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October 31, 2003

UTK Special

The Steroid Scandal

by Will Carroll

If there was one question that I would say I've been asked more than any other, or, if there was one question that I wish could be answered once and never again, it would be the eternal steroid question. It comes in many forms, but it amounts to a question of faith:

"Do you think (insert favorite player's name) is on steroids?"

"Mickey Mantle never used steroids."

"How many players are using steroids?"

No one wants to look at a baseball game and see the WWE break out. We like our players strong, bulging with muscles, fast, injury-proof, laser-armed, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound...but we also want to believe that they're "one of us." We want to project ourselves into the bottom of the ninth, two outs and the bat on our shoulders as the lights of Yankee Stadium bear down. We want to believe that "our guys" are playing on the same level with "those guys" and that the only advantages they have are those we allow in our hearts.

Since the beginnings of sport, probably as far back as the real Olympic games, athletes have sought some advantage. If accepted, it's called innovation; if not, it becomes cheating. From the apparent to the sublime, from the ingenious to the bizarre, there are few if any lengths that athletes and their coaches will not go to win. Given that fact, it should come as little surprise that ethics and morals--or even a reasonably thorough and well-conducted drug testing plan--aren't enough to keep a percentage of athletes from doing things that are both illegal, unhealthy, and that might potentially break that bond of faith between athlete and fan.