regarding the baseball steroids scandal

[c.g._eads]

What I think is so funny about this baseball steroids thing, is that now that it's dying down, they have to - if they're going to be fair - they absolutely have to go after football. And talk about the most potentially explosive expose in the history of sports. I would bet that 9 out of every 10 football players are taking steroids. And the NFL, with its desire for this sqeaky clean image, is going to be totally exposed. I mean there is nothing they can do about it.

How do you even start a steroids probe into a sport where every single player is on steroids and everyone in the world knows it? How do you handle it? Do you keep every single player in the league out of the hall of fame? Will they not use a double-standard and call the league what it is (using the same criteria they judged baseball by) - which - by that definition - is a complete and total sham? A lie? A sport built from the ground up on cheating? They have to be freaking out right now because nobody is clean (save for maybe a few kickers).

And they cannot say, "well, the sport requires players to be big so obviously it's more accepted if they take steroids". They have to be fair about it and treat it the same way they treated baseball.

And if they don't start exposing it, we can be sure that a whole lot of money was exchanged between someone and someone else.

 

[ugafan]

i don't think most football fans care all that much about the steroids issue. obviously it's better to be clean and the players should be tested, but in general i don't see it hurting the sport as much as baseball (in terms of public opinion).

 

[c.g._eads]

I don't think the fans cared about baseball either. You took one look at those home-run hitters five years ago and you knew they were juiced. ESPN made us care. They took a carefully built-up campaign and gradually beat it into our heads how bad steroids were. In the past, I honestly figured it was part of the game and there was nothing anybody could do about it so I didn't care. ESPN made me care (granted that was due in part to villianizing players I hated - and me wanting to see them fall).

I mean if they never decided to start talking about it so much, would anybody have ever had a problem with it? My point being - they went on a witch hunt in baseball. If they're gonna be fair, they have to do the same thing with the NFL.

 

[ugafan]

If they're gonna be fair, they have to do the same thing with the NFL.

espn doesn't care about being fair, they care about ratings. the game of baseball can't compete with football in terms of viewership, so they talk about the steroids issue constantly in hopes of bringing people in. they go after the sensational story.

baseball fans really value tradition and stats...comparing great players from different eras. records are sacred and held on a pedestal. football is a different animal. the mentality is more"what have you done for me lately". sure we honor great players, but people talk what teams are going to win this sunday and which players are going to get the most fantasy points.

 

[thematthewbone]

baseball did not even have a drug testing standard until 2005 i think.

none. zip. nadda. no drug tests what so ever for the players.

the steroids only bubbled to the surface to highlight the fact that the immortal babe ruth and hank aaron's records were being mutilated by cheaters.

i also would be willing to bet that before the MLB started testing a higher percentage of baseball players than football players took steroids.

 

[SPZ]

Can someone tell me what sports haven't been hit by a steroid scandal nowadays?

Unfortunately, its a cat and mouse race. More sofisticated steroids appear every day. Honestly, how can someone trust records any more? The Olympic games, for example, is more and more viewed as the shwcase of the "most technologicaly advanced country with undetectable steroids" competition than a sport of individual excelence. I'm a soccer fan, and while steroid control is pretty strict, it is commonly known that steroids are used in it- undetected, sure, but they are certainly used. Those "sudden deaths" happen more and more regularly, and in individuals younger and younger.

This is, unfortunately, the world of professional sports nowadays. When everyone wants to win, someone is bound to cheat. And when people look the other way, even those that don't want to cheat do so, just to keep up.

 

[thematthewbone]

touche.

 

[MattinSTL]

SPZ's posts are brilliant.

South Park handled this issue brilliantly also... same general idea illustrated in the simplest possible terms.

I'm sorry but I'm amazed at how stupid the entire planet is about this stuff... people think "steroids" and they think that clarifies something... but it's far deeper then that... there are cutters, fat burners, bulking, strength, endurance, joint-specific... then there are tons of pharmaceuticals that are stacked with the endless menu of specific steroids... and of course let's not forget HGH.

There is most likely some illegal chemical use happening in everything down to backstreet tiddly-winks... and the percentage of cheaters is way higher then the average ignorant fan thinks... or I should say WANTS to think.

It's about as ridiculous as thinking that the people getting pulled over for speeding are the only ones on the highway that were. The athletes getting caught are like the guys doing 140 down the fast lane... but there are people doing everything from 80-110 who get away with it most of the time. If you get the simple analogy... well... trust me... I'm not wrong.

 

[HorseFilms]

Can someone tell me what sports haven't been hit by a steroid scandal nowadays?

The NHL has been pretty clean. They've been testing for awhile and I think there have been two guys who tested positive. Maybe it'll come out later that it's a real problem, but it hasn't so far.

 

[JConnors]

The NHL has been pretty clean. They've been testing for awhile and I think there have been two guys who tested positive. Maybe it'll come out later that it's a real problem, but it hasn't so far.

You beat me to it Horse. The NHL is the cleanest proffesional sport. Period.

There have been two cases of players testing positive. One Jose Theodore tested positive for a steroid which was linked back to medication he was taking for hair growth or something like that. The other was a defenceman Sean Hill of the NY Islanders who was using a the banned substance. Almost 3,000 random drug tests have been done and there has only been one case. That's pretty clean in my opinion.

 

[Sad Max]

It's the guys who are best at playing games...

...playing games.

Games.

The world must have become a perfect place overnight, if Congress has nothing more important to expend time on, than how people go about playing...

...games.

 

[TwistedLincoln]

Anyone wanting to read my thoughts on this issue can read the article I wrote last week: Congress & Steroid Use in Pro Sports

HUGE disclaimer, though: the website I linked to is basically my blog on news an politics. So don't be surprised if you're offended by something I say... Since politics are banned on these forums, feel free to debate my thoughts there, but not here.

My thoughts in a non-political nutshell: I don't care if pro sports players use steroids or not, so I don't think Congress should be investigating it.