Steroids in sports: a prism of standards?

Image by Dr. Ellen Staurowsky

For some reason that screenshot of Lance Armstrong and the accompanying ad for FRS energy drink would not escape my ever racing mind.

I’m not sure if we touched on what I’m about to get into but now I wished we had. I remember during our Sport in Society class last Thursday (8/26) we were discussing how the ad affected the NY Times, when really it was Lance Armstrong who should have been the subject of our gaze.

Despite Armstrong’s current legal turmoil with the federal government’s investigation of his alleged use of steroids, the screenshot above coincidentally demonstrates that Armstrong’s marketability and brand is very much still in tact.  To prove my point, here’s a recent video of a RadioShack commercial featuring Armstrong as an endorser.

If you ask USPS, a former sponsor of Armstrong, I’m sure they will be quick to disagree that, no, Armstrong is not someone to be counted on as a winner who will deliver, for they have reasons to believe that Armstrong is a dishonest cheat. I can understand the government’s motive in wanting to invest their time in the Floyd Landis’ allegations about how Armstrong manipulated the steroids tests so that he would pass each time. The US government had millions invested in Armstrong and they want that money (misappropriated funds) back.

Though the Floyd Landis allegations have less verisimilitude than the Roger Clemens allegations, the inequities of how the two under siege stars are viewed by society bring into focus the questions I really wanted to pose…

• Why is it that we hold different standards and levels of acceptance for steroid use by athletes of different sports?
• Are athletes of different sports held to different standards because of the nature or popularity of the sport?

By Sean Vanho

No Country for Roger Clemens

Image by Ed Murawinski

On August 20, Roger Clemens turned down a plea bargain that would guarantee him no jail time. He explains that accepting such a plea deal would be an admission of guilt to the use of performance enhancing drugs. You have to admire the gall of Clemens and the extent of his denial. Despite the contradicting testimonies from his former trainer, Brian McNamee, and ex-teammate, Andy Pettitte, not to mention the hard evidence such as the syringes with Clemens’ DNA and the paper trail linking Clemens to human growth hormones (HGH), Clemens continues to vehemently scream at the mountain tops of his innocence and seems determined to be vindicated.

You would expect an innocent man to do everything that Clemens has done during the course his legacy’s undoing. Though the apparent facts, contradicting statements, and dubious claims of misremembering paint a convincing picture of Clemens’ guilt, there is nothing that Clemens can do to win the lost battle of public opinion. Sure, the syringes could have been tampered, and sure, the HGH he ordered was solely for his wife, sure.

For the already suspicious, disenchanted, and heartbroken fans, Clemens’ claims are too much to swallow as truths. We’ve been made a fool one too many time. Though I take issue with the government spending the amount of time that they have on Clemens, I find it hard to believe that Clemens will leave his perjury trial unscathed without any jail time. To be frank, I don’t think Clemens cares if he gets jail time. For a celebrity his stature, sports lawyers on ESPN are suggesting that he can serve his time (up to 16 months) in home confinement in his multi-million dollar mansion (wow, sounds brutal).

Since the day he decided to volunteer to make a public statement in front of the federal government, Clemens has travelled to a point of no return. There is no turning back.

Seeing the deconstruction of a hero, a legend, a 7-time Cy Young winner, and a once sure-fire first ballot hall-of-famer makes me sad, frustrated, and angry that the steroids era occurred during my lifetime.

If I had a vote for the baseball hall of fame, I would never vote in any player who was linked to steroids or performance enhancing drugs. Well, only under one condition. Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGuire, Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Roger Clemens, and any other great I’ve failed to mention could enter the hall of fame on one condition–an asterisk on their plaques detailing the complete history of their individual ties to performance enhancing drugs. If anything, the asterisks should forever stain their names as their participation in steroids have stained the game. In fact, they should get their own section, because lets face it, there’s no point trying to act like steroids did not happen. So why leave this gap in baseball history, especially considering the achievements of some of these players, like Barry Bonds’ home run record?

For all the baseball fans who are religiously obliged by another standard, they know Hank Aaron is still the home run king, for trying to parse out the achievements of the above mentioned players resulting from the help of performance enhancing drugs is a task for fools. Baseball is unique in that records are held sacred as irrefutable measurements of excellence–the essence to what legends are remembered–like Ted Williams’ .406 season, Joe Dimaggio’s 56 game hit-streak, Cal Ripken’s 2,131 game streak, and the Babe’s 714 and Hank Aaron’s 755 respective home run records. I don’t know about other baseball fans, but I will not stand to have these records broken by cheaters and then recognize them.

By Sean Vanho

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