In the NFL draft last Saturday, the San Diego Chargers made Northwestern University's Luis Castillo a millionaire by drafting him in the first round. This wouldn't be worth discussing except that Castillo admitted to using Andro, a supplement that's legal to purchase, but one the NFL classifies as a steroid and has banned. He broke the league's rules and got away with it completely.
Castillo's so-called "admission" came only after he'd failed his drug test. On ESPN, New England Patriot Mike Vrabel and Kansas City Chief Trent Green said what an awful signal this sent. In essence, there's no reason a player shouldn't juice up before the combine (where teams evaluate college players) then simply apologize.
Oh and we can't forget about baseball. The official holder of baseball's single season home run record is Barry Bonds. Of course, not long ago the world discovered he had more juice in him than a watermelon (though those of us with common sense knew something was up with any man that hits his physical peak at 37). Thanks to Mark McGwire's non-denial before Congress, to me, the true record-holder is still Roger Maris.
Incredibly, some of you may actually be wondering why any of that matters. Late last fall, I was talking with a coach in a locker room before a wrestling meet. A report about Bonds's steroid use came on TV. I said I couldn't believe everybody seemed so surprised. In a frustrated tone that sounded like he was getting tired of sticking up for Bonds, he responded, "Who cares? It's his body."
I was stunned for a moment. I hadn't expected any argument, and the one I was hearing was so stupid I hardly knew what to say. I wanted to say how it was dishonest and unsafe and cheating... No, wait! Worse than cheating! Cheating is when a offensive lineman grabs an opponent's jersey or a baseball pitcher uses sandpaper on the ball. Steroids are worse; they make a mockery of the sport and everyone who practices hard but doesn't use a needle for help!
Of course these were all arguments based on value judgments, and I'm sure they'd have flowed uselessly off him like water on a duck's back. Do you ever have those moments where you couldn't think of the right thing to say until an hour or so afterward? I was worried this was going to be such a time, but then I came up with the right thing. More on that in a second.
Today in Washington, Congress is holding a hearing on steroid use in the NFL. The witness list includes those you'd expect: the league commissioner, the head of the NFL Players Association and the NFL's chief adviser all on steroids. But the most interesting witness is Willie Stewart, head football coach of Washington D.C.'s Anacostia High School. This brings me back to what I told the coach: "Well I don't particularly care about Bonds' health, but (pointing to some wrestlers) what about these kids? If any of them want to be pro athletes, now they know they'll have to shoot up if they want to be on an even playing field." The coach had no response.
Even if you set aside that steroids are dangerous and dishonest, they cause an "arms race" that forces kids to shoot up to try to live their dream. That's why it matters.
Write to Jake at
jymoore@bsu.edu
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