WHAT’S THE POINT?
America’s favorite pastime, baseball, has been undergoing a drug scandal. Two famous players have been detailing each other’s drug use. Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds have finally made public the open secret of steroid use in Major League Baseball.
The shock is not that Major League Baseball players have been using steroids, the shock is that people are shocked that athletes use steroids.
The American public has thirsted for faster, better, stronger athletes. The owners of any baseball franchise are forced to pay their athletes bigger salaries, which means that they must have greater attendance in order to afford the high-priced athletes. The owners are requiring the players perform better, break long-standing records and become bigger than life.
As humans, we always want our heroes to be pure. But the reality is that in order for anyone to achieve greatness, they must by definition step outside the boundaries of what is normal. On the one hand, we expect our athletes to use only their natural God-given skills and abilities to impress us; on the other, every time they impress us, we raise the bar on them.
There are those who say the use of steroids is amoral, unnatural and should not be allowed. These are the people who wish to keep the dream alive, who wish to believe that athletes are Demigods — individuals who by luck of birth stand above the general masses. These people wish to hold athletes to a higher standard. They also are hypocrites.
They are hypocritical when it comes to our athletes. They want them pure and drug-free, yet they love to hear the stories about drunken carousing, drug use and womanizing. Those stories are what makes the tabloids sell, and the TV celebrity new shows focus on them.
Athletes are just like everyone else. They’re going to take advantage of every tool at their disposal in order to achieve success in their industry. They are highly paid entertainment. People don’t look at a movie star and say they shouldn’t have plastic surgery, breast implants, personal trainers, personal chefs and all the trappings of success.
Entertainers change and manipulate their bodies all the time in order to maintain their star status. Americans expect their entertainment to be pretty, in shape and flawless. We want our men rugged and our women demure.
And it is hypocritical to allow movie stars to get their faces lifted, botoxed and implanted, and not let an athlete do whatever they want to improve their physical features to get better results on the playing field.
We hypocritically don’t want to believe they rely on outside help, yet we demand that they do so. What movie star today would not have plastic surgery to reduce those “fine line” wrinkles around their eyes?
I believe that the shock over athletes using steroids is really nothing more than another example of America’s prudish behavior of saying one thing and doing another. On the one hand, we advertise tobacco, alcohol, sexual-performance-enhancing drugs, contraceptives and guns. On the other, we tell our children not to smoke, don’t drink, don’t have sex, and we don’t allow widespread distribution of contraceptives. And we say that guns are bad.
There is a widespread feeling that steroids should be banned in professional sports. The international Olympic Committee doesn’t allow them. Most professional sports associations also don’t allow them. The reason for this is that we wish our athletes to set an example for our youth.
I believe that if we wish to set an example for our youth and clean up our society, we should pick our battles more wisely.
The youth of America, like all humanity, want the quick and easy reward for the least amount of effort. One hour of MTV watching ought to show anyone that the message the youth of today are receiving comes not from our athletes but from our musical artists. Artists who are perpetuating an ideal of fast cars, loose women, drunken debauchery and fast money.
The work ethic that made this country great is not being demonstrated by our musicians, our athletes or our political leaders. We have a president who made his money the old fashioned way — he came from it. One of the highest rated shows on TV these days is “The Fabulous Life Of …” which is dedicated to showcasing celebrity excesses. “Cribs” on MTV was all about the big house and the big garage full of the expensive cars.
Making the MLB change its rules on steroid use is nice, but let’s not fool ourselves. It doesn’t counter balance the message that getting rich quick is better than working hard.
We are a society that loves the story of the poor kid who came from the projects and made it big. And so long as the media sells that story, America will buy it. (David Pisarra is a business development lawyer and partner in the Santa Monica law firm of Pisarra & Grist. He (310) 664-9969 or by e-mail at).
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 14, 2004. Read the original PDF.