Steroids has been the hottest topic in athletics for the past decade. Everyone remembers how this media frenzy started, with Mark McGwire's andro bottle in his locker. He breaks the home run record, then Sammy blasts over 60 as well, and the Bonds. HOLY CRAP you mean these guys may have used steroids? What a shocker!

Wait a minute though. These athletes that we hold to the highest performance expectations would use a short cut? Bottom line is this: Anabolics in sports has been there even before the allegations of use among baseball, track, and Tour De France athletes were plastered all over the pages of the newspaper and on ESPN and CNN. It is a media hot topic because WE, the normal public, like to hear about scandalous athletes and celebrities. We give these media outlets the ratings and feedback which fuels this fire distracting the public from the other REAL problems that America faces.

My Opinion

Test the athletes, follow the policies, and punish the wrong doers. That's it! No matter what you do, someone is going to find an edge in sports. Why do athletes weight train? Why do athletes try to eat right? To enhance their performance to keep their job. Put yourself in the situation that the athletes are in. Maybe your in the minor leagues making 800 bucks a month. A teammate gets called up to the majors after gaining 20lbs of muscle and becoming faster and stronger.

Now he makes six figures and your still stuck living paycheck to paycheck. Would you cheat to get a better living. I know businessmen who back stab their way to the top and sleep with their superiors just to get raises and promotions. What makes them different? Because their way of cheating is different? I do not support cheating and drug use but it is there. Its always going to be there as long as sports still is at a high demand level. My only beef is that it shouldn't be a national dilemma.

What About The Children?

Okay, this once again is just my opinion, but I have a theory...BE A PARENT! My parents made sure I knew about drugs and what could happen. They instilled values in me that made me proud to be a natural athlete. I beat the guys on the juice! I played division II college baseball and a year at the semi pro level and steroids was common.

You know what though? I out worked them. You can have all the drugs in the world but if you have not put in the work you will not succeed. Barry Bonds would have been a hall of famer whether he did or didn't do steroids. He chose his direction and now he has to face scrutiny. I say just test all athletes and punish them if they fail. Leave it at that. Its going to always be there in some form just leave it out of the national spotlight. I think it actually created more of a steroid problem because now the younger think that everyone does it to succeed.

As long as there is competition there will be the need to cheat at it. What can we do? Educate and enforce the rules. Its a harsh realization to face but we are dealing with a problem that agencies can only be reactive to. New drugs that will pass tests hit the market all the time and will be used by athletes to get an edge even if it is just for a little while. Sports have become entertainment and were we not buying the tickets for the games which records were being broken? All I am saying is don't be surprised to find out that players are cheating. Don't give them a break but give the topic a break and keep it out of the spotlight to let it die down