I started typing this while Sen. George Mitchell was holding his press conference during which he made public his landmark report on steroid use in Major League Baseball.
As a parent, coach and fan, I was reminded that our society’s hero worship and individuals’ lust for wealth and fame have gotten out of hand. Many athletes will do whatever it takes to succeed – regardless of the legality or potential harmful physical effects of their actions – just to get a leg up on the competition. Players “were caught up in the drive to gain a competitive advantage,” the report said.
Mitchell seemed to discourage official punishment of these players for past offenses, choosing instead to encourage a fresh look at league policies going forward. Either way, it’s an embarrassment to the players and to the league.
The good thing about the report is that it may help clean up the game a bit, and more importantly, shed light on the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs so that today’s youth will understand that some of their “heroes” are mere mortals.
The day’s events got me thinking about my playing days, which included youth soccer and high school baseball and basketball. What would this decent if unspectacular athlete have become had I used “the cream” and “the clear” or human growth hormone?
My guess is a decent if unspectacular athlete with back acne, an angry streak, and a receding hairline.
In youth soccer, my drug of choice was orange slices. Sure, I could have overdosed on vitamin C if I wasn’t careful, but it was a risk I was willing to take. I wanted to win the Hollister Recreation league title and if a little extra vitamin C was what it took, then that’s what I would take.
The oranges were easily accessible – right there on the bench! – and there were no explicit league policies banning their distribution or use. Even if there were, we would have found a way to hit up one of our suppliers (soccer moms) and get a Ziploc bag of the oranges delivered to us.
I didn’t care that league officials could see the evidence of my usage when I stepped on the field. My mom would wash my uniform later, so I flaunted the fact that I was juiced. I even knew a couple of kids who would put an orange slice in their mouth and wear it like a smiling mouthpiece. It was the 80s and maybe we didn’t know better.
As my sports career shifted to a focus on baseball and basketball in junior high and high school, my days of orange slices were behind me. I still wanted to win just as badly, but vitamin C alone was not going to get it done for me.
As a freshman basketball player at San Benito High School, I would routinely down a package of six powdered doughnuts, a bag of Skittles, and maybe even a Skor bar during breaks at school. My supplier, the fabled “roach coach,” made it so easy to get this easy high. The sugar and chocolate were so easily accessible and school officials were willing to look the other way so often that it was hard to say no to the temptation.
In baseball, my teammates and I would use a strange pink substance called “Big League Chew.” It was proven that excessive use of this product could lead to tooth decay, but we didn’t care. It tasted good (for about three minutes) and we could get it without a prescription.
Today, I can only reflect back on my orange slices and sugar addictions and be thankful that they didn’t get the best of me. I quit before it got out of control and now it is my responsibility to make sure my children don’t fall prey to the temptation to use shortcuts.
It’s bottled water and granola bars for them – and maybe a carne asada taco at the Vet’s Park snack bar after a game. We must all work toward restoring integrity to the world of sports, one powdered donut at a time.
Adam Breen teaches journalism and yearbook at San Benito High School. He is former editor of The Free Lance.
