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Tuesday, June 04, 2002

Here's why testing hasn't stopped the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in football and wouldn't stop it in baseball:

Players are going to do whatever it takes to excel and win even if it means sacrificing years of their life.

How is anyone or anything going to stop that?

The NFL can pat itself on the back for its drug-testing policy, but it's ridiculous to think it's any more drug-free than baseball, which was in the news last week because of a Sports Illustrated cover story that claimed 50 percent of the players use steroids. Linemen aren't exactly getting smaller, are they? Yes, the NFL tests for steroids, but there are ways to beat the tests. Players are sophisticated enough to find them. They will always find them when their career, not to mention millions of dollars, are on the line.

It's easy for NFL owners to say they are against performance-enhancing drugs. It's a lot harder to believe them. Bigger and faster bodies make for more brutal collisions. In football, brutality is a big seller.

The same principle holds true in baseball. Owners blame the players union for balking at a steroid-testing plan, but that's pure hypocrisy. The owners know people buy tickets to see power hitters and power pitchers. Most fans want to see a 12-11 slugfest and, if they have to watch a pitchers duel, one of the pitchers had better throw it 100 mph and strike out 15.

Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa brought people back to the game after the unconscionable work stoppage in 1994-95 with their marvelous home run chase in '98. Who can wait to see what Barry Bonds does next? Bonds might not break Hank Aaron's home run record, but someone surely will in this era of juiced players and smaller ballparks.

And you think the owners really care about eliminating steroids?

Get used to the performance-enhancing drugs in sports.

They're not going to go away anytime soon.

Morality is no deterrent. Steroids are illegal unless prescribed by a doctor, but players have an easy justification that helps them to sleep peacefully at night.

Everybody else is doing it ...

Anyway, it's not cheating if you don't get caught, right?

It's not as if this is the first time players have bent or broken the rules. Pitchers have doctored baseballs for years. Batters have used corked bats. Steroids just happen to be the popular tool of this generation. They add muscle mass and make athletes stronger.

The pressure to win is enormous, greater today than it has ever been. We live in The Information Age. Players in all sports are under constant scrutiny. Who isn't going to look for an edge? Any edge?

But what of the health risks, you ask? Side effects of steroid use can include heart and liver damage, elevated cholesterol levels, strokes and sexual dysfunction.

There's plenty of education out there. Former Steelers offensive lineman Steve Courson talked openly about his steroid use, which many blamed for his subsequent heart problems. Former NFL defensive lineman Lyle Alzado died a very ugly and public death from brain cancer at 43 in 1992. He blamed his steroid abuse.

The players today have heard the horror stories.

It's safe to say the reaction of many was the same as yours when they showed you those gruesome films of automobile accidents in drivers' education class.

That can't happen to me ...

People smoke despite the warning label on the back of their cigarette package. There's no way I'll get cancer ...

People drink and drive. Someone else will be in the accident or get stopped by the cops ...

People have unprotected sex. AIDS is for homosexuals and drug users, not me ...

We think we're invincible.

That's especially true of athletes, who are young, strong and in great shape.

The truth?

We're all pretty naive.

But here's the most amazing thing about performance-enhancing drugs:

Even if athletes knew for certain they would have long-term health problems, many would continue to use. They have a chance to make a fortune in a short period of time, to have a fabulous lifestyle in their 20s and 30s and to set up their children and their children's children for life. Of course, they're going to use.

That edge, remember?

They'll worry about their 50s and 60s when they get there.

If they get there.

Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com.