Nice article, Marques. I'm a huge baseball fan. Not to condone steroid usage, but...for as long as baseball has existed, players have done things to try and get an edge. It's a bit surprising how great the outcry against steroids has been. An excellent point was made by a host on a sports radio show today: "There are steroid users who hit .200 with 5 home runs a year". From the way the media and fans have treated this, you'd think McGwire was an everyday, blue-collar worker who couldn't play baseball, but then he took steroids and voila! he could suddenly hit 95-mph pitches 500 feet. They seem to forget that he hit 49 home runs as a scrawny rookie in 1987. I don't know anything about steroids, but I don't believe for a minute that taking them can make a person a great baseball player. If I took steroids, I would not suddenly have the talent to play major league baseball. There are players who were already immensely talented before taking steroids. Two of them, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, were already historically great before they (allegedly) took steroids.
I applaud the sportswriters (such as ESPN.com's Rob Neyer) who admit "Under his circumstances, I would have done the same thing." (That sound familiar? )
Hi Extol,
I agree with your point about Ballplayers always tried to find or use an edge to enhance their abilities. Before Steroids, they used amphetamines, Gaylord Perry used to hide grease in his hair and throw a spitball, which was illegal, some scuffed the Ball to help rotation. Steroids have been around in this country since the late 1950's, power lifting teams brought them back from Germany. Actually Steroids were legal in Bodybuilding through the 1970's. It's true that the Genetically gifted would have been great anyway, with all other things being equal, but for the Guy with average Genetics, it gives them a chance they would otherwise not have. What bothers me is the Media and this Government is so hypocritical about it because Actors and Actresses will use Human Growth Hormone which has virtually no side affects to enhance their physiques for movie parts, ie-Slyvester Stallone(Rambo) and they don't seem to care about that. If you have the money, anything is possible.
It may seem Humorous, but back in my middle twenties, I wanted to be a Bodybuilder and compete someday and although my Diet wasn't perfect for shedding Body Fat, I had a decent one and trained hard, took legal supplements, but could only get so far. I came to realize that I couldn't go very far, in a professional sense without Steroids or Growth Hormone, so I had to abandon my dream of that time and just continue to work out as a way of life and because I enjoy it.
Sorry to get off the track, this thread was about forgiveness. They don't encourage these athletes to tell the truth by rewarding honesty, not too many people do. Actually, although I don't personally advocate Steroids, I'm getting tired of their witch hunt and don't really care who took steroids many years ago. Also, team physicians used to and probably still do, pump injured players up with an excessive amount of some pain killers in order to play through an injury, when they should be recovering instead. It all sounds like a pharmaceutical double-standard. Tere are so many ways that players try to secure an edge, including verbal abuse and distraction, like the Catcher harassing the opposing teams batter, I don't agree that should be tolerated either.
Kind Regards, Samson.