Drugs — The Darkside — 10 Things I Think About

10 Things I Think About Oxyburn Pro Superthermotech

1. Father Ted

Dreamy Sleepy Nightie Snoozy Snooze sprung to mind when I first heard the name of the "contaminated supplement". The whole thing is like an episode of Father Ted.

2. Sympathy

I think I feel sorry for the poor guy, I mean who hasn't taken some stupid supplement at a moment of weakness. It's just it's a little different when you know there's a possibility that you could be drug tested and it has a name that basically screams doping.

3. Common Sense

I think common sense is the best way of figuring out if something is cheating or not. I think the name of that supplement says it all. It's professional, it's super, it's technological and it burns. It sounds like something you'd add to the fuel tank of your car when you get bad diesel at Amber.

4. Iceberg

I think that this is only the tip of the iceberg. It is so easy to order stuff off the internet. No one else has to be involved, it doesn't take a Lance Armstrong style doping ring, it just takes a phone, a credit card, a parcel motel account and a moment of weakness.

5. Vitamin Shops

I think the supplement industry needs full regulation. It's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

6. Shortcuts

I think I understand the psychology behind why people take shortcuts. People are inherently lazy, they just want immediate results. How many people have one bad day, one bad workout, one bad race and suddenly change everything looking for instant results.

7. Forbidden Fruit

I think the possibility that something could be banned increases the temptation to take it. I also think that it might provide a placebo effect. It's banned in most European countries so that means it's very good.

8. Eurosport

I think GAA players are perceived differently to runners and cyclists. For some reason the general public think that doping only occurs in sports that are on Eurosport. This makes no sense. We are all human beings, a GAA player is just as fragile and as weak as any athlete who's sport happens to be on Eurosport. All it takes is a moment of weakness.

9. Animal Farm

All athletes are equal but some athletes are more equal than others. If this had been an Italian cyclist or runner called Benito Sorrentino and not Brendan O'Sullivan I'm pretty sure he'd have been thrown under the bus and banned for 4 years.

10. Solution

I think the only solution is to rationalise the list of substances that result in a positive test. To be honest I don't really care if someone wants to take methylhexanamine or some other stimulant, it's not going to make a huge difference. Just test for EPO and anabolic steroids, everything else is pretty much useless anyway. It would at least take away the placebo effect that people get from thinking they're cheating. Thinking is very powerful.