Submitted by Stephen Rittenberg, M.D., Nov 17, 2007 12:46

As usual, the best sportswriter in New York nails it. This is an absurd prosecution for all the reasons he mentioned. It also seeks to punish an admirable aspect of human nature — the wish to excel. Serious athletes will willingly trade their future health for the opportunity to excel. Curt Schilling went against most medical advice, risking permanent crippling injury to pitch in the biggest game of his career. At the time I asked a group of fellow physicians who knew it was medically contraindicated, what they would have done. Every one of them would have taken the risk. I'd like to ask the prosecutors how many of them are taking amphetamines or other drugs to help them stay up late formulating pointless prosecutions. How about all those men, who despite warnings about possible heart problems are taking Viagra to enhance their performance. Bonds is being prosecuted because he's a celebrity. It's pointless.

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