What's Happening to our Sports Stars?

For those of you out there who don't follow baseball much (0r not at all) you may still be familiar with the name Barry Bonds. The star player of the moment for the San Francisco Giants is currently making headlines because he is on the verge of breaking the home run record previously set by baseball legend Hank Aaron. With 755 home runs hit, the completion of just one more will set Bonds apart from the pack and will place him as the king of the home run. What stirs the controversy among many people is the speculation that Barry Bonds has used steroids to attain his current physique and as a result, he's much stronger than he should be. That being the case, many are left to wonder whether Bonds' achievement is even in the same league as Hank Aaron's.

It's a difficult thing in sports to compare athletes of different eras to one another. In baseball there is particular difficulty given the fact that players in the modern era can play many more games than the players from the past. The advent of stadium lighting and night games means that players play more games on average than they did a century ago. That being the case, one can argue that it is easier to achieve a record than it previously was. Still, one can also argue that the ability to achieve records today is much harder than it was in the past. Again, in baseball, the pitches are faster, the stadiums larger and the players are more powerful than they were before. I mean can you imagine someone as portly as Babe Ruth playing the game today? He may have been one of the greatest players ever but if he were to play today, it would most likely be a different story. As it is it is difficult to compare the eras and the players that they produced, but it is even more difficult when you have players who are artificially enhanced.

Whether or not Bonds actually takes steroids is still up for debate in many circles, but the fact that his arms have gone from having the girth of a ballpoint pen to the girth of your average tree trunk means that either he has been working out extremely hard or that some assistance was provided. It's sad to think that in this day and age we are so pessimistic about the skills and abilities of athletes that we call into question their skill, ability, and dedication at the drop of a hat. Perhaps it is that we sports fans have also become so jaded that we have little or no faith in our favorite players and teams. When you have cyclists in the Tour de France pulling slightly ahead of the pack it's not because he's a good cyclist anymore but because it is more than likely that he used drugs.

If you see a player whallop a ball out of the ballpark, the speculation immediately turns to the fact that perhaps he has taken some steroids or other drug to increase his performance. Times have changed from when parents would point to an athlete and use them as an example of dedication and skill in sport. There are still of that old guard around and they continue to be shining examples of the true meaning behind athleticism but it's disappointing to hear fans proclaim that perhaps these legends were possibily users of performance enhancing substances too. I can think of the talk behind legendary Baltimore Oriole star Cal Ripken Jr. Recently inducted into the hall of fame, Ripken set the league record for most consecutive games played and has always been a symbol of what was good about baseball, but even now his image is being tarnished by whispered talk that perhaps he too took drugs to play in so many games.

Whatever it is, I hope that that's not the case. More and more frequently we are losing faith in our heroes and thinking only the worst. It's hard not to when you have players of skill like Michael Vick being convicted of crimes, stars like Barry Bonds coming under fire for supposedly cheating his way to the top, and cycling stars from all over the world being challenged about their skill and endurance and being labeled guilty until proven innocent. It's sad but true that we are so jaded and accepting of the fact that an achievement is likely due to any other reason than the player themself. Whether it is the desire to perform and achieve great things in order to make more money or to be proclaimed 'the best', players continue to struggle to figure out some way to be at the top, it's just a shame that they have to cheat to do it.