> "Basking in Las Vegas' neon glow at the launch, founder Aron D'Souza on Wednesday urged athletes to take a gamble on the novel competition that he believes can transform sports science but that critics deride as a freak show."

It's not a freak show. It's bloodsport.

In sport, if something that enhances performance is permissible, then it's mandatory. Everyone needs to do it just to remain competitive. Whatever banned substances and techniques are allowed in this competition will become compulsory. All of them. All at once. In games with rules, the question is how much can you get away with before you're caught. In these games, it will be a question of how much you can get away with before you die. It will become a race to liver failure, heart-attack, and embolism. This competition will kill people and then be shut down.

The real kicker is that the performances in these games probably won't be that great. Any decent athlete who has a hope of competing elsewhere will steer clear. Steroids, doping, and all that other stuff can only improve bums so far.