On Steroids In Sports

January 9, 2008 – 5:37 pm

Professional sports today are littered with scandals. In the past calendar year, there has been the Michael Vick dog fighting bust, Marion Jones’ admission of steroid use, Barry Bonds indictment by a Federal Grand Jury, Pacman Jones numerous run-ins with the law, and now; the Mitchell Report, a report complied by a former Senator about the uses of steroids in the MLB. And that’s just off the top of my head. The most rampant has to be the use of performance-enhancing drugs. What has driven this obsession for an unnatural aid?

One of the biggest factors is the record book. Athletes who are close to breaking career total records, such as Barry Bonds with the home run record, are in need of some extra juice to keep performing at a high level. Steroids provide just such a boost, allowing these players to continue their heroism well beyond their prime. Ironically, like Roger Clemens this last week, most athletes will tell you they don’t care about records. Right. That’s like saying Paris Hilton doesn’t care about having a good time.

I’ve always maintained that the proof is in the pudding. Look at a picture of Barry Bonds his rookie year versus during the 2007 season. That transformation is natural? Really? He went from a size 7 hat to a size 16. His head can be used as a flotation device in the event of an early landing. Seriously, who can defend this simple argument? If there’s a natural explanation for someone changing to this degree, I’d love to hear it.

Unfortunately, I believe this is a widespread problem. It takes so much to get to the top level in sports that athletes these days are looking for any way to help get them noticed. Certainly there are some legitimate players out there, and these revelations only make them more admirable in my eyes.

What are your thoughts? Are professional sports tainted because of these stories being unearthed?

Tags: barry bonds' head is a freaking bowling ball, MLB, steroids