Klaus wrote:Humble Rex wrote:In other words - the treatment he got for a medical condition has given him an advantage in an arena where the use of said substance is forbidden.
He's practically built like Patrick Vieira these days
He's still disadvantaged physically. The stereoids just made sure that he didn't end up as a midget.
That is exactly what I am talking about. I´d like to see midget Messi run around on a football pitch being the best player on the planet. 
That's what we see every week.
Careful Rex, you're one step away from saying that blood transfusions are work of the devil. 
The steroids he took helped him grow, but they ALSO helped him grow muscle mass. Of course he has an advantage today relative to himself and where he would have been without the steroids.
If I took steroids, which I don´t, then it would help me build more muscles. It would no doubt help me perform better in several sporting scenarios in relation to where I would be without the steroids. It wouldn´t have made me a world beater by any standards, but relative to my own limitations I would be better. Despite being off the steroids - muscles would still be there.
General Mirth wrote:Careful Rex, you're one step away from saying that blood transfusions are work of the devil.
Certain blood transfusions are indeed illegal from a sporting point of view...
Only if he was on the steroids now would it make a difference. He isn't, so it doesn't.
the steroids he had back then has made his muscles stronger possibly allowing him to be faster and stronger, which is a huge part of his dribbling game.
I was thinking before its strange how no one has even mentioned a guy who used drugs during his development is now breaking football records for fun. Everyone knew he was a talented player and was going to go on to be one of the best but what he is doing now is ridiculous, he is expected to dribble past 3 players for fun and score at least two in every game.
What on earth?
The steroids he was taking at the time helped his muscles to grow. The effect is long gone now.
According to the ITV documentary that was out a couple mnths of agos, the growth hormones meant that his muscles were unstable which is why he was quite injury prone when he first broke through. And he had to spend some time being rehabilitated away from the team, I think he's still got a trainer following him about although that might just be Barcelona protecting their prized asset.
He didn't take steroids.
His body wasn't producing enough of a certain hormone so he got top ups.
I wonder if people really understand how growth hormones work. In no way, shape or form does the injection of them in underdeveloped bodies result in physical superiority. Even when treated in time it results in slower muscular development which means that walking, running and maintaining body balance is significantly more difficult. My cousin was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency when he was a kid. He was lucky enough that it never became a permanent condition but he suffered from it severely while growing up. He broke a lot of bones when he was in his teens because his body matured slowly.
Whatever he was being pumped full of, it didn't make him some sort of bionic man.
Definitely not.
In the Messi documentary that was on ITV a few months back, they said the hormones never altered the height he'd end up at, but just increased the rate at which he'd get there.
It's a pretty common treatment.
Of course it didn´t, and at least I have never implied so either. It turning him into some bionic person that is.
Without the steroids he would in no way, shape or form be a professional footballer today though. Therefore, without the steroids in his early teens - there would be no "Messi the footballer" as we know him today. Nothing controversial in that at all, and I think even Messi would agree. In that sense it is difficult to say that he isn´t now reaping the rewards of the steroids he took/was treated with then.
I am genuinely surprised why this topic has never, to my knowledge, been raised in Messi´s case. The question was raised in regards to Lance Armstrong, and it takes some nerve to go after a guy treated for testicular cancer! There are quite a few cross country skiers as well on banned, performance enhancing prescription medications, and there has been a decent amount of debate on that.
...because the treatment was ages ago?
Well, maybe pro sports should be closed to some?
Nonsense.
Humble Rex wrote:Well, maybe pro sports should be closed to some?
Yes - cheats. Not people who get medical treatment for growth hormone diseases.
Humble Rex wrote:Without the steroids he would in no way, shape or form be a professional footballer today though. Therefore, without the steroids in his early teens - there would be no "Messi the footballer" as we know him today.
Without a new heart Kanu wouldn't have been able to play football for us. Isn't it unfair that he made a whole career out of playing with someone elses organs when his own failed?
