Ego Ergo Ego

Steroids isn't the problem in sports. Money is. As long as it's just about fun nobody is going to mess with their body chemistry for the sake of it, but put big bucks into the mix and you've got trouble. Come to think of it, money isn't the problem in sports either. The problem is people. We cheat. There was a big flap in NASCAR recently when some of the major teams were caught doing illegal fiddling. It came as no surprise to anyone. The only surprise is that they were discovered. As someone said, "in car racing, if you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin' hard enough." I used to do a lot of amateur auto racing, and the cars had to undergo a tech inspection before every event. The tech inspectors hated to go over a car without finding something, so some guys would give them a minor violation just so the techies could have their "aha" moment and miss the big one. It doesn't matter whether someone's competing for massive salaries, endorsements, world titles, the promise of a lucrative conract, a plastic trophy, or just to best Bob who lives down the block in a game of horse, ego is ego. We might as well face up to it and allow steroid use, because if it's not that sooner or later it's going to be something else. Maybe if we know darn well that our heroes, who are making millions of bucks to play kids' games, are doing it with substances that make their testicles shrivel up, it'll be less appealing. Perhaps the real thrill of sports, amateur or professional, is seeing how far you can push the envelope without getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar. It gives new meaning to the term personal best.