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Not sure if anyone saw it, but last night there was an interview on CNBC with a guy called Donny, talking to Jose Canseco about steroids in baseball. Although the interview was pretty good, one of the points that was driving me nuts was Donny kept harping on the "save the kids" idea by getting steroids off the streats. He also mentioned the suicides by teens using steroids when they go off the drugs. Now, I will never endorse steroids for kids; but come on, lets take the blinders off! How many kids die every day in drunk driving accidents? How many will start drinking at 16 and spend the next 20 years of their lives as alcholics just trying to get a day sober. How many will start smoking at 14 and spend the rest of their lives trying to quit? Take your head out of the sand, if 100 kids a year kill themselves because of steroids (which is a totally subjective question; how in the hell do you know its the steroids that made them kill themselves) its still NOTHING compared to the damage that the 2 legal drugs cause every day.
I am so sick of this idea that steroids have to be illegal because otherwise kids will use them. We all know why steroids are illegal; to protect professional sports and the santicatiy of the games. Do you think that they give a shit about these drugs hurting you? They don't, trust me, they just can't stomach the idea of all these guys walking around who can run a 4 min mile; jump 15 feet, hit home runs, etc. How are pro sports fun to watch when you can go the local ballfield and watch them throw 100mph and hit 500 foot homeruns? They have to keep pro sports stars as the pinnacle of talent, if everyone BUT them was on steroids it would no longer be fun to watch these guys (because the guy living in the next house over would be bigger then an NFL linebacker, and faster too).
Anyway, here is the e-mail that I sent to this Donny guy; if your interested I suggest you e-mail him as well on your take of steroids in sports.
Thanks for letting me rant! :)
------BEGIN COPY-----
Donny,
I have never seen your show before, but watched it tonight because I was very curious to hear the stance taken on steroids in baseball. Overall, I thought the program was very good, but would like to make a few points.
First, you beat the idea a bit about “saving the kids” by stopping steroid use by adults. I would NEVER advocate steroids for kids (anyone under 21 or so) but, the point I really think you missed, is we have MUCH bigger issues then steroids for children. Your argument was that if kids see their sports hero’s as steroid users then they are likely to follow in their footsteps. I do agree with this however let’s examine some other issues before we pull the trigger on the “epidemic” of steroid use in children. My first comparison would be to alchol, a legal drug with age restrictions. We have (according to you) a “few hundred” deaths from steroids in children. How many kids die each week in drunk driving/binge drinking accidents? Further, how many of those young drinkers will go on to be alcoholics? Don’t you think that they see their favorite spots stars in magazines selling beer? Isn’t this a FAR bigger problem then the steroid use? Also, on that same angle, how many kids look through magazines and see models/actors, etc selling/using cigarettes, one of the most addictive and dangerous drugs available?
Next, let’s take a look at a FAR more dangerous problem in this country, but one that very closely relates to the “steroid epidemic”. I am speaking of what soon will be the number one cause of preventable death, obesity. A child today is far more likely to die with clogged arteries from a Big Mac (which we know, scientifically is a FACT) then from a possible brain tumor or liver failure from steroids (which is, although probably correct, not even a proven medical fact). My main problem here is that the image that young adults have to live up to is totally unrealistic without steroid use. Most young adults want to look their best, but we give them an “standard” that is unrealistic without steroids. They try the gym for a year, and find out that they look nothing like their idols. Then the either pack it up and start packing on the pounds, or become serious and start looking for “other” methods to get the desired look. If you pick up any sports/bodybuilding/lifestyle magazine and flip through the pages, I can promise you that most of the men in that magazine are on steroids. It’s so obvious, and yet, we all look the other way. However, there is a very serious problem with this, and one that has not been addressed by the media at all to this point. Young men (and older men to a certain extent) feel like these magazines represent the ideal male image. I know, as do most people who bodybuild, that its totally impossible to look like this without steroids. Much like the epidemics that have come before (waif models, heroin chic) obtaining the “ideal” male look requires steroid use, and as such, is illegal. I really feel that this is a great disservice to this country; we are creating a nation of obese individuals because most people just can’t understand how Tom Cruise or Chrisian Bale (who put on something like 110 lbs in 14 months) can get so “cut” and “ripped”. Again its so obvious is almost painful, but people just look the other way (check out Tom Cruise in the beginning on Mission Impossible when he is climbing the rock wall. More like “Mission not so Impossible because of help from steroids”.)
I go to the gym every day, and I watch people come in, work out for 3-4 months, get annoyed that they look nothing like the “hardcore” gym rats and leave. Unfortunately, I think most of the time its not that they want to look like the serious bodybuilders, they just want to see some results which come about very, very slowly without steroid use (and a perfect diet). They conclude it’s not worth it and go back to Big Mac’s and milkshakes. Let me tell you, its almost impossible to “get noticed” by a girl walking around in a natural body. Women are so conditioned from TV that they most men who work out don’t even look “in shape” to them anymore. Not that this has not happened to men (boob jobs are almost the norm for a “good looking” woman now), but here is the MAJOR difference: plastic surgery is LEGAL, steroids are NOT. Finally, to close this point, take a look at the incidence of death from complications from plastic surgery compared the incidence of death from “steroids”. You will find that plastic surgery is a far more serious “epidemic” in our country then steroid use.
I will leave you with one final thought. If I had 10 thousand dollars, I could pay a surgeon to implant 22” biceps in my arms. However, if this procedure is more dangerous then me paying 1 thousand dollars for the steroids to “earn” those arms, why is the surgery legal and the steroids not?
Oh, last thing. Those guys in the majors are not clean by any means now. They are certainly taking growth hormone (there is no reliable test), probably Long IGF-1, and certainly insulin. Why the hell are we looking at baseball anyway?? Want to see some serious juicers, look at football!
Thanks for the time,
-----END COPY-----
Donny's email address (in case you want to give him a piece of your mind) is:
[email protected]
Puma
I am so sick of this idea that steroids have to be illegal because otherwise kids will use them. We all know why steroids are illegal; to protect professional sports and the santicatiy of the games. Do you think that they give a shit about these drugs hurting you? They don't, trust me, they just can't stomach the idea of all these guys walking around who can run a 4 min mile; jump 15 feet, hit home runs, etc. How are pro sports fun to watch when you can go the local ballfield and watch them throw 100mph and hit 500 foot homeruns? They have to keep pro sports stars as the pinnacle of talent, if everyone BUT them was on steroids it would no longer be fun to watch these guys (because the guy living in the next house over would be bigger then an NFL linebacker, and faster too).
Anyway, here is the e-mail that I sent to this Donny guy; if your interested I suggest you e-mail him as well on your take of steroids in sports.
Thanks for letting me rant! :)
------BEGIN COPY-----
Donny,
I have never seen your show before, but watched it tonight because I was very curious to hear the stance taken on steroids in baseball. Overall, I thought the program was very good, but would like to make a few points.
First, you beat the idea a bit about “saving the kids” by stopping steroid use by adults. I would NEVER advocate steroids for kids (anyone under 21 or so) but, the point I really think you missed, is we have MUCH bigger issues then steroids for children. Your argument was that if kids see their sports hero’s as steroid users then they are likely to follow in their footsteps. I do agree with this however let’s examine some other issues before we pull the trigger on the “epidemic” of steroid use in children. My first comparison would be to alchol, a legal drug with age restrictions. We have (according to you) a “few hundred” deaths from steroids in children. How many kids die each week in drunk driving/binge drinking accidents? Further, how many of those young drinkers will go on to be alcoholics? Don’t you think that they see their favorite spots stars in magazines selling beer? Isn’t this a FAR bigger problem then the steroid use? Also, on that same angle, how many kids look through magazines and see models/actors, etc selling/using cigarettes, one of the most addictive and dangerous drugs available?
Next, let’s take a look at a FAR more dangerous problem in this country, but one that very closely relates to the “steroid epidemic”. I am speaking of what soon will be the number one cause of preventable death, obesity. A child today is far more likely to die with clogged arteries from a Big Mac (which we know, scientifically is a FACT) then from a possible brain tumor or liver failure from steroids (which is, although probably correct, not even a proven medical fact). My main problem here is that the image that young adults have to live up to is totally unrealistic without steroid use. Most young adults want to look their best, but we give them an “standard” that is unrealistic without steroids. They try the gym for a year, and find out that they look nothing like their idols. Then the either pack it up and start packing on the pounds, or become serious and start looking for “other” methods to get the desired look. If you pick up any sports/bodybuilding/lifestyle magazine and flip through the pages, I can promise you that most of the men in that magazine are on steroids. It’s so obvious, and yet, we all look the other way. However, there is a very serious problem with this, and one that has not been addressed by the media at all to this point. Young men (and older men to a certain extent) feel like these magazines represent the ideal male image. I know, as do most people who bodybuild, that its totally impossible to look like this without steroids. Much like the epidemics that have come before (waif models, heroin chic) obtaining the “ideal” male look requires steroid use, and as such, is illegal. I really feel that this is a great disservice to this country; we are creating a nation of obese individuals because most people just can’t understand how Tom Cruise or Chrisian Bale (who put on something like 110 lbs in 14 months) can get so “cut” and “ripped”. Again its so obvious is almost painful, but people just look the other way (check out Tom Cruise in the beginning on Mission Impossible when he is climbing the rock wall. More like “Mission not so Impossible because of help from steroids”.)
I go to the gym every day, and I watch people come in, work out for 3-4 months, get annoyed that they look nothing like the “hardcore” gym rats and leave. Unfortunately, I think most of the time its not that they want to look like the serious bodybuilders, they just want to see some results which come about very, very slowly without steroid use (and a perfect diet). They conclude it’s not worth it and go back to Big Mac’s and milkshakes. Let me tell you, its almost impossible to “get noticed” by a girl walking around in a natural body. Women are so conditioned from TV that they most men who work out don’t even look “in shape” to them anymore. Not that this has not happened to men (boob jobs are almost the norm for a “good looking” woman now), but here is the MAJOR difference: plastic surgery is LEGAL, steroids are NOT. Finally, to close this point, take a look at the incidence of death from complications from plastic surgery compared the incidence of death from “steroids”. You will find that plastic surgery is a far more serious “epidemic” in our country then steroid use.
I will leave you with one final thought. If I had 10 thousand dollars, I could pay a surgeon to implant 22” biceps in my arms. However, if this procedure is more dangerous then me paying 1 thousand dollars for the steroids to “earn” those arms, why is the surgery legal and the steroids not?
Oh, last thing. Those guys in the majors are not clean by any means now. They are certainly taking growth hormone (there is no reliable test), probably Long IGF-1, and certainly insulin. Why the hell are we looking at baseball anyway?? Want to see some serious juicers, look at football!
Thanks for the time,
-----END COPY-----
Donny's email address (in case you want to give him a piece of your mind) is:
[email protected]
Puma
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