d.: Cal.E., what are you doing with those boxing gloves? Are you trying to imitate Mohamed Ali?
C.: I did that last night, d.c. Buddy Bones is getting old. He still thinks he is "top pet" though. I showed him a thing or two!
d.: So, now are you your mom and dad's favorite pet?
C.: Sadly, no. After I boxed Buddy Bones' ears and scratched his back, Mom put him in her lap and dressed his wounds. Then, he sat in her lap and repeatedly stuck his tongue out at me! I was sent to my room for the rest of the night. Talk about unfair!
d.: You DID start the fight. Buddy Bones weighs almost four times what you do. What were you thinking? Were you taking an "illegal substance?"
C.: No, d.c. I am a cat. My whole body is a weapon. Cats are MUCH more dangerous than dogs. Dogs only have their mouths to defend themselves. But you just reminded me of the topic we were going to discuss today: Steroids.
d.: Yes, Cal.E. That is correct. Specifically baseball players and steroids. The Astros lost last night, but I do not think that it is because they played a team of cheaters. The Rangers would be doing better if they were cheating! To the issue.. Did Barry Bonds take steroids? I believe he did. I am basing that on my own experiences with high school athletics in my small, religious philosophy-based private high school. Although the school's philosophy was based on one of the more strict religions, I had schoolmates that claimed not to believe in a superior being. They did not share their parent's religious philosophies, but were not old enough to decide for themselves where to attend high school. There were others on scholarship (mainly athletic).. Some were good people. One became one of my best friends on the football team. He was drafted in the last round by the Saints when he graduated from college. He decided against trying out for the pro team because he had a growing family already and his wife had been accepted to pharmacy school. He knew that he had a slim chance of making the team. He is a minister now. I do not believe he took any "foreign
substances." He was just a naturally large man who worked hard at strengthening his muscles. He may have been the exception, though, not the rule.
Even though the school's philosophy was based on a strict religious code, one would be able to find pot, speed or steroids if s/he desired to find them. Remember, this was fifty years ago. Not a lot was known about the effects these drugs had on one's body then. I do not believe that my coaches supplied anyone with steroids or speed. I DO believe they turned a blind eye to what they suspected some of their players were doing. A small guy would come back from summer vacation after hitting a "late growth spurt." He may not have been any taller, but he would have bulging muscles, increased acne on his face and back, and could run faster than before. He would also act differently. Mild mannered guys would become cocky. Cocky guys would become intolerable.
My head coach won the state championship at two different schools at two different levels. The last one was two years after I graduated high school. Some of the star players had been my teammates when I was a senior. Two others died early, tragic deaths. Together, they made up one-half of the starting backfield for the state championship team. Each died of heart failure in his forties. Both fit the description of the players I just mentioned. Since there was no proof of them taking steroids (because we were never tested back then) they were allowed to play football and carry on with their lives.
Now, to the issue. Did Barry Bonds take steroids? I believe he did. The players I just mentioned needed larger helmets when they returned to school after summer break. Barry Bonds' hat size increased by two sizes after the age of twenty-five, when a man is completely through growing. It is sad that he is not in the baseball hall of fame for two reasons. The first being he did not need "extra help" to obtain the designation of one of (if not THE) greatest player(s) of all time. He is the only player ever to hit 500 home runs and steal 500 bases. Even the great Mickey Mantle never did that. The second is that he is only SUSPECTED of taking steroids. He never tested positive for them. (Although a friend of mine who played college football said that passing those tests is easy. They are administered on a player's "off cycle," the month the player is supposed to not be taking steroids to let his organs and muscles recover). I don't believe that he was the only player taking steroids who did not get caught, either. Some are probably already in the Hall of Fame.
I feel the same about the situation with Lance Armstrong. The supposed "B' samples that were produced several years later (and after their shelf life had expired) may or may not have been doctored. My question is this, though, "If they had the 'B' samples all along, why did they wait seven years after his first victory to bring them to light?" An American judge would have thrown this case out of court for lack of evidence.
Still, I DO believe that Lance Armstrong was doing something against the rules, as a majority of the other riders were. The great Eddy Merckx, whom most consider as the G.O.A.T. of cycling, once said that he did not believe that anyone could even complete the Tour de France without "pharmaceutical help." No one questions his five victories in the most grueling cycling race in the world, though. He is above reproach.
Yes, life is unfair, but athletes should all play by the same rules. I believe that everyone who plays a game for pay should be subject to drug testing, just as many of us are in the "real world." That may level the playing field, if it is done correctly, randomly selecting the athletes to be tested. Sadly, I do not believe this will ever happen. The stars of each sport make the owners too much money to risk losing one to a "random" drug test. Nothing about drug testing is random in sports, but it should be a "level playing field," unlike in real life.
This has been d.c. scot, with Cal.E. Kat, and one man's opinion.
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