What I’m about to suggest may seem a bit extreme. Perhaps teetering on the edge of ridiculous, even. But with a sound mind and able body, I propose to you the question of the hour: Who needs regulations?In the midst of a seemingly eternal barrage of investigations into steroid usage in pro sports – and most publicly in Major League Baseball – why not take a step back?
Instead of asking who’s taking what performance-enhancing drug and who knew about player X injecting player Y, let’s save the time, energy and money it would take to fully screen every player constantly and let them have at it.
According to a Dec. 17 report by The Sacramento Bee on the subject, the government would need to raise approximately $50-$100 million of our tax dollars to fully establish a reliable and consistent system of testing for steroid use. Mind you, not the other performance enhancers, just steroids. This would take years, if not decades, to fully implement, and it realistically serves only to limit the performance of the individual players.
Professional sports are a spectator-driven industry designed only to entertain. It’s not for the players, the managers or the coaches. It’s for the fans. And it seems to me that watching baseball games with scores of 15-10 are much more entertaining than the 2-1 snoozers. Home runs and line drives are the fuel that brings the fans’ roaring engine to life, and I see no reason to limit this entertainment.
Yes, these hormones and other enhancers greatly affect the players’ personal lives and well-being, but as a fan, who cares?
If these men are willing to sacrifice their own health in order to entertain me, who am I to tell them “no”?
Yes, this would bring about the question of what to do with the records that would no doubt be shattered, and there’s a simple solution. Have before-the-change records and after-the-change records. Everyone gets their dues and no big-boy feelings, which would mainly consist of sheer uncontrollable rage at this point, would be hurt.
The change in the rulebook would have a significant effect on the college ranks as well. With an understanding that succeeding in a professional sport will likely require altering the body, many student athletes may simply make the choice not to. Again, a win-win situation.
As a spectator, this would keep quality athletes in the college game longer to a degree, and any degree would be positive for college sports as a whole. And while on the topic, the drugs would still be outlawed in the college ranks as some kids as young as 17 and 18 compete within that level, and people that age should not be making that significant of a long-term decision about their bodies.
In sports across the spectrum – from track to softball to football – let the men and women make their own decisions about their bodies and performance in the entertainment business. Actors and actresses go on sickening diets for roles; let the athletes artificially enhance themselves. When quarterbacks begin hurling the ball 100 yards for touchdowns and golfers start averaging 500-yard drives, we Americans will thank you. That’s how we roll.