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Mar. 26, 2005 As spring blooms, so does the controversy surrounding baseball and steroids. The issue hasn’t gone away – it is growing. Those at the center of the matter – Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco, and Mark McGuire, have been exacerbating the issue with the manner in which they have responded to Congress and the media. Now one of the debates among sports writers is whether or not they will vote for Bonds and others for acceptance into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Some writers indicate that they will vote for the players in question; others say that they will not. Also at issue is whether or not there should be an asterisk attached to the names of those involved in the “super steroid seasons” – the few years when the home run count expanded dramatically. Dan Patrick of ESPN Radio explored the developments the other day and questioned several writers on their thoughts on Bonds and crew and these issues. Many of the writers that responded indicated that when McGuire and Bonds supposedly took their enhancements and had the hot seasons, Major League Baseball had no specific rule against taking the steroids at that time, and so they felt that what the players did was perhaps okay. This type of thinking is shallow. First, there is a larger rule that these writers are ignoring. The possession of anabolic steroids is a federal crime. Steroids are a Schedule III illegal substance. Distribution of the steroids is a felony and carries a five year stint in prison, with a $250,000 fine. Many guys who use and/or pass the substance around are now doing time in federal prison. So the argument that the baseball players broke no MLB rules is ignorant – federal laws were allegedly broken. The argument put forward is similar to one where a player may have murdered someone –there is no specific rule in the MLB rulebook against murder, but it still brings a response from the powers that be in baseball. The same should hold true in the area of steroids. The rules that were broken were higher and stronger than the naïve elements set forward in MLB (under the constraints of the players union). The fact that the players may have been breaking federal law takes precedent in the issue and should be dealt with accordingly. There is another related issue to the steroid controversy – the issue of drug masking. The steroid producers are usually a couple of steps ahead of the enforcers and elements such as human growth hormone and other chemical enhancements to physique and performance are often undetectable. There is no comprehensive test on chemical enhancements and there are dozens of varieties, as well as potions to mask any possible detection. BALCO Labs was caught flat-footed when one detection element did happen to work and find some of the sneaky potions they were concocting. The fact is that truth won’t come out until there is a way for science to detect the use – and past use – of chemical enhancements. Bond’s argument that steroids don’t make him more coordinated are disingenuous. Yes, steroids and related chemicals don’t necessarily make a person more coordinated – what they do is make the muscles bigger and stronger. That does not make him more coordinated, but it does allow him to turn a single, double, or fly out into a home run. And if even one of these balls which would have been an out under normal muscle power turns into a home run under human growth hormone help, then cheating has occurred. ------------ About the author: Dwayne Hines currently has 12 books selling in major bookstores and writes for major magazines such as Physical and FitnessRX. Email Dwayne Hines: dhines@cpu-net.net Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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