sean(doc)martin
August 10th, 2005, 12:27 AM
I wrote this back in February when all the congressional hearings were going on about steroids in Major League Baseball. I didn’t post it then because steroids are always a touchy subject, and I didn’t want to risk getting heat. I am unemployed now so I figure what the hell, winters coming I could use a little heat.
http://www.pathguy.com/lance.jpg
Steroids are always a hot topic and with the current headlines in Major League Baseball, I figured now would be as good a time as any to give you my two cents on the subject. Let me get this establish right off the bat; I am very anti drug, and whether you believe me or not I have never taken steroids. I am against steroid use, but that doesn’t mean I stick my head in the sand and play stupid, as it seems everyone in the media and in organized sports seems to.
As sad as this sounds, believe me when I tell you, with the possible exception of pro-golf virtually every professional sport out there and most of the amateur ones have athletes on steroids competing in them. If being faster or stronger or bigger is a good thing, people will be taking steroids. There are athletes on steroids in the NBA, NFL, NHL, Pro-Wrestling, Pro-Body Building, Pro-Boxing, The Olympics, you name it. I’m not saying everyone is on the gas, but believe me the one or two people getting caught in the news aren’t the only ones taking steroids. Even organizations with testing policies can’t keep out steroids. Does everyone remember Ben Johnson at the 88 Olympics? Yes he got caught but that doesn’t change the fact that the subsequent inquiry determined that the majority of the Canadian Track Team was taking steroids for a long period of time, and all of them were passing their drug tests. Had Johnson remembered to drink his masking agent before his test he too would have passed, as he did many times before.
Drug testing does not work (at least not consistently) and lets face it when large sums of money are at stake only a select few aren’t going to be willing to take that extra step to increase their chances of victory. While I don’t agree with steroid use I completely understand the rational behind their use. When a pro athlete trains and dedicates his whole life to being the best and winning, and a huge financial pay day rides in the balance, that extra step seems like a small one, especially when others get in your head and convince you your opponent has already taken that step. As a Gold Medallist Ben Johnson was looking at 7 figure endorsement deals, had he been clean and placed 4th he would have been looking at a job at McDonalds. When a few extra yards rushing or a few extra home runs means extra fame, extra leverage come contract time, or a place in the record books, it’s easy to understand the thought process behind steroid use.
So if the temptations are so strong, why haven’t I done steroids? This is an obvious question and there are three reasons behind me being clean (and by clean I don’t mean not on them now, I mean never having been on them). The first one is that I am a big chicken sh-- when it comes to breaking rules. I barely even speed when driving my car (something everyone who has travelled with me on the road will eagerly attest to). Buying an illegal substance and putting it in my body scares the he-- out of me. I considered it several times but always chickened out. When I met my wife in 1992 she made it very clear that if steroids were in my future she would not be. (She had a previous boy friend that was into steroids and she did not want to deal with all the baggage that goes along with steroid use again) I also got to the point where I stayed clean to prove a point and spite those who insisted I was on them. I am nothing if not a VERY stubborn person.
The unfortunate thing is that steroid use in pro-sports isn’t even the problem, at least not the BIG one. The problem is that it’s not just pro-athletes on the gas. College athletes, high school athletes and even kids just wanting to be bigger are taking steroids. How do I know this? I’ve spent nearly 23 years in the gym lifting weights and since most people assume I’m on the gas too, they speak quite openly about it around me. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve had kids 15-18 years old approach me in the gym asking if I know where they can get a ‘cycle’, because they’ve been training for a couple months now and aren’t getting the results they are looking for. Most of these kids aren’t even athletes looking for an edge, they are kids who are insecure and want to be big and feel tough. Impress their friends and impress the girls.
Let’s be blatantly honest. We bombard kids with unrealistic role models, drive into their brain that bigger is better, and that second best isn’t good enough. Pick up a comic book sometime and look at the bodies of our Super Heroes. Pick up a Fitness magazine and see the bodies they tell us are healthy. Look at movies; it was guys like Arnold and Sly who inspired me to hit the gym. We idolize an appearance that is achieved through steroids and cosmetic surgery. Kids look at these jacked up bodies and feel inadequate, and want to get bigger anyway possible and as fast as possible. It’s the ‘I want it now’ era. Instead of working out and watching what we eat, we get our stomach stabled and lypo-suction. Instead of spending years in the gym to get in shape, we want to be big tomorrow.
It’s a never ending cycle that is hitting our kids younger and younger, which is why I find it so frustrating when people at the Pro-Level have their heads in the sand saying, “I had no idea there were steroids in Baseball”. They had a drug testing policy, so they knew there was a potential problem, but it was such an absurdly limited one they obviously had no intention of actually catching anyone or deterring use. Record-breaking seasons make money. Faster, stronger, bigger, attracts fans and sells tickets. It’s sad but true, and unfortunately unavoidable.
The public and media are no better. Their naivety is absurd and frustrating. Watching news bits on “Did Barry Bonds take steroids, and what does that mean to the record books?” “Do steroids actually help performance?” Quit telling people what they want to hear and try telling them the truth. Of course steroids work, of course athletes are using them. Lets spend more time illustrating the negative effects of steroids, instead of denying their use. The sooner we can accept the truth, the sooner someone can come up with solution to the actually problem (If a solution exists, and I’m not sure there is.) And the problem isn’t whether Barry Bonds, or even Lance Storm did steroids; the problem is that we have unrealistic expectations on our youth, and that 15-year-old boys feel the need to take steroids to feel like a man. We have a macho, muscle head mentality in our society, where to be a man you have to drive a big truck, own a pit bull, have 20” arms, rock hard abs, and bench 300 lbs. ‘2nd place is the first loser’, and ‘Only the strong survive’, make for great T-Shirts, but a dangerous mentality for our youth.
Steroids are the male equivalent of female eating disorders. Women starve themselves to reach their unrealistic body image standards; guys are taking steroids to reach theirs. This is a very dangerous situation because unfortunately we look for results first and worry about the consequences after. I think we owe it to our kids to be better than that!
Lance
http://myweb.kingnet.com.tw/kenshamrock/img/smw2.jpg
http://www.pathguy.com/lance.jpg
Steroids are always a hot topic and with the current headlines in Major League Baseball, I figured now would be as good a time as any to give you my two cents on the subject. Let me get this establish right off the bat; I am very anti drug, and whether you believe me or not I have never taken steroids. I am against steroid use, but that doesn’t mean I stick my head in the sand and play stupid, as it seems everyone in the media and in organized sports seems to.
As sad as this sounds, believe me when I tell you, with the possible exception of pro-golf virtually every professional sport out there and most of the amateur ones have athletes on steroids competing in them. If being faster or stronger or bigger is a good thing, people will be taking steroids. There are athletes on steroids in the NBA, NFL, NHL, Pro-Wrestling, Pro-Body Building, Pro-Boxing, The Olympics, you name it. I’m not saying everyone is on the gas, but believe me the one or two people getting caught in the news aren’t the only ones taking steroids. Even organizations with testing policies can’t keep out steroids. Does everyone remember Ben Johnson at the 88 Olympics? Yes he got caught but that doesn’t change the fact that the subsequent inquiry determined that the majority of the Canadian Track Team was taking steroids for a long period of time, and all of them were passing their drug tests. Had Johnson remembered to drink his masking agent before his test he too would have passed, as he did many times before.
Drug testing does not work (at least not consistently) and lets face it when large sums of money are at stake only a select few aren’t going to be willing to take that extra step to increase their chances of victory. While I don’t agree with steroid use I completely understand the rational behind their use. When a pro athlete trains and dedicates his whole life to being the best and winning, and a huge financial pay day rides in the balance, that extra step seems like a small one, especially when others get in your head and convince you your opponent has already taken that step. As a Gold Medallist Ben Johnson was looking at 7 figure endorsement deals, had he been clean and placed 4th he would have been looking at a job at McDonalds. When a few extra yards rushing or a few extra home runs means extra fame, extra leverage come contract time, or a place in the record books, it’s easy to understand the thought process behind steroid use.
So if the temptations are so strong, why haven’t I done steroids? This is an obvious question and there are three reasons behind me being clean (and by clean I don’t mean not on them now, I mean never having been on them). The first one is that I am a big chicken sh-- when it comes to breaking rules. I barely even speed when driving my car (something everyone who has travelled with me on the road will eagerly attest to). Buying an illegal substance and putting it in my body scares the he-- out of me. I considered it several times but always chickened out. When I met my wife in 1992 she made it very clear that if steroids were in my future she would not be. (She had a previous boy friend that was into steroids and she did not want to deal with all the baggage that goes along with steroid use again) I also got to the point where I stayed clean to prove a point and spite those who insisted I was on them. I am nothing if not a VERY stubborn person.
The unfortunate thing is that steroid use in pro-sports isn’t even the problem, at least not the BIG one. The problem is that it’s not just pro-athletes on the gas. College athletes, high school athletes and even kids just wanting to be bigger are taking steroids. How do I know this? I’ve spent nearly 23 years in the gym lifting weights and since most people assume I’m on the gas too, they speak quite openly about it around me. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve had kids 15-18 years old approach me in the gym asking if I know where they can get a ‘cycle’, because they’ve been training for a couple months now and aren’t getting the results they are looking for. Most of these kids aren’t even athletes looking for an edge, they are kids who are insecure and want to be big and feel tough. Impress their friends and impress the girls.
Let’s be blatantly honest. We bombard kids with unrealistic role models, drive into their brain that bigger is better, and that second best isn’t good enough. Pick up a comic book sometime and look at the bodies of our Super Heroes. Pick up a Fitness magazine and see the bodies they tell us are healthy. Look at movies; it was guys like Arnold and Sly who inspired me to hit the gym. We idolize an appearance that is achieved through steroids and cosmetic surgery. Kids look at these jacked up bodies and feel inadequate, and want to get bigger anyway possible and as fast as possible. It’s the ‘I want it now’ era. Instead of working out and watching what we eat, we get our stomach stabled and lypo-suction. Instead of spending years in the gym to get in shape, we want to be big tomorrow.
It’s a never ending cycle that is hitting our kids younger and younger, which is why I find it so frustrating when people at the Pro-Level have their heads in the sand saying, “I had no idea there were steroids in Baseball”. They had a drug testing policy, so they knew there was a potential problem, but it was such an absurdly limited one they obviously had no intention of actually catching anyone or deterring use. Record-breaking seasons make money. Faster, stronger, bigger, attracts fans and sells tickets. It’s sad but true, and unfortunately unavoidable.
The public and media are no better. Their naivety is absurd and frustrating. Watching news bits on “Did Barry Bonds take steroids, and what does that mean to the record books?” “Do steroids actually help performance?” Quit telling people what they want to hear and try telling them the truth. Of course steroids work, of course athletes are using them. Lets spend more time illustrating the negative effects of steroids, instead of denying their use. The sooner we can accept the truth, the sooner someone can come up with solution to the actually problem (If a solution exists, and I’m not sure there is.) And the problem isn’t whether Barry Bonds, or even Lance Storm did steroids; the problem is that we have unrealistic expectations on our youth, and that 15-year-old boys feel the need to take steroids to feel like a man. We have a macho, muscle head mentality in our society, where to be a man you have to drive a big truck, own a pit bull, have 20” arms, rock hard abs, and bench 300 lbs. ‘2nd place is the first loser’, and ‘Only the strong survive’, make for great T-Shirts, but a dangerous mentality for our youth.
Steroids are the male equivalent of female eating disorders. Women starve themselves to reach their unrealistic body image standards; guys are taking steroids to reach theirs. This is a very dangerous situation because unfortunately we look for results first and worry about the consequences after. I think we owe it to our kids to be better than that!
Lance
http://myweb.kingnet.com.tw/kenshamrock/img/smw2.jpg