Mark Spahn sent a link to this blog post about performance-enhancing substances in cycling. Some of the commenters say they don’t mind watching doped-up athletes compete. I do. I want to see people who are like me in all relevant respects except that they devote themselves entirely to their sport. In other words, I want to see what normal human beings can do when they have trained and prepared to the maximum. I don’t want to see what normal human beings can do when they use artificial substances to enhance their performance. Are there borderline cases in which it’s not clear whether a particular substance is artificial or natural? Yes. But the fact that there are borderline cases doesn’t mean that there are no clear cases.

Addendum: Here is a story from what one of my colleagues calls “the best newspaper in the world.”

Addendum 2: Here is a depressing column.