This past year in baseball and sports in general many truths have been revealed to fans, reporters, and the rest of the American public. Throughout history, athletes have tried to get an edge on the competition. Steroids, and amphetamines have been the most recent and effective way of doing just that.Most recently Barry Bonds, the newest celebrated Home Run King was hit with an asterisk on the ball he hit to break Hank Aaron’s record. Bonds, a perennial all-star and godson of Willie Mays is the big-name culprit in the expose and breakthrough novel Game of Shadows. It chronicles his drug use, and also exposes all of the other players that were customers of Victor Conte the kingpin of the steroid operation, and business BALCO. BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative) was started by Conte, a fast-talking, self-taught scientist and was part of a strip mall were he developed anabolic steroids in San Francisco.
Conte was put on trial, and along with most of his clients still has cases pending against him that have him guilty of perjury, and money laundering amongst other charges. Greg Anderson, the surly San Francisco Giants sluggers’ trainer was revealed on affidavits, and other legal documents for testing positive for steroids. He was really covering for his client and replaced his name on the test results in the place of Bonds. He now rots in jail, supposedly waiting for a big payout from Bonds, for being hush on Bonds’ steroid usage. This is a blatant abuse of power and the wrong message to the youth. Young athletes try to resemble there favorite stars all the time, and to “fit in†and like peer-pressure the steroid regimen seems like just another step in doing just that. I asked former long-time Daily News sports columnist Phil Pepe what his take was on Barry Bonds and what effect athletes on steroids might have on kids. “It has a profound effect but any and all high school kids are “hero-worshippers†and it is unfair to lay the blame on just the athletesâ€. Bonds of course shared a lot of company with other athletes as one of BALCO clients. Marion Jones is the most recent star to be tagged as a drug cheat, and she paid the ultimate price. She had to return all five of her medals she won in the 2000 Olympics, and also made a brutal, humiliating public apology to her fans, family and her track mates as well as competition. They received her medals as compensation. Jones and Bonds were monitored by Victor Conte as he tested their urine and blood for “deficiencies†which was part of a bogus way to conceal the true goal of his business. He did the same with athletes such as Benito Santiago, Ken Caminiti, Jason and Jeremy Giambi, Kelli White, Tim Montgomery, and loads of foreign track and field athletes, and he made drug calendars for each of them. Conte and BALCO’s discovery however has not been in vain.
Conte’s whole purpose for dealing with high-profile athletes was to get fame and notoriety. He had a legit side to his operation in which he had the athletes promote a product called ZMA supplements. In return for endorsing his product the athletes would receive anabolic steroids. That was more than five years ago, and the sports world was rocked by Game of Shadows’ debut last year. Since then the authors of Game Of Shadows have been on trial for obtaining the documents through different authorities who wanted the story leaked and people interviewed who passed on names of insiders who could be reached for further questioning. The media however, has kept a keen eye on the man who hit 756 to become the all-time home-run king. An eye on the man whose milestone was supposed to be met with joy and jubilation but it was met by a cloud of doubt. His baseball was mocked and branded by a wealthy designer who took votes on his website and sent as it is to Cooperstown. This is the same man who hit 734 homeruns through 2006 in 21 big league seasons. Bonds hit less than 400 homeruns through his first 10 years and 440-plus homeruns as he got older. This surge late in his career was highlighted by an unprecedented 73 homeruns in 2001 at the age of 37, in which he also broke the single-season home-run mark set by Mark McGuire.
It is unfortunate that someone with great talent on the field, but surly attitude off it, is faced with so much indifference especially since he was such a great player before his steroid usage. I asked Mr. Pepe if the reaction to him would be different if he was more media-friendly. “Certainly not, the suspicion and doubt is real, he probably did use chemical enhancement, persona and speculation probably made it worseâ€. “Aaron was faced with far worse than Bonds is facing now with the death threats, and racism he encountered everything Bonds put on himselfâ€.
Regardless of damning evidence against Bonds he has never failed a drug test. He is facing some heavy charges including tax fraud and after the World Series they could pile on. George Mitchell former U.S. Senator was hired by Commissioner Bud Selig to do a steroid investigation. However, there was none more heartbreaking than the confession of Marion Jones failed drug test. She admitted to lying when she said that her track coach Trevor Graham had given her flaxseed oil during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. It was really “The Clear†which she was given in unison with “The Creamâ€, both of which were Conte’s concoctions. She used them along with EPO the endurance drug along with HGH, and stanzonol and was put on a drug-calendar so the drugs would peak at the right time, and work together seamlessly; lastly she covered the side affects with chlomid a woman’s fertility drug, and wore make-up to cover acne. She was one of the greatest athletes of her time and was a marvel, in- of- itself because of the grace she carried herself with.
This brought me to get a perspective from a peer, for a different take. I asked Natalia Tavaraz a high school student and general sports fan what she thought should be done with the records of athletes found doping. I also asked her what affect she felt this might have on young girls that looked up to Jones as a role-model. “I think it is unfair to enhance your ability, and it is unfair to the rest of your competition. I was shocked I always used to read stories about her and now she has to return her medals. It affects young girls because she was a strong woman and sports figure people could really look up toâ€. Steroids are only a one-dimensional version of cheating, and sports are to some merely an escape but to damage your body, hurt your peers and those who look up to you, and hurt your credibility as an athlete and human-being; in the end nobody wins.
