Fool Me Once...

The past few weeks of sports news has been a bit dreary. The biggest stories flooding the sports world lately have been Colin Kaepernick's Dolphins Hat, Jerry Jones' distrust in his head coach, and the question of will Lebron stay in Miami or choose Cleveland or Los Angeles when he becomes a free agent a year from now. Anticipation for the upcoming fall has created a barrage of "non-story" headlines that are nothing more than fruitless attempts to fill a void. This void is the result of the dreaded perennial three month offseason without basketball, football, or any sport worth talking about. Yes, I am saying that every other summer sport namely baseball and The Tour de France are not worth the trouble of discussing. Why? Performance Enhancing Drugs.

The need to out perform competitors and the overwhelming desire to meet and surpass career milestones has resulted in the increased use of PEDs or steroids in sports like baseball and cycling. The use of PEDs in both these sports is so frequent that it is almost expected. We don't even feel it anymore, and it almost becomes as much of a non story as Kaepernick's hat. The past two weeks of SportsCenter have featured more insight on Kaepernick's apparent apparel betrayal than the Major League Baseball PED scandal involving big names like Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez. And there is a reason for this. Every year a player in major league baseball takes a whopping 50 or so game suspension because of PEDs. It is almost guaranteed, and it is very unusual if a year goes by and no one is busted. The same is true for bicyclists in the Tour de France.

Upon winning the 2013 Tour de France, Chris Froome was asked if he cheated. Froome responded with, and I am paraphrasing, "I won't let you down like Lance Armstrong." It seems a bit unfair to ask Froome, the man who just achieved the most coveted prize in cycling, if he is a cheater immediately after his win, but what would you expect in the wake of Lance Armstrong? The PED problems in both these sports have significantly crippled their present and future appeal, so much so that the frequent PED issues have faded into the background behind Kaepernick's hat. But what worries me the most is the ever rising PED issue in America's greatest sport: Football.

With increased concussion reports and impending lawsuits, an escalating number of PED users does not bode well for the NFL. If the NFL wants to avoid falling into oblivion with the likes of baseball and cycling it had better find a solution to their PED issue that inflicts a punishment of greater than 4 games. Because as of right now, players are willing to take that risk. I just pray basketball doesn't see this issue anytime soon, otherwise this perennial offseason could get even worse.

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The Beginning

Finally! The wait for this sports blog is over, Dwight Howard is finally a Houston Rocket, Colin Kaepernick is still the one individual that continues to add new dimension to the definition of the slang term "tool," Alex Rodriquez is still a cheater, and I am finally getting my butt off the couch to do something productive this summer. Finally! Well, the last statement might be a bit of a stretch, however, the rest are 100 percent true and, most importantly, my sports blog has arrived.

This is a really exciting time for a couple reasons. The first being that I get to use the adverb "finally" five times in the first paragraph without any red markings from my professors. Secondly, I have been mulling over this blog for quite some time and I am excited to share my sports opinion with all potential followers no matter how wrong or opinionated it may be. (Warning: Only my opinion matters!!!). And lastly, I am more excited to talk sports now than Tim Tebow was when he signed to the Jets last summer(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjaJfbqdA_A). This sports blog will unapologetically cover and reflect on current sports issues every week as well as a special documenting some aspect of Seattle sports. (Got to show Seattle some love).

Join me every week to talk sports or anything regarding Seattle. I'll be happy to return the conversation.

Also follow me on Twitter: @ktalbot13