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Thought about this while making my 2 hour drive across the border today. re: Hall of Famers. And the point was made that today's athletes use performance enhanced drugs more than previous eras. So thus less deserving.
Today they're talking about Dwayne Wade being able to play if he was "numb" to the pain. Ok, so now I have a question: "Would you consider pain relievers (and other similar things) a performance enhancer?"

My opinion first: In a strange sort of way I do. Doesn't that give you an advantage? Let's say you and I are playing (pick a sport) and you're better than I am. So then let's say the only advantage I'm going to have is to wear you down first. Wouldn't it be unfair if you are never wore down due to being able to take a pain reliever? Isn't it a huge advantage if you don't feel pain?
Can't you push yourself more? And isn't sports about preparing your body and then competing with what you have prepared?

I used to wrestle a guy that "everyone" (including the refs) knew would pop a pill before tournaments. Didn't have drug testing back then in HS.
But the guy would feel nothing and would go on these manic bursts of just pure energy. Which meant you had to change your style to be more technical because there was no way to match the his energy for six minutes.

Just got all "thinky" about it today. What do you think?

That's a very interesting topic, but I don't think taking an advil is giving me that much of an edge...That is, if you are referring to pain killers like that. Regarding the HS wrestling, if he did it and won, and there was no testing, then why couldn't you do it? Maybe it's unethical, but if it gives you an edge, and there's no way of being penalized, then why not? I can't say that if I would've had access to something that would've given me an edge and I wouldn't have been penalized for taking it, that I wouldn't have done it. But, hey, that's just me...

Well, take it a little farther. I was pretty good in my weight class. To the point where other wrestlers pretty much avoided it. There was one match though that I remember in which I had the biggest tooth/headache you could imagine but it was against the lowest ranked guy in the state. Now he would have wiped the mat with me if I hadn't taken Tylenol that day. So, my point would be: didn't I gain the upper hand by taking the pain away? (being slapped upside the head is not pleasant when you have a headache as you can imagine.......)
As far as your comment about the ethical point of it, I see what you mean. I never held it against him, but I enjoyed beating him more when I could.

I'm trying to find the right words: Isn't athletics about preparing yourself through training or natural ability and then seeing where that "stands up" at the end of the day against others who believe their way is the better way? And wouldn't "any" kind of outside "help" dilute the competition?

I would say that Advil/Tylenol does not provide an advantage b/c both people have equal access to it. It is a legal drug.

Just my opinion, but if a drug does not enable you to perform beyond your normal capacity, it should be OK - I'm thinking of tylenol, asprin, etc... I've popped a few "Tums" during a round of golf that eased some discomfort.

Does my "Two Beer Window Theory" count as a performance enhancing drug? Between 2 and 5 beers makes me play better but after that it's all downhill.

Seriously though, things like Advil, Tylenol, etc are available to anyone. If a person takes a fever reducer to get to work to get their job done they're certainly not considered the worse for it.

Besides, all athletes take pain killers because the majority of activities that are considered professional sports are hard on the body and therefore cause pain that's not present in other occupations.

And personally, I'm pretty upset that Celebrex was taken off the market. Three years ago when I needed to drop about 40 pounds I would have never made it without Celebrex. The aches and pains of a cigarette smoking fatbody would never have withstood the rigors of an intense cardio and weightlifting program. Celebrex helped me to extend my life and the quality of it.

OK, so where would we draw the line? Would it change depending on the sport?