Steroids and Why its Considered Cheating

The debate surrounding the issue of steroids and human growth hormone shouldn't be about whether or not PEDs are safe, effective, dangerous, ineffective or anything else. The governing bodies of sport - whether it be MLB, NHL, the Olympics - have stated that participants cannot use PEDs. Therefore, those who use these substances are breaking the rules and are cheating, whether or not there are screening tests to catch or deter.

Using PEDs is akin to Barry Bonds using an aluminum bat, Roger Clemens using a smaller baseball, Tiger Woods using an unapproved ball or club or carrying an extra club, or Roberto Luongo using 20-inch wide goalie pads. If you want to argue that athletes should be allowed to use any substances that they want, fine. If you want to argue that baseball - or other leagues - shouldn't be allowed to prohibit certain behaviors or ban the use of performance-enhancing substances, or make and enforce any regulations that are designed to regulate their sport go ahead and try.  But those arguments are not part of the current situation that MLB is dealing with.

You’ll have a hard time making the argument Major League Baseball shouldn’t be allowed to ban bats made of certain materials or that the PGA can’t decide that there are limits to the types of clubs that golfers can use, and limit how many clubs a player can carry in his bag.

The bottom line is the-powers-that-be can set the rules for competition as they see fit and anyone who breaks them is cheating, especially in the case of PEDs. Apparently this is an antiquated notion, but there still is such a concept as abiding by the rules and right versus wrong, even when it comes baseball and football.

In the world of car racing, major fines and suspensions are commonplace when teams and their drivers break the rules. You know, cheat. Some of the biggest teams and drivers in Nascar have been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars and have had management-types suspended. In Formula 1 racing, last year Britain’s McLaren team was fined $100 million for “technical espionage.” Cheating = punishment in some segments of the sports world.

A well-known national columnist who appears on ESPN has written that, “Honesty about steroids would be refreshing,” and that he would love for a jock to step up and said, “Yes, I used HGH. Used it all the time, illegally, under the supervision of trainers I pay well to keep me at optimum efficiency. My body is my business and a source of great profit in the entertainment industry, and I’ve hired the best mechanics to keep this machine running right. I’m sorry that this is something that you tolerate from the governor of California and Rambo, but not me.”

As a quick aside, anytime anyone trying to make a rational argument veers into the land of fictional characters or compares a situation where there are no rules to a situation where there are rules, you know that they are in trouble.

What this writer wants - provides us with - is not honesty, but a lame excuse for being selfish and for cheating. This excuse is the same as the one used by the white-collar criminal who ignores the rules set up by the Internal Revenue Service so that they can get rich or make their buddies and/or shareholders rich.

Here’s a translation. “Yes, I didn’t pay my taxes. I haven’t paid my taxes in years, in blatant disregard for the law, under the supervision of my lawyers and accountants that I pay well to make and keep me rich. How I make my money and run my business is my business and is a source of great profit in the entertainment industry, and I’ve hired the best people to keep my machine running right and ensuring that I have an unfair advantage while breaking the law. I don’t care about anyone who abides by the rules.”

Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia, Lay, Ebbers, Rigas, BALCO, Conte, Jones, Bonds, McGwire, Palmiero, Canseco, Harrison, Stubblefield.

It appears that our society has so lost its way in matters of right versus wrong and following and respecting the rules that this issue has become clouded. People are actually writing and saying that it's no big deal that Miguel Tejada lied to federal investigators.

The argument for and against the use of these substances is secondary to the issue that the use of the substances isn't allowed. Whether or not there are tests that can be given to detect use, if MLB says testosterone supplementation is not allowed, whether players get tested or not, if they use it they are cheating. And by the effort and energy expended by athletes so as not to get caught using, or admit using, it’s easy to see that these people themselves know that what they were doing was wrong.

There is a debate that can be held regarding the merits of using PEDs. There is a reason for a discussion that deals with the fact that a non-athlete might be able to make use of a breakthrough therapy, where the pro athlete cannot. From a public health standpoint people do need to know what the ramifications are of taking something like HGH.

However, these issues are different than the issue at hand. The governing bodies of sport have the obligation and right to determine the conditions under which participants compete, and that anyone who willfully breaks these rules is cheating and subject to discipline.
Join me on my talk show Performance Enhancing Radio every Tuesday at 8PM EST to discuss the issue.