Big Think

Question: Is American competitiveness complicit?

Shaun Assael: Unfortunately it is and yet I think that we in some respects are dialing back from that a little bit. The games themselves are so beautiful that I think fans understand that small ball is just as attractive to watch as the long jogging ball that we had during the late ‘90s and in to the early 2000s and I do think the fans are to some extent rebelling parents are rebelling against this notion that, we need to do this and by the way just you know this drive for scholarships which you know really don’t pay all that much, when I think we are beginning to see that are obsession towards sports is gone a little too far and we are into self correcting mode, I think our economy is in the self correcting mode I think that our sports fanaticism is in a self correcting mode, I just think that we are going through a re-evaluation of what it means that succeed it at all costs, also will go to re-evaluation of uses, a medicine, I mean whether it is how medicines are advertised whether it is how much medicines we give our kids and that is another thing I mean you know you talk about winning all costs, the other part of this is that we have a generation of kids and I am not being necessarily critical of this but as a fact who grown up taking medications that the prior generation did for a lot of parents pill first was a solution that was being trusted, well if your kids where growing up taking medicines, taking steroids, they don’t necessarily see the difference I mean this is a great area well I have been taking this, I will just take this and so I think we are also readdressing a chemical culture, it is not bad idea to do.

Question: Do athletes hate aging more than the rest of us?

Shaun Assael: All absolutely, I mean aging to them is the end of the only thing they have known I mean most of us have distinct phases in our lives whether it is going to over the way we are kids into teenagers and to college and then in the work force something you know we go through three, four, five, six, seven distinct phases for the athlete it is one phase, it is pursue, pursue, that single goal, and so to be faced with the end of that to be phased with no longer doing the thing that you have been doing as long as you can remember, you know that is significant and that is where you start to see them being willing to do just about anything and that is where you saw careers suddenly being extended with these things.

Question: How will history view modern athletes?

Shaun Assael: You know what is interesting about the Estrous era is the notion that we are all genetically different and some people are just born lucky, born with more fast stretch muscle, born with a vertical ability to have vertical leak, born with enough androgens receptors on there muscles that they can naturally not have to work as hard in the gym and so Michael Jordan and Carl Ripkin were gifted genetically, they were allowed to hold on now Carl Ripkin was a little bit of insane, I mean there is a famous story of him drilling under his toe to remove an abscess, he also genetically didn’t feel pain quite as much and so that is the other question.

If somebody is using to bring themselves up to the condition of somebody who is as blessed naturally, how do we feel about that? There is just a lot of moral qualification here. And there is no easy answers. You sit come to this yourself, how do I view Mark Mcguire versus Cal Ripkin; I think the act of altering yourself is where you draw the line, if you can put that again, if you go to the gym and lift weights you are altering yourself.

Question: Should athletes be role models?

Shaun Assael: Yeah. They are now how much pressure we put on them to act the ways that they may not otherwise I think its legitimate, but I think they have to understand, when I was given my drivers license I was told driving is a privilege not a ride I think playing is privilege not a ride and while they shouldn’t necessarily have to bend their personalities I just think they have knowledge, with their role model which is why you would like to see somebody and I keep waiting and I haven't seen that person yet come out and say this is what I did, this is why I did it, and let me explain to you let me correct myself there is a couple, Jason Jeambe [phonetic] did that obliquely and I think there was just a California angel who came out in and said the same thing so maybe the players are starting to be other role models and I think they have to accept their actions on kids.

Recorded on: March 18, 2008.