I understand that the sports all-stars we watch, love and follow have a lot of pressure on and expectations of them, but in my opinion that is more reason to show others how to handle it.
Most kids in America look up to professional sports players while they are going through extremely tough times - puberty, adolescence, and knowing it all! We are all trying to be role models for young children. There are those that don’t necessarily want to be put in that category, but once they decide to be a professional sportsman, they are. Children of all ages watch all types of sports and look up to the “pros.” Do we want our children, our nephews, and our grandkids thinking this is acceptable?
How the hell can those with such a gift and talent be willing to throw it away to stay young and gain an advantage over their opponents? I mean, there are thousands of people that would give their left arm to be stressed about “the game.” I am one of them; I had high hopes as kid. I wanted to play sports the rest of my life. I played softball from the time I was eight until forever, including while I was pregnant (that's another subject).
I grew up watching all the sports players become the “best” and I wanted to be like them. I realized in high school that I had to look outside of the box for further advancement. I continued to play softball, but to that I added field hockey, volleyball, the dive team and the men’s wrestling team. You want to talk about stress? Try being the first girl ever to ever wrestle on an all male wrestling team!
At NO point did I think, 'Hummmm, I think I’ll try steroids to gain an advantage.' Many of you might be thinking, 'Of course not, you’re a girl,' but even our professional female athletes are now being questioned for steroid use. Does the name Marion Jones ring a bell?
For years America has been pushing anti-drug campaigns - “JUST SAY NO” - Well, the American Sport Federation (I made that up) needs to stick to that! JUST SAY NO…no bonuses, no resigning agreements, no fame, no RETIREMENT!
Stop sugarcoating America’s faults and instead allow those that make silly choices to be thrown to the dogs! Otherwise, our kids are going to grow up thinking the only way to pursue their dreams and succeed at their goals is to enhance themselves illegally. I don’t care how good you are; you're not worth the price of a nose-bleeding ticket if you think enhancements are the way to play the game.
Forget all these urinalyses, testimonies and excuses and just fire them! Or better yet, if your athletes can't live without the drugs, then allow them to play but remove their paycheck and give it to the real stars, The Retired All-Stars, who played the game fairly and now can barely pay the doctor’s costs resulting from years of being GREAT players.
At what point did our sports heroes decide that drug use was ‘right’? At what point do they turn to drugs to make themselves ‘better’? At what point do we as Americans allow this to happen? Are we to blame for putting all the pressure on them to be GREAT? Are we to blame for making them push their bodies beyond what it’s physically capable? Are we to blame for the reasons they turn to drugs? Hell NO! However, we are guilty for forgetting how the games are really played and what sports are all about: the LOVE of it!
These men and women have some of the largest talent in the world and they are ‘throwing’ it away (no pun intended). For what?…to last longer? Well then, my answer to that is to take Viagra; it’s legal and has the reverse effect of what steroids are doing to your body! That’s The Naked Truth…Literally!
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Video courtesy of holligantelevision.com [1].
Check out all the Orato.com special series:
Hell’s Kitchen Chopping Block [2]
Song Over For American Idols [3]
People In Peril [5]
