It is absolute fact that athletes will do anything they can to gain an advantage. There are far too many stories proving this to even try to dispute it. It's human nature to try to do anything and everything you can to gain an edge. The potential for TRT abuse is too great.
One final point I must bring up is that there is the possibility that TRT is needed today because of steroid use yesterday. This may not be the case everytime, but the chance exists. Steroid use, or PED use to be more accurate, has been linked to decreased testosterone levels. So the possibility exists that by allowing TRT use you could be, in essence, rewarding a guy for using PEDs in the past. That's not a chance I think we should take.
*************
E3 is this week, and EA has shown some of its UFC game. The graphics looks amazing, but that won't matter if the gameplay isn't there. We need to see more before anyone can give a honest assessment of the game. It sounds promising, let's hope it delivers.
I would love a truly great UFC game. We've all heard the big promises before, but you always hold out hope. I hope the developers have spent their time wisely and concentrated on making the game fun to play. That's what it's all about, more than anything else. If they can deliver a game that's fun, a lot of fight fans would be willing to buy it. If it's not fun, no one will care. I also hope that they come out with a demo sometime before release so we can try the game for ourselves before deciding whether or not to purchase it.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
