Do PEDs Affect the Way You Wager?
Was Ray Lewis getting an advantage in healing his torn triceps from deer antler spray?
Yesterday was Super Bowl Media Day which for some, has become a bigger event than the game itself. It’s an opportunity for nearly every moron outside the world of the National Football League to come into the stadium, in this case the Superdome and ask completely off the wall questions.
While that was most certainly the case again, there was another story that broke as media day unfolded and it centered around performance-enhancing drugs, or PEDS. This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill story however because one of the athletes linked to the article from si.com was the golden child of the Super Bowl himself, Ray Lewis.
By now I’m assuming you’ve heard of S.W.A.T.S or Sports With Alternatives to Steroids, which is a company that uses ‘chips’ and ‘negatively charged’ water to help athletes gain an edge. Somewhere the great infomercial pitchman Ron Propeil is smiling…
Where Ray Lewis and the Ravens come in is that in the hours after Lewis tore a triceps’ muscle that forced him to miss much of the season, he was on the phone to one of the two owners of S.W.A.T.S who just happens to be a former stripper and body builder (I swear I’m not making this up). The owner was able to ‘diagnose’ Lewis over the phone and immediately started telling Lewis where to put these ‘chips’ which are actually stickers. These would help the healing process due to ‘balance’ and ‘healing properties.’
This business also sells products related to deer and yes I mean the ‘Bambi’ type. They offer both a ‘deer antler spray’ and a ‘deer antler pill’ which has allowed some former players to sleep better and have better focus and memory in their daily lives. Lewis is far from the only athlete connected to this outfit as according to the article, Shawn Merriman, Heath Evans and a host of college football players have admitted to using the products.
This all came to light not just on Super Bowl Media Day, but also on a day where baseball’s Alex Rodriguez and several others were once again implicated in a doping scheme based out of South Florida. Ultimately the question has to be asked? Are PEDS affecting the way we gamble of professional sports?
Anderson's alleged use of PEDs could have easily altered the way wagers were placed.
Perhaps maybe not so much in the grand scheme of wins and losses but if you are the type that enjoys side-bets or prop bets based on an individual player’s performance than it might be something to consider. For example, let’s say that you have a little wager going that says Ray Lewis will have 12 or more tackles in the Super Bowl. If you think he is ‘getting an advantage,’ then maybe you take that action and if you don’t maybe not.
It’s even more likely in baseball or basketball where single individual performances can alter the course of a game so drastically. Remember Brady Anderson, the Baltimore Orioles’ center-fielder who from 1988 through 1995 never hit more than 21 home runs in a season? Then, in 1996, he hit 50! He would play until 2002 and would never hit more than 24 dingers in a season after ’96.
I bring him up because he is the perfect example of how PEDS, allegedly in his case (cough-cough), can tip the balance of wagering. Think about his impact in fantasy leagues where there are often huge pots to be won. If you have a feeling this guy looks bigger, faster and stronger heading into a season, then hey, that affects your decision-making and wagering.
Athletes have always cheated and looked for advantages anywhere they could and that will not stop any time soon. What we as bettors have to decide is just who is using PEDs and to what extent as we decide to place our next wagers.
