Site Presented By
Friday, Jul 10, 2009
What are we talking about when we're talking about steroids? Not many of us have any idea.
By King Kaufman
Read more: Drugs, Sports, Baseball, War on Drugs, Football, NFL, Steroids, King Kaufman, Sports Daily
Jan. 29, 2008 | Two weeks ago I wrote, as I've written before about other athletes, that I don't care whether disgraced track star Marion Jones took steroids. "It's her nickel" is how I put it.
That phrase was evidently less than clear, but what I meant is that Jones' choices were her own, and if she wanted to risk her career, her reputation and possibly her health by taking drugs, well, it's her nickel.
What I'm trying to do here is keep from joining the torch-bearing mob. Risking her health? Unlike most commentators, I'm happy to admit that I don't understand the health implications of taking so-called performance-enhancing drugs and, barring a midcareer dive into medical school, I don't have much hope of ever understanding them.
I also don't really understand the physics and physiology of these drugs. What can I say? I'm no Jose Canseco. I don't have a mind for science.
I get how EPO and testosterone and various other substances could help competitors in purely athletic contests like cycling, swimming and the various track-and-field events. If you can train longer and harder and heal from injuries faster and get more oxygen in your lungs, it stands to reason you should be able to get stronger and faster than you otherwise might have been able to get. I'm not aware of much dispute here.
I even understand how such drugs could help the players in mostly athletic contests such as football, for the same reason: Speed and strength go a long way in that sport.
What I don't get, and I realize it sounds like I'm joking when I say this, and I also realize that people who have spent a lot of time arguing about this subject roll their eyes when someone says it but I'm sorry I still don't get it: Why is it wrong to improve performance by injecting testosterone but OK to improve it by injecting cortisone or having Lasik surgery?
I'm also not at all convinced -- and there are people who are smarter than I who are also not convinced -- that steroids and related drugs do much for baseball players, who play a sport in which speed and strength certainly don't hurt, but they aren't nearly enough.
