I had an epiphany about Chris Davis and Adderall this morning

[UpstateNYfan]

I have very little respect for the man. He took a softball route to come public by using a Christian radio station, where he knew there would be no tough questions and used the "devil made me do it" defense, an excuse anyone can make and remove personal responsibility for any action. It would seem that his "legal" use of the drug was never real, got caught once, remained ignorant. He like many players are looking for an edge. IMO he comes off very weak in character and difficult to trust. I won't be upset with him as an Oriole or if and when he leaves the team, but will always remember him as a guy that just failed to man up for his mistake(s), take the consequences and move on.

[Odenton O]

I have very little respect for the man. He took a softball route to come public by using a Christian radio station, where he knew there would be no tough questions and used the "devil made me do it" defense, an excuse anyone can make and remove personal responsibility for any action. It would seem that his "legal" use of the drug was never real, got caught once, remained ignorant. He like many players are looking for an edge. IMO he comes off very weak in character and difficult to trust. I won't be upset with him as an Oriole or if and when he leaves the team, but will always remember him as a guy that just failed to man up for his mistake(s), take the consequences and move on.

That is... really not what he was saying there. He wasn't saying that the actual Devil compelled him to do anything. He was saying that there was temptation to cheat, and he was weak and gave in to temptation. He was pretty much owning up to it entirely as a moral failing on his part. It was just couched in terms of his faith. I actually found it to be a pretty honest statement on his part.

[DrungoHazewood]

That is... really not what he was saying there. He wasn't saying that the actual Devil compelled him to do anything. He was saying that there was temptation to cheat, and he was weak and gave in to temptation. He was pretty much owning up to it entirely as a moral failing on his part. It was just couched in terms of his faith. I actually found it to be a pretty honest statement on his part.

How do we know that the devil didn't make him do it? Or, for that matter, that we have free will at all? Maybe, 10,000 years ago, Chris Davis was already predestined to take Adderall and fail a test.

[TouchemAll]

I think he will be fine. And then after this season, gone.

:agree:

[CA-ORIOLE]

Well, as I read this previously in another thread, the issue with Davis may have been more about compounding stress from his slump and the adderall helping him better deal with that stress. Noth that adderall provides him better vision. Anybody can have severe reactions to stress (including vision issues) but what I inferred was that people with ADHD have far more severe reactions and difficulty handling stress than a normal person.

[El Gordo]

What is a PED demonizer? If MLB didn't believe it gave some advantage, they probably wouldn't have cracked down on it. That doesn't mean it's the reason he had a a 53 homer season, but it could have helped. We still don't know if and when he took it during the 2012, 2013, and 2014 seasons.

A PED demonizer is someone who takes a black and white approach to PED's, and doesn't understand that most of the PED BS from MLB, is PR driven.

[El Gordo]

How do we know that the devil didn't make him do it? Or, for that matter, that we have free will at all? Maybe, 10,000 years ago, Chris Davis was already predestined to take Adderall and fail a test.

Yep, all a part of God's master plan.

[24fps]

How do we know that the devil didn't make him do it? Or, for that matter, that we have free will at all? Maybe, 10,000 years ago, Chris Davis was already predestined to take Adderall and fail a test.

Somehow determinism just doesn't look as good on your posts as free will does.

When in doubt, take the aesthetic approach.

[Ruzious]

I think Chris Davis is a great guy - proud to root for him. But... if I'm a GM, I look at the fact that he failed the test and - realizing the millions of consequences - failed again. There's something wrong when that happens - for whatever reason. If I decide to depend on him again, and the same thing happens - I fail. I'd need to know that he won't fail again. If the league gives him an exemption for all of next season, only then would I know he won't fail. Otherwise, I wish him well playing for someone else.

[weams]

I think Chris Davis is a great guy - proud to root for him. But... if I'm a GM, I look at the fact that he failed the test and - realizing the millions of consequences - failed again. There's something wrong when that happens - for whatever reason. If I decide to depend on him again, and the same thing happens - I fail. I'd need to know that he won't fail again. If the league gives him an exemption for all of next season, only then would I know he won't fail. Otherwise, I wish him well playing for someone else.

They all fail.

[Spider44]

http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasybaseball/update/24823521/orioles-chris-davis-expresses-regret-over-suspension

"I was really down," Davis said. "I was really depressed because I felt like I had let so many people down and had really just scarred my reputation to the point of where everything that I had done wasn't really going to count for anything. God just reached down and put his arm around me at that time and let me know that it's OK to stumble as long as you get up and move forward and learn from your mistakes."

I would have preferred if God put him arm around him and let him know that he should hit 50 homers again this year...

[SpinJr]

We've all sinned but what's most important is we forgive ourselves as He has, learn and move forward determined not to stumble again. That's basically what he's saying. Now perhaps God will allow a 50 home run season again; but Lord, I'd take 35

[mdbdotcom]

Back to the OP, I asked my daughter, who took Adderall for at least 6 or 7 years, whether she thought that taking it sharpened her ability to follow moving objects. She reacted as though I was out of my mind for asking that question. I realize that the drug could affect different people in different ways, but the idea that Davis started using Adderall again because the baseball looked like a blur is absurd.

I didn't take Davis's statement about the "ball became a blur" literally. I thought it was the equivalent of saying that his inability to concentrate on the field made the game go so fast that it was as if his view of the ball was a blur compared to the way he saw it while medicated.

It's like when athletes are able to simultaneously concentrate and relax, they say they are able to "slow down the game." Obviously, the game doesn't actually go slower, but the athlete's ability to focus and relax at a heightened level makes it seem so, just like when we watch an object fall and it seems like it took forever to do so, even though it happened in a fraction of a second. For one who is used to being able to slow down the game, losing the ability to concentrate would (obviously) speed up the game. Chris expressed that increased speed as a blur. It may not be accurate as a visual phenomenon, but its probably an apt description of the contrast between how he perceived the game when focused vs. when distracted.

If we understand "slow down the game," we should be able to understand "became a blur."

[Guest]

I hope you have a bounce back year or gonna be a long 2015.