The Buried Story Of The Steroid Scandal

Bob Schieffer Says The Example Ball Players Set Bodes Ill Their Young Fans

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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When I was a kid, all I wanted to be was a ballplayer.

We didn't have coaches back then until we got to high school. We learned the game from each other and from copying the major leaguers. We copied everything from their swings to the way they walked.

Because they chewed tobacco, I chewed. It was part of the game.

My dream to be a ballplayer ended but it left me with a heavy addiction to nicotine.

Years ago, I finally beat it, but it was probably the reason I have a disease called ulcerative colitis, and almost certainly the cause for my bladder cancer decades later.

I still take drugs to control the colitis. Surgery got the cancer.

But I can only thank the stars there were no steroids in my younger days.

My baseball dream ended when I hurt my arm in high school and it finally gave out during my first year of college ball.

Had I known of a magic potion that would have made me stronger and kept the dream alive, I would have been no more hesitant to try it than I had been to chew tobacco. If my heroes had done it, that was all I needed to know.

The baseball stars got their names in the paper last week but we buried the lead to this story. Deep in the report it said hundreds of thousands of kids - kids who have the same dream I had - are putting their lives at risk using this stuff.

Who do we blame for that? Where are they getting it? How can their parents and even coaches NOT know?

That's where the follow-up stories should begin.

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E-mail Face the Nation.

[eggy1620]

The problems in professional sports (drugs and obscene salaries) are solely to blame on the fans. Fans who continually pay $40, $50, or more each for nosebleed seats. Fans who, without thinking twice, pay $150 for an %u201Cauthentic%u201D jersey. The money comes from somewhere, and that somewhere is the consumer of the entertainment, the fan.

[cheddarboy82]

Bob Schieffe ? what does this guy know, he is like 100 years old. Kids shouldnt look up to these over paid athletes anyways. Steroids arent the problem, it''s america being to obsessed with the wrong things. Like a-rod making 300 million dollars and doctors who save peoples lives make pocket change compared to that.

[runningralph]

Life is economic struggle. It''s the same for roaches, rattlesnakes, tigers and whales. Every creature competes. Plants and animals. It''s all competition. Winners get to survive and pass on their genes. Athletes compete to be the best at their game. I say whatever method they use, special diet, training regimen or drugs, let them have it. Just don''t let them turn around when they get sick and cry for help from the taxpayers. Everybody knows this stuff will have bad side effects in the future. Even the kids know. They may win the athletic competition but will surely lose the survival competition.

[brianbwb-2009]

Bob Schieffer Says The Example Ball Players Set Bodes Ill Their Young Fans

Brian Says Bob Schieffer''s Initials Better Describe This Statement, Than His Full Name.

The western world worships capitalism, as does Bob. Your life is not worth jack, unless you can show lots of green stuff. Baseball generates huge flows of green stuff, to which the players deserve a share. The best performers get the largest share of green stuff.

See where I am going with this, Bob?

The fake examples you seem to wish ball players would set for children, is an attempt to indoctrinate your initials into the minds of children, the effect of which will be adults unable to cope with the realities of life.

[drivelphobe]

There''s nothing wrong with anabolic steroids used to enhance physical prowess. Every athlete should have the option of being in a league sponsored, medically supervised program.

Is the use of these drugs really any different than the use of Cialis, Viagra or Levitra to all those qualifying ED patients? Who knew there were so many defective males in our society?

It would be interesting to investigate the prescribing of these pharmaceuticals to check if the "patients" are really medically eligible for reimbursement from their medical insurers.

[taxguydave]

Interesting how everyone in punditland is suddenly acting as though anabolic steroids are somehow a new development in sports.

When I was in high school in the 1970''s, it was not at all uncommon for high school athletes to take anabolic steroids, frequently at their coaches'' urging.

They were also quite common in pro sports at the time. Just ask Lyle Alzado. He played in the NFL from 1971-1985, and admitted to using steroids and growth hormone. Oops--I forgot--he''s dead! Died of a brain tumor 15 years ago, at the age of 43.

[guldifx]

I agree with Bob about role models, tobacco, and steroids but the real scandal in baseball is the confiscation of tax revenue and public property to build baseball stadiums that only benefit multimillionaire owners and players.

[robocoop]

I appreciate Mr. Schieffer''s self-disclosure. I also was a baseball hopeful and while I was able to avoid many of the bad habits of my idols I feel if given the chance I too would likely have fallen victim to the desire to be "the best". I wonder when we, as a nation, will address the real issue in the baseball scandal, the desire to be "the best" at all costs. This is the root cause of what leads athletes to use performance enhancing drugs, business people to use immoral/unethical practices, and politicians to use killing (war) and lies as tools to gain political advantage.

We can blame all the %u201Cpushers%u201D, %u201Cterrorists%u201D, and %u201Ccompetition%u201D but it will change nothing. We MUST be willing to face our inner demons and address our own non-existential need to have %u201Cmore%u201D and to be %u201Cthe best%u201D in order to change anything.

The real questions are:
What are we as a nation doing to promote "win at all costs" mentality? What message does this send to our children?

Is CBS ready? Is the United States ready?