I’ve been in the iron game, both bodybuilding and powerlifting, for over 10 years. There are important things for everyone to know.

1) WAY more people are using these drugs than you think.
2) All drug testing is a farce, including the Olympics, the NCAA, and the NFL. 15 minutes and a dial up internet connection is all you need to beat a “random” test.
3) Anabolic/Androgenic Steroids are not anywhere near as harmful to adult males as you think. They can be very harmful to adolescents and women, but both of those groups can also use some drugs safely.
4) These drugs are not magic. There are lots of unimpressive people who are terrible athletes using these drugs hoping they will make up for lack of effort. The greats in sport are not great because of any drugs; they would be greats regardless of the levelness of the playing field.
5) There are already people in the baseball hall of fame who used these drugs. You’ll just have to trust me on this.

And this all comes from someone who competes in a drug tested organization. I have never used illegal performance enhancers, and I think they are overused by people who have no reason to use them… but it’s their choice.

I did have a no carb Rockstar the other day before I went to the gym. It was indeed a performance enhancer.

How about the politicos realized how a much larger audience they could draw using sports as a backdrop. Since their own lives are such a mess and most could not throw a baseball from the mound and even get to home plate, they choose to attach themselves to those that can?

Like living a sports life without actually having to do it vicariously through those that can. Yet they desire to see them as pure as fresh fallen snow, and not soiled as they themselves are. Somehow seeking purification of themselves by forcing others, their chosen sports hero’s, to be pure.

I think that currently roids are getting a very bad rap as Dr.’s across the country are injecting folks with them every day for a variety of muscle and joint challenges. They help by promoting cell generation in an injury site and I’d bet in many other ways as well. Such use is not the same as I’m sure some folks have used them and possibly continue to use them. But some folks use heroin all the time as well, not good for them either.

Oh and if they are so dangerous for athletes then why are the cop groups being left out of the discussion? Oh but I see they are onto the singers and band players though!

Why do humans need to “improve” their performance? So, they can compete in an industry where they otherwise might only be average? I suppose if it’s worth the money, it’s their body. Just as long and I don’t wind up paying for it in health bills 30 years from now because we DON’T have enough data about steriod use over a long period of time.

This is one of the arguments that drives me crazy. It is so ignorant to the actual chemistry of PE drugs. It’s not as if you shoot some steroids in your ass and suddenly you are able to beat Mike Tyson down in one punch. These drugs enable you to train harder and recouperate faster. Which is why they were originally used to heal injuries. Do some reading on how these drugs work before making a comment like this.
Now back to baseball. Hitting a fast ball is a skill plain and simple. Yes, with steroids use COMBINED with intense training (work) you can gain more power and thus hit the ball farther causing more homeruns. This does not detract from the skill involved in connecting with the ball in the first place. If taking steroids instantly makes you the greatest player everyone in MLB would be hitting homeruns like Bonds (lets get real, I would bet that MOST MLB players are juicing they just didn’t get caught).
That said, I would second the rest of the comments I’ve read here and would like to add one more point to the pot:
I want to see athletes performing as close to superhuman as possible because I find that more entertaining. Period. I could care less if it’s bad for their health or not. But hey, I’m one of those crazy libertarians.

He also does a fair bit of libertarian leaning political commentary in the afternoons.

The stats are generally only meaningful in baseball where the history, lore and records mean so much in our national consciousness.

However, most “experts” seem to account for the fact that you have to judge a player by the era in hich he played. Many new stats are better as assessing great pitchers who played during “live ball” eras and great hitters who played when offense was scarce. for example, anyone who argues against Babe Ruth as the greatest power hitter ever by saying Aaron had more HRs, will inevitably and quickly be met with the fact that Ruth would often hit more homeruns than entire teams and lead the majors by some 30 HRs.

Plus, an argument against distorted stats is an argument against ALL new technology that gives players advantages old players didn’t have. For exmaple, Manny Ramirez supposedly watches hours of highlights of the pitcher he is facing each night. Ted Wiliams couldn’t do that! Is Manny cheating? should his stats be erased or discounted? Of course I’m not saying this is the same as performance enhancers, but when your argument is strictly based on stat distortion, the distinction becomes irrelevant.

Radley, horse-racing is a great point. Don’t forget the story of Earl Campbell and other football players who are hobbled at middle-age.

Performance-enhansers allow some to achieve the same goals without the work ….

John, with all due respect, your assertion isn’t true. What makes the steroids work and allow the user to achieve the desired results IS work. Taking steroids w/o a vigorous training regimine is meaningless. Steroids work at repairing the muscles more quickly after a work-out, allowing the user to get back in the gym more frequently for more meaningful work-outs. More meaningful work-outs condensed over a shorter time frame results in rapid muscle growth. IOW, steroids just make the whole process more efficeint.

No offense, but your comment confirms in my mind that ignorance about how steroids work is what is fueling this witch-hunt.

I think the reason performance enhancing drugs get such a strong reaction is they belie the message “Drugs are bad, mkay”, that drugs will cause you to melt into your couch.

See also Stephen Jay Gould’s famous analysis of why there are no more .400 hitters, for instance here.

When you do that, you realize the following: The average batting average has never changed. It’s always been around 260. It fluctuates back and forth, but it stays around 260. And that’s not an absolute measure like running a mile or throwing a javelin; 260 is a balance between hitting and pitching. The fact that it’s stayed 260 only shows that the balance has been maintained. I say it’s been maintained as everyone has gotten better. Hitting’s gotten better. Pitching’s gotten better. Everything’s gotten better. The balance remains the same. Now as everything gets better, the variation shrinks. That’s all that happens. There’s a right wall of human limits based on how tall we are and our musculature. Nobody’s ever going to hit a ball a mile or pitch it 200 miles an hour.

OK, drugs can increase our height and musculature, but for a batter to do as well as those in the past, he must do it against better pitching and fielding.

Does any particular improvement, any particular drug, improve hitting more than it improves pitching and fielding, or vice versa? According to Gould’s analysis the balance was maintained throughout the 20th century. There are plenty of other non-drug variables, as Michael listed.

Fark him and his farking report now. I don’t care if every baseball player takes every steroid known to man and become the size of Godzilla and they need to move the fences back to 900 ft.

As a fan, sports is more than pure spectacle, homeruns and touchdowns. It’s watching the hard work and practice of your favorite team be rewarded with victory. Performance-enhansers allow some to achieve the same goals without the work, but with a willingness to use these drugs. Maybe that’s not immoral, but it does feel hollow and uninteresting.

People should be free to use these drugs, responsibly and irresponsibly, but I don’t want to be responsible for encouraging these athletes to risk their health. Some professions demand risk, but it should always be a goal of employer and employee to reduce the risk as much as is reasonable. It shouldn’t be an issue for the government, but it is completely appropriate for these league commisioners to decide that they don’t want to encourage the risk. Maybe they are overreacting to the risks of these drugs, but that’s their decision, and these players agreed to abide by that upon entering the league.