The AFL caffiene row - should this be allowed

Interested to see what peoples thoughts are on the recent caffiene 'storm in a tea cup'. My opinion is sports should be played without any kind of enhancement whatsoever. Pain jabs are being used to cover up injuries, which is fine IMO, but taking caffeine as a stimulant is against the rules of sportsmanship.

Apart from the fact that every kid who pulls on a boot from 12 - 18 is now going to be loading up on no doze prior to a weekend football game. I think a dangerous path is being presented to young sports people by their sporting heroes.

I think it's extremely wrong, especially for the players who choose not to use stimulants to boost their game.

On a side-note, did anyone else see the start of street talk this week, where Sam had ordered like 10 coffees, and was acting pepped up and jittery? Funny shit.

linusSL said:

Interested to see what peoples thoughts are on the recent caffiene 'storm in a tea cup'. My opinion is sports should be played without any kind of enhancement whatsoever. Pain jabs are being used to cover up injuries, which is fine IMO, but taking caffeine as a stimulant is against the rules of sportsmanship.

Apart from the fact that every kid who pulls on a boot from 12 - 18 is now going to be loading up on no doze prior to a weekend football game. I think a dangerous path is being presented to young sports people by their sporting heroes.

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Yeh my sentiments exactly. Having said that i've used nodoz before a match, but that was more because of the state I was in following the activities of the night before.

I don't think or see how anyone would approve of this, i'd be ashamed of myself if i was one of the players & the coach is even worse.

I disagree with it as any performance enhancing drug should be banned, but it is not the players fault if it is within the rules. The issue is with the AFL on how they could leave large amounts of caffeine off the prohibited list.

I agree with everything you say linusSL. Im stunned that the authorities have deemed caffeine legal... I mean performance enhancing is performance enhancing, no matter what the substance is.

I too would be ashamed of myself if I was a player, and especially if I was a coach! As you said linusSL, what sort of seed is this planting in impressionable and young minds? Its no secret that young people use rec drugs when they go out. For newly recruited ball-players of any code the jump from taking the caffeine pill before a game to saving some of the speed from friday night to use in the wkend game could potentially be a very small one IMO.

umm... but seriously, we're talking about caffeine.

just about every person i know uses caffeine as a performance enhancing drug! office workers, uni students, designated drivers... need i continue? i really don't see what all the moral indignation is about! what's the difference between a player taking no-doz and having a couple of espresso coffees? in terms of caffeine dose/effect, nothing. so are you going to get all outraged over players having a strong coffee before a match because it's "unfair"? let's be serious!! if i have caffeine before work in the morning, thus making me more attentive and productive, is that unfair to my co-workers because it makes me more likely to get a promotion? no. if i take caffeine to help me study, is that unfair because it means i can study longer? of course not!

if you really want a totally level playing field, then you'd better be outraged about players who get pre-game massages, get good physio treatment, wear ice vests, use strapping to protect injuries or have better training facilities, because all of those things will affect performance just as much as taking a couple of bloody caffeine tablets! and they're not all available to all plaers equally. so why is caffeine unfair? anybody is free to take it, it's cheap, readily available, relatively safe... it's just a personal choice whether to use it or not. therefore, not an *unfair* advantage.

the players are doing something that nearly every adult in the world does... for fuck's sake it's just football. there's nothing inherently special about it which makes the use of performance aides like caffeine more morally dubious than any other human endeavour...

footballers are over-regulated anyway. those guys can't so much as scratch their arses or the media jumps on them as "sending the wrong message to the kids" or "betraying the player group" or some other dodgy cliché. i say just let them play, and do whatever is within the rules to do that to their best.

If its legal its not giving anyone an unfair advantage. If you want to you can take them too. If they ban the pills and you want the same energy from the caffeine slam down a couple of coffees before the match, they won't be able to make that illegal.

If the players feel the need and use the tablets fair enough its their choice, when the tab's wear off they will be worse off anyway. But they shouldn't be thrown in the publics face like this, its bad for them as role models. Kids don't need to hear major sporting names saying popping pills is fine. Its ok if they do it but keep it private and don't encourage it. The media has something to answer for here too as always.

But what goes up must come down, the crash from caffeine is nothing fun. Could be why the dockers always seem to run out of steam after 3 quarters

I really dont care.... as long the game stays rough and aggressive.... makes the AFL more interesting

Fry-d- said:

If its legal its not giving anyone an unfair advantage. If you want to you can take them too.

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Just because it isn't prohibited doesn't mean that it won't give an unfair advantage. It is a usually a game of cat and mouse where a chemical is used and then banned.

If they ban the pills and you want the same energy from the caffeine slam down a couple of coffees before the match, they won't be able to make that illegal.

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I am supporting a ban on caffeine levels where the intent is to use it for its stimulant effect to increase performance. In some sports there are acceptable levels for caffeine so you can have one coffee but not 10 coffees. A blood test would clearly be able to establish if someone is using caffeine as a stimulant for performance enhancement vs. someone who had a latte before the game.

Yes but if other players feel that players using caffeine are getting an unfair advantage the way the rules are now there is nothing stopping them having that advantage too. As long as it remains legal no one can complain anyone else has any unfair advantage over anyone else.

Few questions I've been thinking about while reading this thread:

1. At what point does one draw the line between game-winning strategy and employing an unfair advantage?
2. As suggested by the original poster, if this technique is publicised and administratively suppressed at a national league level, what is to stop the practive becoming undetectably widespread at a local sports level where players aren't drug tested?
3. Where does the distinction between professional sportsperson and role-model for children come into it?
4. Is this conceptually the same issue as the "IV saline rehydration" that popped up some time ago (ie. obtaining an advantage over the other team through medical intervention rather than player skill or coaching methods)?

BigTrancer

i know for a fact that the institutes of sport also promot no doz.
when you are at the elite level. your looking for any kind of advantage.
there is also a fine line between too much as well. i isnt abused. its recommened about 2-3 no doz. which is equilivent to 3 cups of coffee. i think the players should have just kept there mouth shut. why come and say they do. i think some of you think they slam done shitloads. they dont. its only a little wake me up like having a coffee. thats all its intended for. but instead of drinking liquid. you can easily pop a tablet. tablets are just more convenient that drinking a couple of cups of coffee.
its doesnt improve performance dramatically, hence the reason its not banned substance. they even changed it. ASDA used to have a certain level of acceptable caffeine in the body. but now you can have as much as you want.
obviously that shows that the more you have the more decreasing effects it has.

because on the other side, i completley agree that people who are not at the elite level should not be taking it. and of course now, there is that portrayal and admittance that AFL players take it. so of course kids are gonna want to have it.
they have been dong it for years. i dont no why the stupid fuks opened there mouth. they have done some damage.
the issue is just that we dont want kids taking caffeine tablets because there role models do. but you cant blame the players or sportpeople for doing it. why would ya?

**definate storm in a tea cup IMO**