The words released by Sen. Barack Obama bluntly take a run off with the belief of Sen. John McCain concerning the subject of steroids in sports according to the news report by the Washington Post. Obama insinuated that steroids should not be given with high priority of the federal government or the Congress during his appearance on the ESPN Radio program of “Mike & Mike in the Morning.”

The Democratic presidential nominee did not directly mention the name of the Arizonan in the program; although, he uttered that he will track a course different to what McCain had tracked for the past when he was questioned as to how much should the government get involved with sports and performance enhancing drugs. Obama said, “I gotta admit that seeing a lot of congressional hearings around steroid use is not probably the best use of congressional time.”

McCain, on the other hand, had a contrasting idea about this matter. In fact, this man has been identified for sometime already with his efforts on the Hill to reveal steroid use in baseball. Like for instance, in 2004, McCain and his panel performed a high-profile trial on the subject; this was when he was still a chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. And his scrutiny had successfully pressured the owners of the Major League Baseball to employ new drug-testing policy. McCain explained in the following year that the league itself can no longer be trusted to handle the issue. In the same year, he also threatened to create a legislation that will crack down the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports.

Yet, Obama mentioned during the program that there were more vital things which the government must give more of its attention. “Kids are watching sport. They are modeling themselves on athletes,” he said. “It’s a serious problem, but it’s one that you want to see the leagues themselves handle in a more appropriate way. We’ve got nuclear weapons and financial meltdown to worry about. We shouldn’t be worrying steroids as much as I think sometimes we do,” he emphasized.

The campaign spokesman of Obama, Tomy Vietor, also stated that the comments of this Democrat were not actually planned to hurt the stand of McCain. Vietor explained on the side of Obama that he has a consistent view about this matter and has been constantly voicing it out. Like Obama, he also said that the great challenges including the economy and the wars between Iraq and Afghanistan are the ones that need more attention of the government. McCain campaign however did not give an abrupt response to a request for comment.

Nevertheless, Obama clarifies that although he strongly encourage the government to practice more hands-off on steroids issue; he still suggests for the government to practice the same thing as McCain did in selected areas of sports.

Finally, he also said that he will be asking his attorney general to investigate the chances of instituting a college football playoff system using executive order. Concerning to the NFL, Obama also uttered that he disagrees to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers playing in a domed stadium. “Unless you’re a Minnesota or Wisconsin you’re not allowed to have a dome, he stated. Because of this, he is also suggesting to pass a law to formalize such policy.

What was once a theory has now turned into a reality; former Michigan State University standout Tony Mandarich recently unveiled to “Inside the NFL” that he is guilty of using steroids during his games as well as of cheating on a steroid test given in union with the 1988 Rose Bowl wherein the Spartans won. Mandarich confessed that he presented a fake urine sample to escape detection before the competition starts. Although, he said that he cannot affirm if the current players are also doing the same. The full story of the involvement of Mandarich to steroids use was first presented in detail on the evening Showtime of “Inside the NFL.”

Mandarich previously played as an offensive lineman for MSU during the late 1980s. He was also chosen as the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers in 1989. Mandarich is acclaimed as one of the competitive football players before. In fact, Tom Boisture of N.Y Giants said that Mandarich is the best college football player he has ever seen. Boisture also compared the ability of Mandarich to Anthony Muñoz and said that the former plays a lot better. Steve Ortmayer of San Diego GM also addressed Mandarich as the fastest offensive gear in history. The statement of Ortmayer was also affirmed by the Michigan head coach George Perles as he expressed his awe to the agility of Mandarich despite of his big size. He said, “He may be the best offensive tackle ever. He is, in fact, faster than any offensive lineman in pro football. There is probably no one else who can be as fast as him in the world at his weight.”

Moreover, Mandarich was also formerly called as “The Incredible Bulk.” But this title was changed into “The Incredible Bust” when he failed to perform well for the Green Bay Packers during the third season of 1992. Such failure cause a rumor that the drastic drop of his performance is the result of his attempt to stop from taking steroids. Mandarich explained this issue in an interview by saying: “I got to the point where it was a struggle to work out three or four times a week because the priority of getting high was above the priority of working out.”

Just before, the speculations for Mandarich’s steroids use were already intensely resounding. The truth is he is claimed as a walking shrine for the abuse of steroids. However, Mandarich had also denied his use of steroids before—knowing that this can ruin his beautiful career. He claimed that his size naturally runs in the blood of his family. He also added that he wants to be a football player with a built similar to a bodybuilder. And since he also admitted that he cheated the result of the drug test, he had successfully escaped this issue.

Now, he had revealed the shocking truth. After passing several tests, baseball fans never expected for Mandarich to be guilty of steroids use anymore—leaving them stunned to his confession. But if the fans were surprised, Mandarich’s mother was surely surprised even more. In one of the interviews, his mother told the media that once she told his kid: “If you are using drugs, I will rather wish for you not to come home anymore.” Apparently, the confession of Mandarich to his steroids use was not easy for him. The harsh judgment of the people as well as the controversies that can possibly spring will be a torture for sure. Anyhow, he took courage to reveal more about his steroid use in a book, which is scheduled to be released in March next year.

The San Diego Union-Tribune published last Sept. 21, a listing of 185 NFL players who were involved to the use of performance-enhancing drugs, posed a question about the NFL’s action to all of these drug use scandals. The newspaper revealed that the NFL has encountered a lot of drug problems but most of these were ignored by the league, as if there were no scandal that occurred.

According to Charles Yesalis, a professor in Pennsylvania State University and one of the leading experts for anabolic steroids in the country, “people are just touching the tip of the iceberg.” He explained further that the study of the Union-Tribune, which is termed by many as “The Mitchell report of pro football,” showed that there have been no suspensions, no intimidations of congressional hearings, and very minimal newspaper headlines. A lot of people, especially the members of the media, are already asking for the NFL’s explanation toward this issue this time. Unfortunately, the league failed to offer what the people require. As a result, speculations arise. One of these speculations is the issue of statistics of football players who have been involved in the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

According to the published report by The Wall Street Journal, there is a raising argument in which fans are taking the statistics of football players who are linked to performance-enhancing drugs seriously. Conversely, Professor Yesalis addressed this issue by saying that the statistical arguments are merely fabricated by the media intended for the fans. “I think it is sport writers who truly care about records being broken. I don’t think the average fans really care all that much. They view sports as mostly as entertainment,” he added.

However, the claim of Professor Yesalis was also contradicted by sportscaster Bob Costas by saying, “I don’t know about the average fan, but judging from the reaction to Barry Bond’s surpassing Aaron’s home run record, a great many fans do care, and if they don’t think the competition is legitimate, they’re liable to seek their entertainment elsewhere.”

Anyhow, whether the fans do care or not, the involvement of football players to steroids use comes into focus.

Another speculation is that pro football is not being threatened to lose its exclusion from antirust laws similar to Major League Baseball. According to the chairman of the Sports Law Institute of Pen State, Stephen Ross, “Congress only cares to the people they choose to care. Since their constituents are not complaining, they are not complaining either.” Ross also added that the reason why there is only minimal public outrage over performance-enhancing drugs in the NFL is because the league has made a tremendous public-relations job. Example of this is the caught of one union official in a recorded video by Florida Company saying that during the 1999 session of the NFL players union held in Hawaii that 16 players got positive to performance-enhancing drug tests in the same year . They were not sanctioned because of “a secret agreement” between the union and the league to hold the present drug regulation until a new policy is established.

Basing on the explanations mentioned above, it is no longer surprising why NFL shows a minimal outrage over steroids use in the sports field. Now, it is also suspicious as to how many secret agreements do the league resolved with its players for the past years. Knowing the exact figure of this can surely turn to a major scandal NFL would ever face.

Drug testing has tainted some popular sport name such as C.J. Hunter, Briton Dwain Chambers, and Marion Jones. This is why whenever steroids are being discussed, the focus of the people are automatically drawn to the sports field—the athletes. But the Chief of World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA), John Fahey, has shifted his attention to the Australian community who are also using these performance enhancing drugs. Dan Silkstone of The Age, the website of world news and breaking news in Australia, reported the call of Fahey for a sweeping research to the usage of these drugs and the execution of a public health campaign.

According to Fahey, the public health campaign for the use of performance-enhancing drugs can be likened to binge-drinking and anti-smoking—combating a growing problem. He also said that, “We have seen with things like smoking that…the more money you spend publicizing the downside of smoking, the better your results are in getting people to give it up.”

The Growing Problem on the Usage of Performance Enhancing Drugs:

Fahey commented that the amount of performance enhancing drugs being carried into the country had a dramatic increase in the past five years; but the great majority was not destined to elite athletes, instead it was brought into sporting clubs and community gyms. This circumstance prompted the WADA president to talk issues with federal Sports Minister Kate Ellis to discuss a raise in the funding of government for research and education campaigns. He also convened with the National Health and Medical Research Council Chief Executive, professor Warwick Anderson. Anderson is head of the Commonwealth body that allocates money for each year’s health related research. After the talk, Anderson confirmed immediately the willingness of the council to unite with WADA in implementing the commission research.

Fahey pointed out the importance of the fight against the use of performance enhancing drugs directly into the community when he said, “We really need to focus more generally and not just on elite steroids use.” He also added that equipping themselves with better knowledge concerning to the issue can give them more advantage to give out more awareness as well as support to attend the health of these ordinary individuals who might suffer the horrible consequences of the prohibited drugs.

Executing the Solution:

The awareness of the government concerning the abuse of these performance enhancing drugs by the community is growing now, Fahey said. This time, the government is deeming this issue as a critical public health problem and not just a dilemma for sports administrators. In fact, Sports Medicine Australia ordered to create cleanedge.com.au just recently. Cleanedge.com.au is the official website of Victorian government that is designed to educate young people concerning the risks of performance enhancing drugs. This group is already initiating a research on the scope of the problem.

However, according to the executive officer Lynne Sheehan, “There has been limited research conducted on performance-and-image-enhancing drugs in community sport and recreation.” She also said that the existing data is disturbing. Like for instance, the findings of the research conducted last 2005 revealed that three percent of the students in secondary high school had used performance enhancing drugs, especially the adolescent males. This research also revealed that children at the age of 12 are already starting to use these prohibited drugs.

Based from the existing data and the current issues on performance enhancing drugs usage, Fahey was able to conclude that people normally focused to the athletes and sports field when the issue is about steroids use or other performance enhancing drugs. We miss out the great majority of ordinary citizens who are also taking these stuffs.

The use of steroids is popular to sports, especially to the type of professional sports where building muscle power is paramount. An example of such sports is power lifting. It has been years since steroids use was banned in power lifting. A team of researchers united to conduct an examination of the impact given by steroids to power lifters athlete who stopped taking the prohibited drugs for years already. Surprisingly, results revealed that even though the physical traces of the drugs already disappear, the changes they caused in the quadriceps and shoulders still provide lifters a significant help on their strength.

The research was performed by Lars-Erik Hornell and Anders Erickson from the Department of Integrative Medical Biology; Fawzi Kadi from the Department of Physical Education and Health; Patricks and Winternet Bonnerud from the Department and Health Science; and Chris Malm from Umee University. Dr. Erickson discussed the result of the team’s study at the symposium sponsored by the American Physiological Society (APS) with the theme: “Anabolic Steroids Withdrawal in Strength Trained Athletes: How Does it Affect Skeletal Muscles?” last September 24-27 in Hilton Head, SC.

Dr. Erickson started his discussion with the background of the strength sport— power lifting. Basically, he explained that this sport involves the use of weighty dumbbell to execute three repetitions per squat. Power lifting can actually be likened to weight lifting; however, weight lifting is a vigorous sport while power lifting is a stationary one.

Now, since power lifters focus on muscle strength, the use of anabolic steroids is regarded to be of so much help to support them a significant strength enhancement. Steroids help by adding more nuclei to the muscle of power lifters as well as develop the size of fiber muscle. Essentially, the researchers studied the two essential muscles to power lifting: the trapezius; and the vastus lateralis. The team also used three groups for comparison of steroids effect to different power lifters who used them previously and have stopped now. The first group was compassed of power lifters who used anabolic steroids for a long time but stopped their usage for years already. The second group is current power lifters but never used steroids. The third group is also power lifters until now but is taking steroids. The researchers examined the muscle fiber distribution of each individual composing the group such as the fiber area and the amount of internal myonuclei per fiber.

The findings of the examination revealed that despite the absence of steroids intake for years, with low or no strength-training at all, the intensity of muscle fiber area including the amount of nuclei or per fiber in the quadriceps of previous power lifters who stopped from taking the drugs after years of use are still comparable to the athletes who are still having their rigorous trainings. In fact, these researchers found out that those athletes who previously used steroids got higher amount of nuclei per fiber as compared to power lifters who are still presently using steroids. Based on the traits between steroid-users and non-users power lifters, Dr. Erickson concluded that the long use of anabolic steroids is helpful to power lifters in competition though they stopped from taking the drugs for long period of time already. He also said that resuming training of these former steroid-users power lifters will have the benefit to further increase the amount of nuclei in their muscles.

Federal prosecutors are determined to prove the steroids support of personal trainer Greg Anderson to his athlete ex giant slugger Barry Bonds, which resulted to a positive test last November of 2000, the offseason prior to his major league records of 73 home runs according to the report of Associated Press. Prosecutors pushed a federal judge to pursue with the perjury case against Bonds, claiming that the most current indictment clearly reveals he lied to a grand jury about his alleged use of steroids last 2003 according to the report written by Howard Mintz of Mercury News.

Prosecutors said they are holding two documents as a proof to Bonds positive test result for anabolic steroids last 2000 and the involvement of Anderson to the support of this drugs to the athlete. The prosecutor however did not give further details concerning to this matter. Prosecutors also argued for the appeal of Bond’s party to dismiss nine of the 15 felony charges against him.

The Associated Press report said that Bonds has pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of his forged statements to a grand jury as well as to one count of obstruction of justice, saying he never really used any performance enhancing drugs. Bonds’ party requested to drop some of his charges since his lawyer argued that the prosecutors thrown vague questions that confused Bonds during his appearance in grand perjury. For example, Bonds bickered that question like, “In the weeks and months leading up to November 2000, were you taking steroids?” is vague because the time element is not defined. So, he answered no.

However, the prosecutors countered by clarifying that it was not them to decide if the questions are vague because it is the task of the jury. They also said that the two documents they hold concerning to Bond’s positive test for steroids way back in 2000 will formulate such question into the state. Bond’s attorney did not make any comment on this contradiction.

Prosecutors also warned Bonds party by reminding them that the involvement of the previous personal trainer of Bonds will serve as a key feature of the case. The prosecution briefly stated: “At trial, the government’s evidence will show that Bonds received steroids from Anderson in the period before the November 2000 positive drug test, and the evidence raises the interference that Anderson gave Bonds the steroids that caused him to test positive in November 2000.”

Meantime, Anderson still declines to testify against Bonds. But federal investigators have been looking into Anderson’s mother-in-law and wife for the past years, prompting allegations that the government is adding pressure on Anderson to get him testify in the coming trial of Bonds, which is set on March 2.

For now, the San Francisco giant star Bonds has pleaded not guilty to the allegations, which are speculated to survive in some form and push him to tackle the center of the government’s case by lying to the Balco grand jury to his use of steroids as he trailed for the all-time home run record in baseball. Unfortunately, Bond failed to find a team willing to mark him as a free agent in the 2008 baseball season.