SCPS Conference Ponders Role of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports

      In February, the ninth annual Cal Ramsey Distinguished Lecture Series, hosted by NYU’s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management in the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, featured a panel discussion entitled “Performance-Enhancing Drugs and Sports: Illegal, Immoral, Unfair?”
      Moderated by NYU University Professor and director of SCPS’s public dialogues, Arthur Miller, the discussion featured expert panelists, including former president of the Texas Rangers Michael Cramer, now clinical assistant professor in NYU’s Tisch Center; World Anti-Doping Agency sub-committee chair Gary Wadler, who is a clinical associate professor at NYU’s School of Medicine; President John Sexton; former general manager of the Montreal Expos and Boston Red Sox Dan Duquette, who is now president of the Dan Duquette Sports Academy; and a host of former athletes, sports commentators, and legal scholars.
      The discussion—lively and argumentative at times—was spurred on by Miller in the “Socratic dialogue” style he popularized on PBS’s Fred Friendly seminar series.
      “My view is that the risks for an athlete using supplements are much greater than what could be gained,” said Wadler.