Steroids in Sports: Bring 'em On!
I'm not sure it's possible to be more fed up with more misinformation, more erroneous opining and more reefer madness hysteria surrounding steroids and their role in sports. It's time to set the record straight.
Attempting to stop steroid use in sports is about as dumb as trying to stop drug use in general. Wasn't that tried once before? Oh yeah, it was called Prohibition. How'd that work out again? If I got my facts straight, alcoholism rose, along with related crime, tax revenue from sales were lost, exacerbating the Great Depression, all the while profits were being reaped by the underworld. Nice work DEA!
Current drug laws cost us billions in a failed attempt at controlling the traffic. Time, effort and finances are wasted on incarceration when they should be spent on rehabilitation. Additional crime is committed by those who must steal in order to get enough money to purchase the drugs. So whom do these laws protect? Not me. You can put a pound of heroin on my living room table and I won't touch it. If someone else wants to be an idiot and take it, let them. It's the quintessential victimless crime. But that's a gripe for another time.
In previous articles, I've written from an editorial point of view where the topic may be discussed, debated, commended or condemned -- though the retorts often tend to be of a conflating nature and the opponents engage in ad hominem tactics. Be that as it may, this is a little different. I've been involved with the application of anabolic steroids for over 10 years. I've written dozens of articles and two books on the subject, interviewed professional bodybuilders, doctors, Olympic coaches and even BALCO bad boy Victor Conte. I've known hundreds of people who've used them for years, and have had personal experience with them as well.
This concludes the interview section of the program.
On to the use of steroids in sports and the stupidity that surrounds it.
Right out of the gate we need to dispel some ignorance. The O'Reillys of the world like to speak out against steroids as being killer drugs. It's estimated that that tens of thousands of Americans use steroids each year, yet the grand total of steroid-related deaths to this date is...none. As for side effects down the line, I've known men who used them back in the '60s and today, at the age of 60-plus, they're doing just fine and look a lot better than most men their age. The medical community is finally recognizing the health benefits of testosterone (the molecule from which all anabolic steroids are derived) and is prescribing it to older men with great success. In short, as with any drug, or alcohol, there is use, and there is abuse. So attacking the substance itself is barking up the wrong tree. And please don't mention Lyle Alzado. He used massive amounts of drugs since his teen years and even then, his death was never linked to the use of steroids.
Are steroids cheating? They sure will give an advantage. But so do many things. Caffeine is a drug that will increase focus and endurance. And it can be purchased by children! Is Tommy John surgery cheating? Aren't supplements and modern training techniques an added benefit? Sports Illustrated stands on its high horse inducing scare tactics about sports remaining "natural" yet its highest selling issue is the swimsuit issue filled with silicone, collagen, botox and yes, the possible use of drugs -- from diet pills and diuretics and even low doses of steroids to produce a leaner, harder body. (Incidentally, this year's Covergirl was born in 1990. Now, that is scary.)
Of course, steroids won't improve athletic skill, but extra strength can turn a fly ball into a home run. Thus the debate becomes more an issue of ideals. Isn't it time we shed this notion that athletes are sterling examples of responsibility, or even good sportsmanship? While we're at it, let's not put past champions on too high a pedestal. They simply didn't have the option. I'll bet if Ty Cobb had the chance to use steroids he'd be juiced to the gills. Knowing his erasable personality, Ty would most likely be a perfect example of "roid-rage", which is equivalent to being a "nasty drunk." It's not the booze that makes someone nasty. it just brings the nastiness out. The same goes for rage from steroids. They make you feel powerful. So if you're a jerk, adding more confidence will only make you a bigger jerk.
Testing for steroids is a farce. Some steroids have a half-life of only 24 hours. It cannot be contained and it will never be controlled. So instead of wrist slap warnings and lip service seminars on how horrible they are, why not just level the playing field? Allow them into sports. They're there anyway.
Ballplayers today are, in general, bigger and stronger. So just enlarge the field. Make the walls higher! This is actually what they did at CitiField and the results have been excellent. Instead of balls flying out of the park ten times a game (which is not exciting if it's too frequent, contrary to the belief that fans want more home runs) there are more extra bases, which add to the speed of the game. Let everyone use whatever they want and as much as they want and stop trying to be mommy and daddy to the world.
Does anyone really care if someone damaged his or her health by working too many hours? It happens every day. So why are we worried about what millionaire athletes do?
Steroids can be used responsibly if prescribed by a doctor. Maybe that's why the AMA was AGAINST making them a controlled substance. And here's something to think about: If there were a drug with marginal side effects that would make you smarter, would you take it? And what if it enabled you to excel to the point where you could double your earnings? What if not using them meant failure?
The cat is out of the bag and he isn't going back in. These drugs do amazing things and they will continue to be used. They come with a risk however. I'd rather see that risk controlled than have the users sneak around and support a black market in order to engage in what should be their inalienable right of free choice as long as the consequences don't endanger anyone else. As far as I'm concerned, if I want to juggle a couple of flaming chainsaws in the privacy of my own home, that's my option. It's funny to see the people who scream the loudest about civil liberties leading the march against others should and shouldn't do.
I'm not advocating or endorsing steroid use, but it's here to stay. And the biggest irony of it all is that most fans don't care. They'd rather see their favorite players playing, instead of penalized. What is the more egregious crime is the price of the tickets. And for that kind of money, I want to see a great performance, however it's achieved. And although I'm not a fan of the Hall of Fame in that it's not a museum as much as an elite club determined by committee, there should be an asterisk next to McQuire, Bonds, et al stating: "Post enhancement era." Would that be so hard?
Just as these drugs will add a few years to the career of a great pitcher by replacing that lost mile or two an hour on his fastball, they can extend youth and vitality for aging baby boomers. If used properly.
As for how the athletes use them, let it be their choice and stay out of it.
Now play ball!
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Let's get over the idealism about professional sport. It is inherently not any more noble than any other form of entertainment. Professional athletes are not heroes, they are entertainers, like musicians, strippers, actors and mimes. We don't bitch about ballerinas being able to dance on broken toes by taking painkillers, actors doing speed to perform the matinees, and musicians getting stoned, so why the double standard?
Let us also not forget WHY watching athletics is good entertainment: athletes are freaks. What makes an elite athlete elite is the fact that they are many standard deviations away from the mean in some human ability. We go and pay to watch their freakish talents: extreme quickness, strength, coordination, whatever. So, athletes should have the option to do anything that makes their freakish talent more entertaining.
-*Zortag*-
Professional sports have become a meaningless obsession for all concerned, rampant steroid use is just another indication of this sad state of affairs.
That's an interesting point of view, with some very valid points.
One key point is that fans don't care. I agree. In fact, even if all steroids were cleary harmful, they wouldn't care. An athlete's health doesn't matter at all as long as entertainment is produced. True of music as well. When they die, people mourn for a day or so, and then quickly move on to find a new idol. They're disposable commodities.
But one unfortunate side effect is that because steroids (and other drugs) are commonly used, an athlete coming up today basically has to use them, or cannot compete. Steroids are always mentioned only because the name is more familiar. There are many other drugs in common use that make steroids look almost benign.
Yes, I know, people always look for an edge, and have all along. But knowing that everyone is juiced has caused me to opt out - when I see that a new record is set, so what.
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Thanks for the comment. And I know how you feel. I felt that way after the strike years ago. Next up -- the Olympics.
most steroids are absolutely not liver toxic. a small percentage of orally available steroids are liver toxic after very long-term use.
whomever suggest they ruin your liver hasnt really done their homework.
The media and social conservative hype over steroids is just like every other thing they fear -- marijuana, unmarried folks having sex, swine flu, etc etc. It's all about nothing. Steroids are not that evil -- I have done 'em and many of my friends have toyed around with them -- yeah, if you abuse them then you can screw yourself up but that's true with everything from diet pills to chocolate cake. The smart thing is to allow access to all and to educate and let people make informed decisions. You can see how the war on drugs has only made things so much worse for all. With steroids it's the same game, just under a different name.
What about a 70-year old who wants to use steroids and growth hormones to feel young strong and virile? Where's the crime?
Steroids wreck your liver. If we permit their use, anyone who wants to be competitive will have to use them. Professional athletes will face pressure from coaches and teams to use steroids or quit. When their livers give out, ten or fifteen years later, they'll be able to sue the leages and team management for forcing them to engage in unsafe medical treatments. What do you figure the cost of that liability is likely to add up to?
"steroids wreck your liver"
Wrong. Go back to school. a small subset of oral steroids that are 17-alpha alkylated can (after very long-term use) cause liver damage. Most steroids, including all injectables, are completely liver-harmless.
Wrong. Most steroids are liver-harmless. a small percentage of orally available steroids can be liver toxic after long-term use.
the above assertion is simply false. Read the scientific literature.
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Only oral steroids damage the liver -- equivalent in toxicity to Tylenol or anti-biotics. (Though you wouldn't use those every day). What A-rod used (testosterone and Primobolan) is not liver toxic. You'd do more damage drinking a couple of beers.
Remember, there was an hysteria about 10 years ago about women using hormone replacement. Today, it's commonplace among post menopausal women. That's why 50 is no longer "old." There are risks but there are actually more risks in NOT using it.
It's ludicrous to compare banning drugs in sports to prohibition. These are not parallel issues.
Look, cork is legal. Drilling a hole into the end of a bat and filling it with cork is not wrong because it's illegal; it's wrong because it's CHEATING. It gives you an unfair advantage over your opponent. As such, it should never be accepted by the powers that be, the fans, or the media, even if a host of players are corking their bats. Performance-enhancing drugs are no different. The far more apt historical comparison is the Black Sox scandal of 1919. When fans are no longer sure if players are who they seem to be, it destroys the integrity of that sport.
This loss of trust is shameful, and it's killing baseball. Look at Albert Pujols. Our greatest current power hitter, but in the back of everyone's mind is the big question mark. Is he juicing? Should I respect his achievements, only to find out years from now that he was a cheater all along?
People need to have faith that the competitors are playing the game honestly. Otherwise, you might as well watch professional wrestling.
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Completely unanalogous. It's still a competition. It still is determined by who plays better. A bat is a tool and corking it affects that tool. It's different with a body. Is it cheating is you train with weights or eat better than the next guy? What if your parents are taller. That's an advantage too. What you , and others, must realize, is that steroids do not make up the deficit in talent. You can take boatloads of steroids and you'll still never be able to hit major league pitching. It's simply an enhancement. And it isn't cheating if everyone does it. And everyone does.
So, tell me... where does it end? Allow any and all drugs and soon you will have a next generation of drugs that everybody has to take to be competitive, and then another will take that ones place. All until they hit a wall and people start dying or suffer from debilitating illnesses to get that edge... Then we can look back and say maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
Then the overzealous fathers of 12 year olds can start their sons and daughters on enhancement drugs to give them an edge. It will never stop once you start it...
Meanwhile, another league will start of totally clean players and sane adults will go to watch and enjoy some good old fashioned, and clean, gamesmanship.
Reagardless of your cynicism towards sports, there are lots of great ball players out there who are clean.
See Nelson Montana's Profile
It's already happening my friend. And as far as an "all natural " league, don't kid yourself. it's been tried. Do you want to watch basketball with guys 5'9"? Who would watch racecars that go 80 mph? You can't go back. And I have no criticism of sports. Read the article again.
Prohibition is a terrible idea, but I want to know what drugs and exercise regime these freaks are on. I want to know what illnesses they are suffering. That way, at least the show has educational value.
I'm actually a strong advocate for legalizing ALL drugs, but being legal and being acceptable in sporting competitions are two very different things. It's legal to buy and use oxygen, but when climbers use it to summit Everest their achievement not weighed equally against those who exchew supplemental oxygen.
The problem is this: If freely allowed into competition you are going to have a litany of ugly results. Here are just three:
1. The better, newer, more effective steroids are going to be priced like any other commodity -- the best will be in the greatest demand and hence priced highest. So athletic performance will become purchasable, and those unable to pay will simply lose out.
2. Endorsement contracts will include, if not require, the supplying of steroids to the endorsing athletes, because, after all, no company paying for an endorsement wants a loser pushing their product.
3. Steroid manufacturers will have their own endorsement deals with athletes.
2.
Will steroids ever be legal? NO!
Will athletes ever stop using them? NO!
End of story . . . (but I do appreciate this article)
http://balmer.typepad.com/keithsmooth/
A Funny Writer, A Funny Blog
Wouldn't be much of a sport would it if some were artificially enhanced and others weren't. Or are you promoting only sports where all participants partake?
I thought part of the sporting experience was sometimes seeing someone with innate talent triumph over those that had been and coached to excellence. But what you are promoting is chemically breeding freaks. Sorry not something I want to watch. Kind of like what we do with our beef industry.
Brilliant and well-written article.
If steroids and other enhancers continue to be banned in American sports, I expect the 'enhancements' many if not most cheerleaders use to help them root on their teams will be abolished next.
No one is keeping score for cheerleaders. Try again.
you are suggesting cheerleaders dont compete with one another? Where have you been your whole life? Antarctica?
You are suggesting cheerleaders dont compete. This is simply false.
There's something very very skewd about this argument. America, the land of all natural food stores and injectible metabolic steroids. The land of TV commercials for life-enhancing pharmaceuticals, which include legal disclaimers such as "May cause blindness, liver failure, and sudden death". The land of vegan radicals who jog every morning and get blotto every weekend.
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