Manny Ramirez is just the next player to fail Major League Baseball's drug policy. For his crime, he will miss the next 50 games and forfeit the pay from those game. Are you shocked? I'm not.
First off let me point out I do not condone the use of performance enhancing drugs (PED). Nor do I approve of any drug, illegal or otherwise, that impairs judgment or can make driving an automobile dangerous. What I find so ironic is we, as a culture, seem to have more tolerance for drugs that effect behavior and judgment than we do for drugs that enhance performance. Last I checked, no one was killed by a ballplayer hitting balls farther but across the country last evening, people died because of a few who drove under the influence of alcohol.
I get all the arguments in regards to steroids. The stats have been inflated unfairly, it’s a bad role model for the kids, and it’s just plain not nice. I get it. But what in the world are we so shocked about? Am I the only one noticing the double standard in this country?
We pass judgment on the use of PED but it seems okay for ball clubs major sponsor to be a brewery. Don’t tell me alcohol is not a drug because it is. It can even enhance performance. Haven’t you ever heard anyone say have a drink to take the edge off.
The point is that drugs and booze have been used for a very long time to alter perception, reality, and now performance. Again, not good but why the shock? Why are we so surprised especially when it comes to athletes and why are we more upset about our athletes than we are with the abusers who hurt other people. The answer is that steroids have upset the sanctity of the game. Apparently this is why we are more preoccupied with the abuse of steroids than we are with heroine, LSD, or Jack Daniels.
Some say that asterisks should appear all over the record books for the last twenty years. Why, is there an asterisk next to the 1919 Cincinnati Reds? They won the World Series that year but only because the White Sox threw it. Shouldn't we have asterisks next to Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Cy Young, and others because they did not compete against Blacks or Hispanics? What about ballplayers from the 1980's snorting cocaine in the clubhouse between innings? Where is the asterisk for them? The writer Ken Burns, who produced the PBS series "Baseball" has made these arguments more eloquently than I have. Burns also makes the point that steroids will be discussed in the future when reviewing this era just as we wonder how good Ruth would have been if he had to face Satchel Paige.
There is such a dichotomy when discussing drug abuse. How do we, as a country, get the point across that taking drugs are bad when the result of steroids have helped athletes perform better. How does the point get across when nightly, we are bombarded with commercial after commercial for drugs that will improve everything from our sinuses to our erections. What kind of message do we send when commercials depict the beer you drink will help you attract beautiful women or the scent you wear (isn't perfumes and colognes a type of drug) will help attract more handsome men?
There is a double standard in this country. Drugs are okay as long as the companies that produce them have a lobby in Washington. Don't kid yourself, drugs are huge business that create extreme revenues. Statin drugs alone account for about ten percent of all drug company revenues. But the legal drugs are safe right? Not if you listen carefully to the disclaimers at the end of each commercial.
All drugs can have a negative effect and all drugs can have a positive effect too. No one can argue that the Polio vaccine was a huge breakthrough in modern medicine. But an argument can be made that we are way over medicated today. Everyone that goes to the doctor for the sniffles expects an antibiotic when they leave the office.
The point is America has become a culture of drugs. Drugs is the answer to everything. It's easier to take a pill than it is to eat right and to exercise. If America is really upset that our athletes take steroids and other performance enhancing drugs then we must change the paradigm. Perhaps baseball should consider a less grueling schedule. Reduce the number of games and shorten the season. One of the reasons athletes use steroids is to make them recover faster. Amphetamines are also illegal now. Ballplayers popped these like candy just to stay alert and awake.
If we want our athletes to live up to some idealistic non drug world view we imagine, than America must look to more natural ways to making us healthy and to perform better. Until that happens, don't be so shocked when you find out your favorite player is juicing.
