| There are a set of ironies in place when it comes to | | | | home runs. Imagine the best football players only able |
| the American mindset on steroids. They are, most | | | | to run a 4.8 instead of a 4.3 in the 40-yard dash. |
| simply put, an advantage designed to make the | | | | Imagine the quality of games declining when your |
| process more efficient and improve performance. | | | | favorite players no longer were able to do the things |
| Our lives are filled with things designed to make things | | | | they can do today. Remember - the steroid-induced |
| more efficient. From email to cell phones, to just | | | | baseball derbies of the late 1990s and early 2000s will |
| about anything in your house, we have become a | | | | never be replicated due to strict drug testing in |
| society which benefits tremendously from the use of | | | | baseball. Do we want that in all sports? |
| more time, which these things provide. | | | | Is it the moral conflict which bothers them? It shouldn't |
| Likewise, our society has embraced the many things | | | | be. Most people tell ten white lies a day at their |
| which improve our performance. We enjoy coffee in | | | | jobs. From complimenting a co-worker with a terrible |
| the morning because it delivers a boost of caffeine, | | | | haircut to telling a spouse they don't look fat, we have |
| which makes us more alert and energetic. We take | | | | no problem changing the truth to fit our own personal |
| aspirin daily to ensure our hearts perform better. We | | | | set of needs. If you asked a hundred people who |
| undergo surgeries when necessary to extend our | | | | would tell a lie to win $1000, you'd have at least 99 |
| lifetimes. We do whatever we can to get more | | | | "yes" responses. So the moral aspect of things |
| pleasure out of life, and do it with greater abilities. | | | | shouldn't come into play. |
| Yet, Americans get very upset when they learn of | | | | What is the source of this contraction? Perhaps it is |
| athletes who are using performance-enhancing drugs | | | | jealousy. As youths, many of us watched |
| to excel on the field. They curse them as cheaters | | | | professional sports and dreamed of performing at that |
| and brand then as losers. They are mocked for the | | | | level. At some point, those dreams were dashed by |
| remainder of their career, and the stigma never goes | | | | age, family, injury, or just plain "not being good enough" |
| away. | | | | to advance to the next level in a particular sport. |
| Without the use of drugs in sports, the level of quality | | | | What is the solution? Think it through. Realize what |
| seen on the field would quickly plummet. Imagine your | | | | it is about steroid use in sports that infuriates you. |
| favorite baseball player hitting 45 fly-outs instead of | | | | |