sars1981 said:
It's funny when people from overseas refer to rugby league as "rugby", as if they are the same thing. rugby union is different to rugby league. in Australia we mainly watch and play rugby league. saying "rugby" implies rugby union. suffice to say, you are the one who doesnt know what he/she is talking about.
im sorry that you Spaniards need to take it so personally when Spain is acknowledged as having a doping culture. It is not meant as an insult. It is just the truth. Some countries dope more than others. deal with it.
I´m not a Spaniard. In the US English which I speak, "rugby" means any one of rugby league or union or sevens - since none are all that common in the US, and all are played at a club level, and most folks have no idea about any of them, making finer distinctions is only confusing. In US English the word "football" means US football - with helmets and pads - while in UK English it means "soccer" - while elsewhere it means other things. It's hard to use "rugby" or "football" in a way which seems correct to all speakers of English. In any case, it doesn't matter which of them you are talking about - at the professional level they are all clearly full of doping and steroids and the like - these are games in which extra strength, size, and endurance all count for a lot.
My point is that I would not "acknowledge" that Spain has a doping culture that is more developed than that of the US, England, France, Australia, China or any number of other big countries with strong sports programs, since I don't see any evidence (not of an anecdotal kind) for such a sweeping claim. Moreover, such a claim is suspect, particularly when it comes from the so-called Anglo-Saxon world, because there is a very clear condescension in a part of that world towards all things Mediterrannean. US professional sports are rife with drugs/doping/etc - NBA (just look at the players), NFL, baseball are clearly loaded - US track and field - Tim Montgomery, Marion Jones, etc.. - US cycling - Lance, Tyler, Floyd, etc. - I have direct experience with US football - there the doping regimens start in high school - the big pro sports in France/England/Spain/etc are football (with a round ball) followed by some collection of minor sports e.g. basketball, football/rugby/rugby league (oval ball), tennis, golf, or cycling. I don't known if I'd agree with "some countries dope more than others" or not - it seems to me there is some of evidence that the US is the world's leader in doping - in the development of doping technology and in the difusion of doping technology to athletes at all levels. Clearly something similar can be said for most wealthy western European nations, and probably also China and eastern Europe. What seems likely true is that in any professional sport in which doping can push one over the edge from mere professional to big time money maker there is a huge tendency to dope.
Spain has Rafa Nadal and Alberto Contador, Australia has Ian Thorpe and Cadel Evans. I don't see much difference.
Maybe the reason there are is so much doping in Spanish cycling is that so many cyclists, of all nationalities, come to Spain to train, because of its mild climate and its abundant mountainous terrain, coupled with the large number of Spaniards who cycle. Don't get me wrong - there is clearly corruption, or at least willful blindness, among the sporting authorities, and the president twittering his support of Contador is not what is needed - but one should also not conclude that a large number of busts means lots of doping - maybe it just means more active policing. Doping is a hard thing to police - the sporting authorities are often complicit, or willfully blind - and the legal regime is often not well adapted to controlling novel substances - finally, controlling doping may not be a priority (and perhaps ought not to be) for police and judges who have to worry about other things which very clearly do more damage to society.
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