GET TOUGH ON OLYMPIC DRUG TESTS FOR NBA, NHL

If U.S. professional hockey and basketball players are not willing to
submit to random drug testing the same as ordinary mortals, let them sit
out the Olympic Games.

Keep the Dream Teams sealed up in, well, a bottle.

The U.S. Olympic Committee shocked the sporting world by announcing without
advance warning that National Hockey League and National Basketball
Association players would no longer be exempt from drug testing far in
advance of the games.

Competitors in other Olympic sports are subject to screening for
performance-enhancing drugs as much as a year before the Olympic flame is
set ablaze. Under an old agreement, NHL and NBA stars were tested almost
moments before they entered the arena.

NBA and NHL stars would join the ranks of 8,000 potential Olympians who
might be caught, embarrassed and denied the right to participate.

This development has caused agonizing reappraisals in two major leagues
that view the topic as a matter of collective bargaining and employee
morale more than a social or fair-play issue.

The NBA might look the other way on the recreational use of marijuana, but
it's a forbidden substance within the Olympic family. Time for some blunt talk.

After years of frustration and failure, the U.S. Olympic Committee has
abandoned responsibility for drug testing and subcontracted the work to the
independent U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, headed by former Olympian Frank
Shorter. Good for him. Establishing rules and applying them to all
participants is key.

The World Anti-Doping Agency will oversee testing at the Winter Olympics in
Salt Lake City. The announcement follows the news of four Finnish stars
being caught at the Nordic world championships.

In Germany, a marathoner and a banned wrestler are working to get back into
competition after being caught.

The rules say no drugs. Make the best the U.S. has to offer meet the world
standard.