The Dirtiest Sport in the World

What is the dirtiest, most drug-infested, low down, varmint, sport in the civilized sporting world?

Track, cycling, baseball?  No, those sports are amateur hacks when it comes to positive doping tests.  According to WADA and the IOC, billiards is the downright nasty.

Track & field and cycling athletes at the highest, elite level are consistently busted for doping.  In both sports, the diversity and intensity of doping are appalling.  However, neither sport ranks #1 in positive substance tests. Not close.

MLB Baseball, with a host of busted athletes, many achieving at the elite level of the sport?   But remember, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, and other superstars never tested positive.

Football, where whispers of steroid/HGH use have gotten a bit louder?  The suspension of arguably the best defensive NFL player -- Shawne Merriman -- not withstanding, there are not many NFL players who test positive for any substance.

The NBA?  No way.  Although the antics of the pro ballers entertain, this is not a league with many positive tests.

Bodybuilding and power lifting are infested with steroid and anabolic use, however the testing programs must be either futile or ineffective.  What would body building be without anabolic drugs?

According to the Toronto Star, with data from the World Antidoping Association (WADA), the sport that tests as dirtiest is billiards!

Unbelievable.  Billiards.  A sport that seems to take no extraordinary strength, acceleration, explosiveness, or superhuman athletic prowess is #1 in dirty tests.

Cycling and track and field are the poster children for doping-riddled sports. But when it comes to dirty pool, you can't beat billiards players.According to recently published data by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), billiards sports had the worst doping record by far in 2005, with nearly 10 per cent of its tested competitors getting snookered for taking banned substances.

Ten percent of billiard players tested positive for a banned substance -- most likely that anabolic, performance enhancing substance beer.  Second was Sumo, and third was golf at around 5% positive tests.  The top 5 was rounded out by bridge (old ladies doing Winnie???) and bandy (whatever the hell that is).

Track & field, baseball, cycling?  Pathetic on this list.  Those sports test positive at 3% or less. Football isn't an Olympic sport, thus will not appear on a IOC list.  Likewise, body building likely isn't represented.

A billiards pro has a good perspective (chart reproduced below, but is hard to read;  go to the Star site to see a better chart image):

Jim Wych of Oakville, a billiards pro for 17 years and now an international broadcaster, is flabbergasted that 28 of 281 players ran afoul of the mass spectrometer last year."You don't see many muscle-bound pool players and endurance isn't much of a factor," says Wych. But he doesn't believe the doping news will hurt his thriving sport."There's no such thing as bad press. I've known a few guys who've worn women's underwear to get in the press."

Steroid Nation will research this more.  Are the subject IOC governed subjects, in other words in Olympic competition settings?  Do pro leagues even release comprehensive data on anti-doping measures.   In a way, this is sad data.  Look at a billiards player, then look at an NFL linemen.  Who needs closer monitoring?  (maybe it would be the billiards players after a six pack?).

Kudos for the Toronto Star in gathering this data.  One could almost giggle at the comedic content of bridge players urinating more positive substances than cyclists or MLB sluggers.

Are the results 'piss poor'?