Living in the Height of the Steroid Era

By Adam Zimmerman

During the All Star Break, the main focus of everything off of the baseball diamond was the pending suspensions of some of MLB's biggest names, especially Alex Rodriguez. The question wasn't 'if' but 'when' and 'how long' the suspensions would be. 

That week, Commissioner Bud Selig was on ESPNRadio's Mike & Mike in the Morning. He was asked how he felt about "this black cloud that was hanging over the sport." Good ol' Bud "Let's make the All Star Game determine home-field advantage" Selig responded by saying that it was crazy to think there is a 'black cloud' because these suspensions mean that baseball's new drug policy is working great and they are the toughest on steroids in all of sports. 



While that sounds good if you don't think about it, it is truly delusional. 

Baseball (and most sports for that matter) is in the prime of the Steroid Era. And here is why:

• The first time Alex Rodriguez got caught (2007), he was outed by a Sports Illustrated article - not a failed drug test.
• The biggest case of steroid crack down up until this week - the Mitchell Report - came about because of testimony from a Mets' employee, not the MLB front office
• This current 'scandal' at the Biogenesis Clinic did not happen because the new MLB drug policy caught anyone. It happened because of media reports and a corrupt doctor that the MLB paid to tell them about his clients
• Ryan Braun failed a drug test 2 years ago but MLB was unable to make those charges stick
• Ryan Braun was suspended for 62 games this year and has still never officially failed a drug test
• The majority of the other 11 players suspended yesterday did not fail drug tests
• Alex Rodriguez made his season debut for the Yankees yesterday, 5 hours after being suspended 211 games
• He has still never tested positive for PEDs (neither has Mark McGuire or Barry Bonds)

Major League Baseball insults the public by putting up a false front about their intent to crack down on steroid usage. For our sake, at least the NBA and NFL don't even try to go that far. The biggest steroid busts have come as a result of Yahoo!, ESPN or Fox Sports reports, not failed tests.

On top of all of this, fans are as oblivious as ever. We used to be able to spot a steroid user from a mile away. Sammy Sosa, McGuire, Bonds  and Jose Canseco were all obvious users because their forearms were the size of most people's hamstrings. While we wanted to assume that they just had a great GTL routine, we all kind of knew that may not be the most natural thing. 

Now? Steroid users look like Ryan Braun and Lance Armstrong. Even guys like Andy Pettitte and Nelson Cruz don't look like they live in the weight room. Football players have been big and strong for a long time so we look the other way when Adrian Peterson, Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs recover from injuries in half the time that is expected. When players speak out against PEDs, we get a nice warm feeling because they're finally holding their peers accountable. We forget that A-Rod, just months ago, said that baseball needs to get rid of PEDs. We forget that Rafael Palmeiro told Congress he had never used and that Andy Pettitte claimed he only used when he was recovering from injury. Ryan Braun said that it was absolutely insane and insulting to accuse him of using. And yet people are still shocked when someone gets caught. Still shocked when an athlete lies. 

              

Even if all the sports step up their testing, the manufacturers will once again find a way to remain a step ahead. You can't eliminate a multi-million dollar market without eliminating the demand. As long as athletes get to keep their seven figure contracts and are allowed to re-sign for even bigger money after getting caught, there will be steroid use in sports. But if you ask me if I'm totally against that? Not really. Better athletes = more entertaining sports.

If you are going to be mad at anyone, be mad at the league officials who sit on their high horse and condemn the athletes who make it possible for everyone to make millions or billions. They're the ones who tell ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CBS, NBC and Fox that they need to speak out against steroids if they want to be able to show highlights or live games. They're the ones (Bud Selig and Roger Goodell especially) who go after athletes in the name of safety and morality unless they see it as a way to squeeze more money out of the fans. 

They entertain us. We pay them. They use that money to enhance the entertainment. We pay them more. None of that is stopping anytime soon.