The Manchester Enterprise
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Steroids have no place in sports
PUBLISHED: July 17, 2008
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, steroids are defined as any of various compounds containing a 17-carbon 4-ring system and including the sterols and numerous hormones (as anabolic steroids) and sugar derivatives.
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This might be a fairly simple way of describing something that has no place in sports and maybe only a limited place in society. In more recent national news, Major League Baseball players have had to go before Congress to testify about their possible use of steroids.
Ben Johnson of the Canadian Olympic Team was stripped of his gold medal and world record in the 100-meter dash because of testing positive for steroids. It isn't always these international superstars that use steroids. It can be people who are just trying to look bigger and maybe feel better about their appearance.
One such person was Bobby King (2002 graduate of Lincoln Park High School). He wanted to make himself bigger when he was 21 and thought this was the way to do it.
"I wanted to get better results and get stacked," King said. "I was at a certain size (165 pounds) and I thought I would try these."
He said that in two weeks he saw results.
"It didn't take long to see results," he commented. "I got bigger traps, abs and legs."
In all, he took three cycles of steroids over a six-week period. King admits he might have taken the last cycle too soon but he also wants people to know what eventually ended up happening to him.
"I was in a dead sleep and I woke up and felt like I was having a heart attack," he explained. "I was wearing baggy shirts so my parents couldn't tell I was using. I was stacked as hell."
He said after his experience with the drugs, he stopped taking them and is still worried about the long-term effects on his body.
"It kills your liver," he said. "My liver enzymes keep going up and I have to have them checked all the time."
For King, the steroids made him want to work out more and the feeling of working out became more intense.
He did bulk up from 165 to 215 pounds. After graduation from high school he was only 135 pounds.
"All kids think about is getting big," he said. "I don't wish what happened to me on anyone."
Drugs have become more common in sports in the last century. The International Olympic Committee, the governing body of the Olympic Games refers to the use of steroids as "doping." They claim it gives athletes an unfair advantage in the games.
Andrea Wickerham, vice president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport, said that her company has been very busy with clients in regards to drug testing.
The company is responsible for drug testing in the NCAA, some professional sports, and some college organizations including the Big Ten. In the fall it will have three states that have high school athletes tested (Texas, New Jersey and Illinois).
"There are a variety of reasons why this is important," Wickerham said. "We at the college level are looking for antibolic steroids."
She explained that with this process samples are collected and put into two bottles. Bottle A is tested first and if it comes back positive, a different chemist tests Bottle B.
She said in a national survey it was estimated that as many as five percent of high school students could use steroids.
"We see drug testing as a deterrent but we also believe in education," she explained. "We want to talk to students and make them think."
There can be some very bad side effects from steroids including acne, nervous tension, aggressiveness and psychotic episodes. Steroids also cause impotency and baldness in males as well as breast development and Gastrointestinal and leg muscle cramping. The drugs can also cause women to develop deep voices, grow body hair and develop masculine features.
"They (steroids) will increase body weight, muscle mass and strength," she said.
This doesn't even begin to mention the countless sexual-related side effects from using steroids.
"Roid rage" is something that most of us have heard of. It is a change in the person's personality, which causes them to act out strange behaviors.
Wickerham said that there is a chance that a person could become depressed and even try suicide after they stop taking the drugs. She explained that sometimes people take them on a six-week cycle.
There have also been many reported untimely deaths from using these drugs. Professional football, baseball and other sporting athletes have all had players die at early ages.
Before athletes consider using steroids, they should think about the consequences of what can happen to them in the long run.
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