WHAT'S WRONG WITH PLAYERS ON STEROIDS?

NY Post ^ | Dec 7, 2004 | JOHN R. LOTT JR. & SONYA D. JONES

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

SO athletes use steroids to perform better. Wall Street traders take Ritalin and everyone uses caffeinated drinks during work to stay alert. News anchors get face lifts and actors take Botox so more people watch them. What's different about athletes?

Yet, this weekend you would have thought that Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds had committed some unspeakable crime. Commentators spoke of them "falsifying the product." Saturday, Sen. John McCain promised hearings and threatened legislation imposing drug-testing standards if professional baseball does not crack down. By Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist made a similar call for legislation, and McCain said President Bush would sign such a bill.

Athletes may have more at stake than most of the rest of us. They may go a little farther in competing, but the risks seem pretty mild. This spring a baseball players' union representative, Gene Orza, claimed that steroids are "not worse than cigarettes." With over 4,000 people playing major league baseball over the last decade and claims that 40 or 50 percent of players are using some form of anabolic steroids, what is striking is how rare baseball deaths are and that these are not really related to "performance-enhancing" drugs. Take the last two years:

[asgardshill]

WHAT'S WRONG WITH PLAYERS ON STEROIDS?

What's wrong with it is that I don't want to cheer for the "best" chemist or most efficient drug manufacturer at athletic and sporting events. I want great performances on a gridiron, a baseball diamond, or an athletic field to come from the heart of the athlete, not the bottle of pills or the syringes in their locker. I would find it jarring and weird to cheer for Hoffman-Roche or Eli Lilly.

[Paradox]

As a small-l libertarian, I say, hey, if they want to jack themselves up with whatever substances they can get their hands on, let them...

BUT, if Major League Baseball wants me and my kids as fans, they have to clean it up.

[DOGEY]

This article is one non sequitur. Hell, let's attach bionic legs and arms and see if that enhances performance. Remember the bionic man? How does the use of caffeine equate to steriods?

[Trampled by Lambs]

What's wrong with atheletes on steroids?

Ask this guy... Oh wait, you can't.

[Alberta's Child]

The author raises a very good point. Steroids may be bad for baseball, but that doesn't mean this is a problem that requires some kind of government intervention.

On the other hand, the article claims that steroids have had no effect on the health of these players; this may be technically correct, but since steroids appear to be a fairly recent phenomenon in baseball (since the early 1990s) compared to football, the long-term effects on players cannot be accurately determined right now. The most accurate indicator of long-term effects will be when retired players start having unusual health problems starting in their mid-40s.

I wonder how many of the health problems that Jason Giambi has had over the last year are related to his use of steroid and other performance-enhancing drugs.

[cainin04]

I agree with this article, somewhat.

I do not think that taking steroids is a "great thing" but we do not need the Feds coming in and forcing more laws on people.

People will always do and take things to help them get an advantage--whether it be sports, business, school, etc--that's just the way it is.

[reagandemo]

Hummmm...Let's see. What's wrong with corked bats, spit balls? the list goes on and on. So lets legalize cheating. That's the ticket too bad for the poor schmuck that does not have the edge. (sarcasm off)

[Andy from Beaverton]

So should we have two Olympics? One on juice and one clean?

[Fatalis]

Cortisone is a steroid, albeit not anabolic.

[trebb]

Gee, using her "logic", why not let boxers and other athletes use PCP? It would allow them to put on some really impressive performances...

[asgardshill]

Seriously. Steroids can do weird things to the body long term, so those athletes who don't want to chemically alter their bodies are having to compete with the new Frankenstein's monster.

Absolutely correct. It shouldn't mean a death sentence for an athlete to become the best at his or her craft.

[ClearCase_guy]

Short-term answer: 'Cause the rules say you can't. Or try: 'Cause they're illegal.

Long-term answer: You can try to change the rules and the laws.

The current row over steroids is because the current use of steroids is improper. That seems very simple to me. Barry Bonds was MVP -- because he cheated. There's probably another player out there who could have surpassed Bonds, but he failed to do so, simply because he didn't cheat the way Bonds cheated.

Given the current rules and laws, steroid use comes down to cheating. And MLB suffers when players are allowed to cheat.

[JustAnotherOkie]

Like 'Dirk Diggler' on Viagra.

[asgardshill]

Hell, let's attach bionic legs and arms and see if that enhances performance.

We could do it like Star Wars too, where the Sandpeople use rifles to pick off unlucky competitors during a race. Hey, if you're truly the best, then you'll be lucky enough not to get shot.

[Roccus]

What's wrong with players on steroids?

Ask Derek Sanderson, formerly of the Boston Bruins and the NY Rangers.

[Fatalis]

It's not quite correct to say that anabolic steroids enhance performance. What they enhance is the healing and recovery from workouts so severe that they would otherwise break an athlete down. Their long term health effects, however, remain the paramount concern.

[steamboat]

Steroids are illegal - caffeine and Ritalin are not. End of discussion...

[KidGlock]

Andro was legal.

Today, Andro is not illegal.

But it is illegal to sell.

Same with ephedra.

Thanks to the feds.