Manny Ramirez of baseball, Richard Gasquet of tennis, a soccer player and a runner-up in the 2006 Tour de France, these are just some big-time athletes who have been busted for doping. With the surrounding positive steroid test results and suspensions in the world of sports, news that another athlete may be dirty is becoming a background noise to many sports enthusiasts. Shock and indignation have turned to resignation but in some cases, acceptance. Alex Rodriguez have finally admitted in February that he indeed used steroids. In a recent survey by Associated Press- GfK revealed that Only 55 percent of the fans cared “a lot” about whether players use performance-enhancing drugs. The result shows a decline compared to the 71 percent result of the AP-Ipsos poll taken last Jun 2007.

“It is disappointing, but expected,” said Pat Parks, who also had his 7-year old son, Daniel, with him for a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field. “It’s just so prevalent right now. They should just let all the baseball players do what they want,” he also added. Fans suffering from doping fatigue is hardly a surprise since they constantly hear news about their favorite athletes testing positive for steroid use. Ramirez is considered as one of the best hitters in baseball, and he’d also rejuvenated the Los Angeles Dodgers. But after testing positive for steroid, he was suspended for 50 games. He is currently the sixth player among the top 20 career home run leaders to be linked to steroids.

Right after Ramirez’ suspension, A-Rod, who is also accused of steroid use, made his season debut. He returned to the field after a hip surgery and admission that he used steroids while playing with the Texas Ranger from 2001-2003. He was greeted by fans waving giant, foam syringes—and was cheered when he hit a three-run homer on the very first pitch he saw. Roger Clemens, another baseball superstar, surfaced again to insist that his former personal trainer never injected him with performance-enhancing drugs. There is still no word on whether Mark McGwire is ready to talk about the past.

Aside from baseball, six Olympians, including a gold medalist, got busted last month after their samples from Beijing were retested, and fans could certainly being cynical. “Unfortunately, it’s become almost a rite of passage in professional sports,” baseball fan Chad Carter said. “It’s to be expected, almost.” The attitude of people towards steroid use in sports is almost as troublesome to people in the anti-doping movement as performance-enhancing drugs themselves. According to Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), sports like baseball, track and cycling are cleaner than they were just few years ago. Today, there are more talk about cheaters because more are being caught.

Taking steroid use with a collective shrug signifies and tells kids that performance-enhancing drugs are OK, that they’re a ticket to stardom, Don Hooton of the Taylor Hooton Foundation said. Instead, he said every disgraced athlete should be seen as an opportunity to remind kids of the dangers of steroids.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS