More on Ricky Williams

This is the second time I've seen a great column by Gwen Knapp. Here, she weighs in on Ricky Williams' retirement and pulls no punches on the stupidity of the NFL's drug testing policies. She asks if it's a joke.

The real comedy, though, doesn't lie in Williams' chemical end-around the tests. It's that marijuana is prohibited in the sports world at all. In Olympic competition, it shares space on the banned list with steroids.

...Screening for pot is worse than a waste of time. It confuses the already murky issue of performance- enhancing drugs.

Pinning down what appears to be the real motive,

Years ago, an NFL assistant coach told me that management didn't particularly care if players took steroids because usage made the game faster and more exciting. Marijuana and cocaine were problems because they made players hard to control.

She notes that she is not laughing.

Williams said he retired for a number of reasons, and anyone who criticizes him for wanting out should be willing to take a hit from an All-Pro linebacker. The outrageous violence of the game is a turnoff for anyone who savors the idea of walking upright at 45.

More aggressive screening for steroids might make the game safer. Nature couldn't possibly have produced so many freakishly large men who run like locomotives. Trying to eliminate pot use won't change a thing. It's irrelevant damage control, and a joke that isn't all that funny.

Spot on. I'm not laughing either.