It's not easy to play a professional sport. "Tell me something I don't know," you may be thinking to yourself.
In the world of sports, a dedication to the game is needed starting at a young age. From there, add in a wealth of talent and incredible amount of drive and you start to see the development of a professional athlete.
In baseball specifically, it seems like there are 100 minor league levels that a player has to pass through before making it to the show.
Even once a player makes it all the way to the bigs, a 162?game season is a grind. There are the emotional highs and the lows of a season. There are the flights from Boston to Seattle to Tampa - while playing games every night.
If we could just experience what this is like with the constant pressure to perform because of big contracts and expectations from fans, then maybe we could see why a player might choose to take steroids, right? Wrong.
Steroids are cheating. Cheating at any level of the game is the utmost form of disrespect to the player, his organization, his teammates and to the game itself.
Last week, a news story was released that outlined an accusation made by former reliever ?ricGagn?©.
He alleged in his upcoming book that "80 percent of the Dodgers players were consuming [steroids]."
Now do I personally believe that 80 percent of players in that Dodgers clubhouse took steroids?
Absolutely not. It looks like a cheap plug to sell a couple more copies of his book. However, one thing I do know is that any number above zero percent is too high.
Let me say it again. Players who take steroids are cheaters.
They cheat the game, the opposing team and themselves. For this, they earn the honor of being Cheater No.1
Cheater No. 2 is every player in Major League baseball that allows this type of action to take place. They are enablers.
If I were a clean player fighting for my spot on a professional team and I lose my job because of a player taking steroids, then I have been cheated.
Where is the outrage over this? Players should be taking a stand publicly pressuring and exposing those who cheat.
Lastly, Cheater No. 3 is Major League Baseball.
What are they really doing to rid the game of steroids?
The current protocol for those found to have used steroids, which conveniently was instituted after baseball reaped the rewards of the steroid era, is a first time suspension of 50 games, second of 100 games and third a lifetime ban.
A 50?game ban to a pitcher on a sure?fire playoff team in the middle of the summer heat is considered a punishment?
If a pitcher were to take steroids one of two things would happen. Either they would a) receive the benefit of the steroids with enhanced numbers or b) have the two hottest months of the year to rest and prepare for the postseason.
That doesn't sound like much of a deterrent.
If baseball wants to eradicate the problem, then I propose that the first punishment is a lifetime ban. That would get the player's attention, wouldn't it?
Steroids are a choice. It's been proven in nearly every case that the busted player knowingly took the substance, which tells me that the punishment is not harsh enough. Players still think that they will be able to get away with using them or are willing to take the punishment if they do not.
Steroid usage is a problem that ruins the integrity of baseball and needs to be completely eliminated from the game. Until this happens Cheater No. 1, Cheater No. 2 and Cheater No. 3 - you're sacked!
--
Jordan Bean is a freshman who has yet to declare a major. He can be reached at Jordan.Bean@tufts.edu.
