Sunday, March 20, 2005
The Juice
So, it seems as though we've stumbled into the era of performance enhancing drugs. No, I'm not talking about Viagra -- I'm talking about the use of steroids in baseball.
You could subtitle this, "The Secret that Everybody Knew." I mean, how else could those guys become that big? Eating Wheaties? Seventy years ago, Jimmie Fox's nickname was "The Beast" -- put a picture of Jimmie Foxx next to a picture of any of today's sluggers. . . OK, these modern players do lift weights, but there are some African countries that aren't as big as Jose Canseco.
Frankly, I think it's an improvement. When I was a kid, it seemed like the popular thing was for the ballplayers to drink. Mickey Mantle, Dennis Eckersley, you could run down the list. And thirty-some years ago, Bill Lee made headlines when he was asked whether he preferred Astroturf or grass. He responded that he didn't know, since he had never smoked Astroturf. Alcohol and marijuana are performance-degrading drugs -- by graduating to performance enhancing drugs, it can be argued that we have made real progress.
And maybe we'll create cottage industries that will spur the economy. I can see it now -- Jason Giambi action figures that can simulate self-injections. Or new computer-based software that can re-image videotapes of old baseball games so that we can deduct 20 feet from every Mark McGwire home run.
OK -- here's the deal. For every guy who makes the major leagues, there are tens of thousands who would give anything to take his place. And only a few of those major leaguers become superstars -- with the incredible wealth, adulation, women and their pictures on Wheaties boxes. Now these superstars know that they're only a smidgen better than the other guys -- they need to keep that edge. Besides, those other guys may be juicing up themselves, there's little chance of detection and no significant penalty if anybody is caught. So exactly what do you think these superstars are going to do, say no to drugs?
Long before Brad Pitt was born, Achilles was given the choice between a short, glorious life and a long, obscure one. He chose the former. Nothing new.
You could subtitle this, "The Secret that Everybody Knew." I mean, how else could those guys become that big? Eating Wheaties? Seventy years ago, Jimmie Fox's nickname was "The Beast" -- put a picture of Jimmie Foxx next to a picture of any of today's sluggers. . . OK, these modern players do lift weights, but there are some African countries that aren't as big as Jose Canseco.
Frankly, I think it's an improvement. When I was a kid, it seemed like the popular thing was for the ballplayers to drink. Mickey Mantle, Dennis Eckersley, you could run down the list. And thirty-some years ago, Bill Lee made headlines when he was asked whether he preferred Astroturf or grass. He responded that he didn't know, since he had never smoked Astroturf. Alcohol and marijuana are performance-degrading drugs -- by graduating to performance enhancing drugs, it can be argued that we have made real progress.
And maybe we'll create cottage industries that will spur the economy. I can see it now -- Jason Giambi action figures that can simulate self-injections. Or new computer-based software that can re-image videotapes of old baseball games so that we can deduct 20 feet from every Mark McGwire home run.
OK -- here's the deal. For every guy who makes the major leagues, there are tens of thousands who would give anything to take his place. And only a few of those major leaguers become superstars -- with the incredible wealth, adulation, women and their pictures on Wheaties boxes. Now these superstars know that they're only a smidgen better than the other guys -- they need to keep that edge. Besides, those other guys may be juicing up themselves, there's little chance of detection and no significant penalty if anybody is caught. So exactly what do you think these superstars are going to do, say no to drugs?
Long before Brad Pitt was born, Achilles was given the choice between a short, glorious life and a long, obscure one. He chose the former. Nothing new.
# posted by Bill @ 6:11 AM 
