Brian Bolter's Blog

For once, I wholeheartedly agree with you Mr. Bolter. Fantastic Blog and sentiments. I have weight trained painfully for the last 10 years trying to stay in some semblence of physical shape for my job. I don't have a whole lot to show for it. When you watch guys like Bonds or Canseco put on 15 lbs of muscle in three months, it's pretty depressing.

It's an old, old Middle Eastern sports problem, just substitute "circumcision" for "drugs":) Still a health problem debated today. And very seasonal, Khanookah:) Actually this is the sort of thing even Muhammad observed in the Koran when he discussed the fighting of Christians and Jewish tribes over the same scriptures. Protestants don't know about this as "words of God" but Catholics, the predominant Western Hemisphere religion, do. I majored in Latin-American Studies.
===============================================
For centuries, Jewish boys have regularly been circumcised when they are eight days old (Genesis 17:12). An unusual challenge to circumcision developed, however, in the Hellenistic period (after about 133 B.C.E*). Hellenistic and Roman societies widely practiced public nakedness. But they abhorred baring the tip of the penis, called the glans. To expose the glans was considered vulgarly humorous, indecent or both. This combination of attitudes could be—and often was—devastating for circumcised Jews. Enjoying oneself in a Greek gymnasium or Roman bath, where nudity was de rigueur, was a popular and stylish pastime. Here politics was discussed and business deals concluded. Athletic contests and exhibitions were also conducted in the nude. Participation in athletics was often a prerequisite for social advancement. Yet a circumcised penis effectively precluded this participation.
http://www.cirp.org/library/restoration/hall1/
============================
That takes care of Athletic Politics for me.
Why don't you use the word "hormones" instead of "steroid

Bringing religion into sports, well I'm thunderstruck. I am not religious so I freely wonder what books form the religion of others. I happen to have had an Orthodox Jewish education from 7-12 YO. However I now realize it was based on a prayerbook, not the bible. So I've got 70 years of catching up to do academically. It's easy because it's a very popular subject. I can now understand why the Roman rulers insisted on the New Testament management of monotheism. My history of mathematics book said that the field of statistics was based on wagering. What did people wager on? Athletics, throughout history. Jews couldn't actively compete in athletics. The New Testament's main point was that you could believe in the Jewish God without being circumcised which is still a 21st century concern. However, this means that all the characters in the New Testament could not have participated in the athletics because they were circumcised (I believe Luke was the only man who didn't have a Jewish mom).

Wagering is the most profitable profession and entertainment of mankind. Can you imagine the Roman Emperors ever selecting the Talmudic management of YHWH? I was financial secretary and Treasurer of Einstein High School. I found out in the 1960's how important sports are to high school. I accounted every single penny that was collected by the school. I deposited the money in the bank every day and had to worry about being high-jacked. I also found out that Montgomery County stopped considering coaches for being principals because they were superior managers.