Page 14-Friday, July 17, 1981-The Michigan Daily CTHE SPORTING VIEWS' Steroids and a double standard.. . *American falls victim By JOHN FITZPATRICK Daily sports writer BEN PLUCKNETT IS a discus thrower. A huge man, standing 6'7" and scaling 305 pounds, the red-bearded American set two world records in the discus this year. His latest mark was a booming toss of 237'4", established in an international meet at Stockholm last week. Had it not been for his suspension from competition Tuesday by the ruling body of international track and field, the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), Plucknett would probably still be competing, unnoticed and unappreciated by most of his countrymen. Plucknett's suspension was made on the basis of steroid tests conducted at a meet he won in New Zealand in January. Steroids are drugs commonly used by all, or nearly all, of the best shot-putters and discus throwers in the world. These drugs act to enhance the muscle mass and definition of an in- dividual, thereby, it is theorized, improving performances in events which demand strength or quickness. Though they are widely used by track and field athletes, steroids are prohibited by the IAAF, an organization reviled by those it governs. It is within the IAAF that one finds incessant controversy-controversy which has raised the ire of thWestern track world. The IAAF and Eastern Europe IAAF decisions have consistently favored Eastern European athletes in matters such as drug suspensions. This is not an unsubstantiated assertion of prejudice, but rather a fact. Last year, five Eastern European women who had, like Plucknett, been suspended for steroid use, mysteriously saw their suspensions revoked in time for them to compete in the Moscow Olympics. It was there that the IAAF truly revealed itself as an organization per- nicious to the sport it oversees. Ian Campbell of Australia had the longest distance in the triple jump competition, but a Soviet judge ruled that Cam- pbell had fouled. He ended up fifth. Video tapes of the disputed jump clearly showed it was legal, but the IAAF upheld the Russian judge's ruling, thereby confirming the gold medal awarded to Soviet triple jumper Jaak Uudmae. Officially sanctioned cheating of just this sort abounded in an athletic festival which is supposed to represent the quintessence of track and field. Discus throws were mismarked by Soviet judges as the event was won by a Soviet, and the IAAF did nothing. Actually, it did do something, with- drawing all IAAF officials from the infield of Lenin Stadium, as they were making the Soviet judges "uncomfortable." Soviet officials also mismarked javelin throws and overlooked an illegal change in the composition of the foursome that won the 4 x 400-meter relay. The gold medal winners in those events were Soviets, of course. Western athletes like Ben Plucknett are "suspended for life" for steroid use. Massive rule breaking by U.S.S.R. judges is tolerated. Why? On the surface, the Plucknett suspension is not an injustice. The IAAF was enforcing a rule, and a rule is an indifferent entity. It can be rigorously en- forced, as it was with Plucknett, or it can be ignored, as it was with East Germany's Ilona Slupianek, who, like the American, was found to be using steroids, but was suspended for only one year-1978. Plucknett had his world records taken away-the women's world record Slupianek set several years ago still stands. American athlete's predicament Plucknett's plight would, perhaps, not be a sad one if he was an Eastern European athlete, subsidized by the government and attended to by a bat- tery of physiologists. But Plucknett is an American, and in the maelstrom of American athletics, he must sink or swim on his own. Ben Plucknett, discus thrower of international renown, found himself in the hospital not so long ago, missing valuable training time due to an injury. He had sustained a massive shot gun wound in his stomach while he was eking out a living asa bouncer at a bar. No government subsidies for Ben Plucknett-for he is an American. And, as an American, Plucknett did not have physiologists available to advise him on steroid use and how to time his intake of the drug to evade detection. Slupianek's physiologists goofed once, but the IAAF was understanding about it. When attempting to derive some sense of meaning from the Plucknett episode, one ends up assessing the IAAF, which was responsible for the- whole affair. Though it is true that any major sport, such as track, needs an organization to provide a degree of cohesion and uniformity, the good such an organization does for the sport, in a utilitarian way, must outweigh the harm it wreaks. Though this is obvious, the IAAF, perhaps, is not aware of it. The men who compose the IAAF's council, and particularly president Adrian Paulen, must realize, if they are at all rational, that the damage they have done to Ben Plucknett, and Ian Campbell, and countless others, will ac- crue to an abominable level some day, a day which will mark disaster for track and field. It can only be hoped that this realization will come soon. Baseball strike talks remain futile; players desire arbitration NEW YORK (AP)-Talks fell apart in the 35-day-old major league baseball strike last night, and it appeared that federal mediator Kenneth Moffett would ask the two sides to move the negotiations to Washington D.C., probably next week. The striking Players Association late yesterday offered to submit to final and binding arbitration the issues in the strike, but management's Player Relations Committee rejected the proposal. IN A FORMAL statement issued by the PRC, the 26 major league owners said "arbitration is not an acceptable alternative on the issue of compensation." Union chief Marvin Miller had suggested the arbitration as a solution to the stalemated strike which has forced cancellation of 406 games, more than 19 per- cent of the full major league schedule. Miller said that if management would accept a ruling on the issues by University of Kansas law professor Raymond Goetz, baseball's permanent arbitrator, "the players are ready to go back to work almost immediately." RAY GREBEY, spokesman for the management bargaining team, noted that Miller's arbitration proposal came about one hour after talks had adjourned. "It is surprising that the spokesman for the players union should seek to make proposals to the press long after the close of the bargaining session," he said. "This announcement is obviously designed as a public relations ploy in an effort to avoid resolving the issue of compensation in negotiation. "The position of the Player Relations Committee remains consistent with what they have taken throughout these negotiations: that the issue of compensation must be settled in collective bargaining, not by an outside party." MANAGEMENT OFFERED a new proposal yesterday aimed at settling the dispute about how to compensate teams losing free agents in the re-entry draft, but tied to it recommendations for solving other issues created by the strike, such as credited service time for the strikers. The owners said that if a settlement is reached within a reasonable time, they would give the players service credit starting yesterday, but not for the previous five weeks of the strike. Miller flatly rejected that idea. Grebey said that management would accept arbitration on the issue of credited service time, a question the owners' committee had raised during yesterday's bargaining. When it came up, Miller rejected arbitration for that question, saying the existing basic agreement was clear on that matter. 4 4 Pretend it's Muhammad Light heavyweight boxer Michael Spinks pounds on the speed bag as he completes preparations for tomorrow's WBA title fight with champion Eddie Mustaffa Muhammad. For Spinks, the bout provides him his biggest oppor- tunity to step out from behind the shadow of his brother Leon, a former heavyweight champ.