First, if you haven’t yet seen it…
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-pk7_-FIlTw
Awful. Horrible, but you have to watch it. It’s like a car wreck. Check that. People watching car wrecks are telling people, “It was like that Shaun Livingston injury when his knee exploded. You just had to watch.” And again. And again.
Hell, I never look at the car wreck. I hate rubber-neckers because they ruin an already disastrous traffic experience driving through New Jersey. I try to do my part as 1/1,000,000th of the automobile operators by keeping my eyes straight ahead. Nothing more annoying than sitting in a traffic jam for 20 minutes only to find it was because of a minor fender bender on the OPPOSITE side of the interstate.
Speaking of car wrecks, let’s get to the latest drug scandal in the sports world. Look, I’m not obsessed with steroids, but it’s a big deal. Ok, I’m obsessed. As I’m sure you’ve heard, two Orlando pharmacies were recently raided during the investigation of an internet drug ring. Shady doctors are perscribing steroids and HGH in mass quantities to pro and college athletes. There is apparently a long list of famous customers, but so far the only ones to reach the public are Gary Matthews, Jr., Jason Grimsley, Jose Canseco, a Pittsburgh Steelers doctor and Evander Holyfield.
First, let’s get this out of the way. Canseco? Not news.
Grimsley? Not news. Interesting, but not news.
Matthews? This is why athletes take performance enhancement drugs. Prime example. Matthews was largely a nobody, struggling to even stay on a team. Last season, he had a career year at the age of 29. This offseason, Matthews signed a ridiculous five year $50 Million contract. We can safely assume that his newfound wealth is largely a product of drug use. Yes, this can be assumed considering he was otherwise a player struggling to keep a job. You don’t suddenly emerge at this stage of his career.
Of course Matthews denied any involvement. He doesn’t know why his name could possibly be involved. As if the media would plant the name of a marginal player like Matthews in this investigation for higher ratings.
Evander Holyfield was pissed.
“I do not use steroids. I have never used steroids,” he said. “I resent that my name has been linked to known steroid users by sources who refuse to be identified in order to generate publicity for their investigation.”
He never once denied using HGH, the drug of choice these days.
Holyfield also went on to comment that he has always been the same size. Never thin then big. Why, after all, would he ever need steroids? To enhance “what?”
I’m tired. Tired of athletes staring us down as if we are idiots. You are a freaking over-the-hill 40-year-old boxer. Of COURSE you’d take HGH (or steroids). And to act as though taking such drugs would not enhance his performance is insulting. You are a heavyweight boxer. You are aging. You are losing muscle. You rely on speed and power to win your fights. Stop. You would have been better off denying the accusations and left it at that. But making up some bull like this only makes you look more guilty.
The recent revelations are both encouraging (that more players are being exposed) and frustrating. On one hand, I am approaching readiness to let go of the sports as I once knew them. They will never be the same. Money begat greed begat performance enhancnig drugs. You can’t reverse that trend, and it is growing more difficult to blame these players. After all, it helped Gary Matthews, Jr. grow from a mere millionaire to a millionaire X 50.
On the other hand, screw ‘em. Fry them all. Keep exposing these athletes. If it ends up that 95% are cheating, so be it. Clean the slate, and let’s start over. To be honest, it could be the best thing that happened to baseball in particular. The league may eventually eat itself. Create a new MLB and start over.
