Love the Thugs

So, the big news today is the announcement of the Canadian Olympic hockey team. It seems that some of the selections have proven to be somewhat controversial; specifically, the inclusion of Todd Bertuzzi and Dany Heatley in the Canadian Olympic lineup.

Without going into detail, these two dudes have both achieved some measure of notoriety as a result of questionable conduct; Bertuzzi's unfortunate run-in with Steve Moore, and Heatley's extremely unfortunate run-in with a wall, and the subsequent tragic death of teammate Dan Snyder.

The thing is, I really don't get what the big deal is. So these guys are kinda thug-ish. Who cares! Why is it that we expect athletes to be anything other that ruthless competitors? If these guys are good enough to be in the NHL, why shouldn't they represent Canada in the Olympic games? How is it that the concept of nobility (as in honour, not royalty) has been attached to the Olympic games?

According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, the incidence of adverse analytical findings (read: dumb jocks who got caught doping) increased 25.7 % between 2003 and 2004 (http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/LABSTATS_2004.pdf ). This stat is anything but noble. This many athletes trying to cheat in order to win doesn't say much for values like honesty, integrity, sportmanship, etc...but really, who cares? Who says that as professional competitors they need to be honest?

I say let them do drugs! Let them cheat, behave inappropriately, and let us watch! If we were honest with ourselves, we would realize that we are not too unlike our ancient Roman cousins- just another angry mob waiting to see two gladiators fight to the death. And what the hell- if you let them use drugs, it'll probably be a better show.