Professional athletes and steroids...

[jawbreakerkid]

With the Balco conspiracy coming to light last year, this has been a topic discussed ad naseum. However, I have a line of thinking I haven't seen anyone introduce. What spurned this thinking was all the people I hear say, "If I hadn't had turf toe my senior year...if I didn't blow out my knee...if I didn't have to walk my dog after school I could have gone pro in (insert sport.)" Now I have played sports on a level higher than most, in college. I showed up my first day thinking I was going to be the next big thing. Then something happened; I saw everyone else I was competing against. I saw amazing feats of strength and athleticism on a daily basis, and this was only on the division II level. Now jump forward to steroids in sports. When we are talking about professional athletes we are talking about genetic anomalies. Whether its swinging a bat, throwing a ball, or simply outrunning your opponent, these athletes can accomplish these feats at a success rate multiple times higher than the average person. So who is to say that these athletes who are bigger, stronger, and faster than the average person cannot build amounts of muscle naturally, not attainable by 98% of the general population?

Let's take a look at Sammy Sosa, an athlete often accused of steroid use. Sosa grew up in the Dominican Republic, a third world country where getting a meal, a single meal, is a concern, let alone getting proper nutrition. So a young Sammy floats to the states on a tire raft, 165lbs @ 5'10". Sammy is blessed with speed, a strong arm, and the ability to hit a ball out of the park on a regualr basis. But Sammy is playing a game with men, no longer boys. So Sammy decides to become a better player, a stronger player, so he must dedicate himself to training and diet. Sammy begins eating 5-6 times a day, as well as starting a rigorous training program, to turn that 165lb body into a sculpted 225lb. major league slugger. This doesn't happen right away, but over time Sammy becomes this slugger, beloved by all for hitting a ball a long ways and doing a funny hop afterwards. But the media and the public cannot attribute this physical transformation to hard work and dedication, because they have gone to the gym before, and didn't wind up looking like Sammy. So they point fingers, and accuse Sammy of using illegal drugs to aid his performance, because, well, what happened to Sammy didn't happen to them when they made their New Year's resolution to lose 15lbs.

This has achieved a long winded status, but I think it's something to think about, maybe not for us, but with all the speculation going on about athletes and steroid use; we need to take a step back and realize these athletes have the rare genetics to accomplish what they have. Who's to say that those genetics couldn't lead to the super athletes of today? I'm not saying steroid use is non-existent, it's just another angle to look at.

 

[HUTCH]

Let's take a look at Sammy Sosa, an athlete often accused of steroid use. Sosa grew up in the Dominican Republic, a third world country where getting a meal, a single meal, is a concern, let alone getting proper nutrition. So a young Sammy floats to the states on a tire raft, 165lbs @ 5'10".

You think Sammy was eatin one meal a day, NO WAY.....Im sure he wasnt strugglin at all....HE was a star athlete and in those countrys athletes especially baseball players are treated like royalty.....The country may own there ass but they take care of them also.....

Just take a look at the way everyones statistics jumped through the roof and when all the steroid shit starts, its back to normal boring stats.....I understand it cant happen every year that someone cranks 70 dingers, but this years stats were very average for everyone....

I think the greater majority of athletes are using....just my opinion...

 

[jawbreakerkid]

dude, sosa was like 16-18 when he came here, these kids make nothing. Most of them play without gloves! Sounds like a king's life to me. Living in poverty is what makes them so hungry to come and play in the major leagues. These kids come here to make $. Why else would they go to the major leagues? The majority of them live in their home countries during the off season and leave their families. If they are living like kings why leave their homes and their families? Ask Jose Contreras, who played for Cuba, had to defect to the States and hadn't seen his family in three years, about life in Cuba. It must have been wonderful if he went through all that just to leave.

As far as rising stats...lol...let's see here. MLB has added Colorado, Arizona, Florida and Tampa...and that was just the 90's! Can you say "watered down talent?" Also the 90's is when all the new ballparks were starting to be built. These parks are all smaller than the older ones because fans want to see homeruns. So we have weaker pitching talent, and smaller ball parks, all rearing it's ugly head in the 90's when the stats started to take off. hmmmmm, coincidence? I think not.

 

[Good Shape]

baseball and using

I happen to know that most are using....not all but most. For a fact.

 

[jawbreakerkid]

and how do you know this mr. insider?

as a sidenote, I'm talking about all athletes in general, not just baseball. I just used baseball as an example since it's in the limelight.

 

[Entity]

When it comes to major league sports, theres alot of money at stake. Now if you where a coach or an owner and there was a way that your players could get one over on the competion, wouldnt you do it, legal or not?
Now if you look at it from the players perspective its even easier to see that, and why alot of pro's are using steroids. Basically the better you do, the more valuable you become to the game, the more money you make, by the millions. Now if youre a genetic freak already in competition with genetics freaks then that pretty much levels the playing field to how it would be if everyone was a regular guy. With stakes so high and competions so close its obsurd to think that athletes dont use steroids. Surely not all of them, but definetly a nice chunk... I would.

Now when it comes to pro bodybuilders, I hope youre not saying that even one of them is natural. Genetic anomaly or not its simply not possible to reach that level of musculature without at least some enhancement.

 

[HUTCH]

dude, sosa was like 16-18 when he came here, these kids make nothing. Most of them play without gloves! Sounds like a king's life to me. Living in poverty is what makes them so hungry to come and play in the major leagues. These kids come here to make $. Why else would they go to the major leagues? The majority of them live in their home countries during the off season and leave their families. If they are living like kings why leave their homes and their families? Ask Jose Contreras, who played for Cuba, had to defect to the States and hadn't seen his family in three years, about life in Cuba. It must have been wonderful if he went through all that just to leave.

As far as rising stats...lol...let's see here. MLB has added Colorado, Arizona, Florida and Tampa...and that was just the 90's! Can you say "watered down talent?" Also the 90's is when all the new ballparks were starting to be built. These parks are all smaller than the older ones because fans want to see homeruns. So we have weaker pitching talent, and smaller ball parks, all rearing it's ugly head in the 90's when the stats started to take off. hmmmmm, coincidence? I think not.

Dude dont believe everything you here on some special on another player who had it so bad in cuba....Cuba is worse than anyother country i agree...but there baseball stars are treated just fine....like i said before though, these countries treat athletes good but its like being an indentured servant.....Of course they wanna leave Cuba though, you cant make 3 million a season in cuba for siiting on the bench....Everyone wants to come here and play no matter how good they have it in their country...Some no name fat ass pitcher gets more notoriety than these third world country superstars...

Watered down talent??? I think thats sports excuse anytime shit starts goin downhill....they been sayin that about basketball for years when the truth really is that they pay these guys astronomical amounts of money, gauranteed money at that, so of course they wanna be lazy and only really play when they are up for a new contract....So has the talent gotten so much better this year with pitching???? Did the ballparks all of a sudden get bigger....hmmmm......Oh wait though barry bonds took a piss test and it came out clean( of course) so he must not be using.....with all the shit comin out now on balco and other stories i cant believe people still are defending these players like they are gods....

 

[jawbreakerkid]

through Oct. 15 2004 2003 2002

Home runs per game 1.123 1.071 1.043
Runs per game 4.814 4.728 4.618
Doubles per game 1.837 1.816 1.793
Aggregate slugging % .428 .422 .417

Stats don't lie, in the first year of testing, with the publicity about athletes such as Jason Giambi losing weight, EVERY power statistic went up....up in flames much like your argument.

I'm not defending the athletes, I'm exposing the public's ignorance.

Don't even get me started on basketball...lmao

that chart didn't come out right, but you can still read it

 

[jawbreakerkid]

Entity, I agree with you 100%. But look at players like Sosa and Bonds. Before they grew they were still outstanding players. Bonds was a hitting machine with average + power. These are the anomalies among anomalies. There is DEFINTELY steroids in sports, what I'm pointing towards is the public and media singling people out. I think the bulk of steroid use is among the lower level players, the guys who are worried if they'll have a job next year, not the superstars. Sure some of the better known guys use, but look at guys like Jim Thome or Lance Berkman, you want to tell me they use? LMAO

A quick story. One professional athlete I knew (unfortunately that's in the past tense) is Walter Payton. I went to high school with his son and before Jarrett played football his dad would come to our practices, talk to us, throw the ball around, whatever. This man was well over 40 years old and was bigger than when he played. He was built like a human pittbull, 5'7"-5'8" 200lbs + of solid, LEAN muscle. This is what I'm talking about...you think he was using? Come on. He's a genetic freak!

The anomalies among anomalies, it happens guys, Ronnie Coleman is one of them. Sure he uses, but every pro bber does, so in a level playing field from a drug perspective he blows away the competition with a God given gift.

 

[joshbarnett]

they tested this year and...

there were more total homers hit this year than the past few. sure there wasnt that one guy with 60+ but overall there were more.

 

[jawbreakerkid]

Josh is right, I just posted the stats a few posts prior to yours. Josh I know you played college ball, you could probably share some of your insight on the genetic freaks you shared the field with.

 

[Massive G]

I don'thave time for a long response right now but most of those guys are enhanced a lot of it is advanced nutrition and training techniques but they also juice a bit and take other performance enhancing drugs IMO.
It's the difference between millions of dollars for most and or spending time inthe minors.
It also enhances their play when the get there with recoup etc.

I am the last person on here to cry drugs but a 270 lb baseball player...

 

[FRKNHUGE]

first off, i know MANY pro football players, and im am a fuckin insider considering i go to their kids birthday partys and such, so dont try to fuckin flame me, and an honest acct of the NFL, id say just about everyone but the punters and kickers use.
frk

 

[jawbreakerkid]

actually, in college our kicker benched 390lbs and was under 10% bf all year...lol It is safe to say he was not natural, the guy had a national competitor level upper body and little twig legs and wound up tearing his hamstring my sophomore year. But he was a freak.

 

[HUTCH]

JBK your right i dont know my stats about baseball....I personally despise the sport....

these guys are in the same position as bodybuilders....they can play minors or sit bench or they can enhance them selves and have a much better chance to make money......just like we can compete is shitty natural shows or get your ass beat in an NPC show and get zero respect( respect being our money) or can enhance and be able to compete...

 

[jawbreakerkid]

Whether you despise the sport or not, you're arguing on baseless opinion. Actually I'm not a baseball fan either, but I follow sports in general, and I HATE Sammy Sosa...lol

I think what I was trying to get across with this was lost. I'm not saying professional athletes don't use steroids, GH, or any other banned/illegal performance enhancing substances. What I am saying is, because steroid use has been proven in professional sports, it's not time to play McCartheyism and start poitning fingers and labeling athletes as "cheaters." Many prominent athletes have achieved success which has been attributed to a physical change in their bodies, whether it's losing weight, gaining LBM, etc. Who is to say that these genetically superior athletes could not achieve this status without chemical supplementation? These are not guys who want to get a little bigger to pull more ass, like alot of AAS users I know. They're not looking for attention. They are bettering themselves as athletes. So why is it not possible, that if Barry Bonds never dedicated himself to diet and training until later in life, that he could not have achieved the physical stature he did naturally? (I'm not saying he's natural, it's just an example!) Because he is an athlete on a level that none of us can comprehend, you can only comprehend what you know, what you've experienced. Until you've been blessed with genetics on par of a Barry Bonds, there's no way of knowing. Just something to think about.

 

[Good Shape]

lol insider

As a matter of fact I WAS an insider for awhile. I knew many pro players. I'm not gonna sit and argue I have much better things to do. Believe me or not, don't really care. You posted, I responded.

 

[jawbreakerkid]

I'm a magician, I don't care what you say, I am

 

[Good Shape]

dude

Relax a bit man. I'm not trying to argue your points. I'm sure there are plenty of "clean" athletes. Nowadays though there isn't a such thing as "clean". There is "legal" and "illegal". If we were making the money these guys make I'd be taking a bottle of andro a day. Not exactly "clean". I know a lot of what they take was for rehab and injuries to get them back into the game quicker. Let me say I am talking only baseball. I knew plenty of football players but never got on that topic. Besides, we all know testing doesn't mean shit.

 

[jawbreakerkid]

LOL, I'm just playing with you man. I'm just trying to prove a point, that anyone can come on here and say, "I know this...blah blah blah" so for someone to come on here and say I know most pro baseball players are using, it comes off as bullshit.

I agree with your point. I'm not trying to say athletes don't use, I'm just throwing an idea out there for a different angle to view this topic. The witch hunt that has followed the Balco scandal has been unfair and possibly labeled alot of athletes without justification. These athletes are the top .001%, let's consider that before pointing fingers.