JANE LEE
Sports Editor
Sports fans of any generation love numbers.
Ten rebounds. Nine innings. Eight turnovers. Seventh-inning stretch. Sixth man. Five hits. Final Four. Three up, three down. Two strikes. Hole-in-one.
Beneath those numbers, however, are numbers only Generation Y can call their own.
Hold the record books, reassess Hall of Fame nominees and keep that asterisk handy because the Steroid Era is upon us.
So forget about the 15 minutes usually played during an NFL quarter — the new 15 belongs to the number of admitted steroid users.
Add the number four to make 19, and you have the number of implicated steroid users.
Then throw around the number 14, and you get the number of MLB players who have tested positive for steroids. Only two non-MLB players — as if one is not enough — have tested positive.
But before we go accusing every baseball player of using performance-enhancing drugs, it is important to keep in mind all the technological advances made for athletes in recent years.
“The strength of the players has changed so much,” Pepperdine baseball Head Coach Steve Rodriguez said. “It’s amazing how much weightlifting and speed training each player does; even we do it here at Pepperdine because it helps so much in maintaining strength for the entire year.”
Rodriguez, who has seven years of professional baseball experience under his belt, says that although this type of strength is necessary for the prevention of injuries and the time period of recoveries, the want for strength has changed the game.
“Players have taken it a little too far,” he said. “Even when I was with the Red Sox, it was known around the clubhouse that guys were on steroids, but even though you wondered about it, it was never something that was talked about.”
The problem, which has now reached the federal courts and has left BALCO a household name, leaves sports fans wondering who’s to blame, besides the players themselves, for letting it reach this point.
Rodriguez does not point his finger at one figure or source but says the owners represent a major reason for the scandal.
“The thing about it is that there’s so much money immediately,” he said. “You look for immediate gratification, and if a player has a great year, a ton of money is going to be thrown at you. The owners know what’s going on in the clubhouse, but they’re bringing in money so they’re keeping quiet.”
Quiet is how almost everyone in the game believed the situation would stay, including Rodriguez.
“I didn’t think it would become this big of a deal,” he said. “Back then, no one was allowed to be tested even though everyone had some idea of what was going on, but I didn’t think many people would do it because I assumed people would realize they didn’t want their life to end that quick.
“Once people figure you out, everything you’ve done in the past — your whole career and everything you stand for — is out the window.”
With thighs and arms larger than life, Mark McGwire is one such implicated steroid user whose image has been contorted by news of his possible performance-enhancing drug use.
“McGwire brought baseball back to its heat after the strike in the 90s, and now look at him,” Rodriguez said. “He breaks the home run record and is the greatest thing in the world, and then people quickly change on him.”
The same can be said of guys like Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds, but despite the recent asterisk era that has come to define sports in Generation Y, there is still love for America’s favorite pastime.
“Some people go to games just to yell at players because they’re venting their own frustration on people who are making a ton of money,” Rodriguez said. “The true fans know that there’s going to be some good in the game and some bad, but when people go watch Barry Bonds, they’re not looking to analyze if he’s on steroids; they want to see him hit a home run.”
The concern of whether those home runs should belong in record books is questionable, however, and Rodriguez cannot say how long this doubt will remain.
“Everybody’s always going to try to bust the system,” he said. “Players always are looking for ways to do things quicker and faster.”
For now, sports fans of Gen Y still have their numbers to keep them happy. But as one baseball player once said, stats are like a girl in a bikini. They show a lot, but not everything.
03-01-2007