P.E.D'S -PRODUCING EXCELLENCE FOR DOLLARS

By Peter Vuono

     To appease the masses and help them to forget about economy and other unpleasant vicissitudes, the Roman Empire introduced gladiators which flourished for nearly 1000 years peaking from the 1st century B.C. to the 2nd century A.D.. It was finally eradicated in the 5th century A.D. with the advent of Christianity. We are more civilized than that now but pro sports and the entertainment industry now serves the same purpose for the masses as did the games of the Circus Maximus. One huge difference now is that the athletes are not competing for their lives but for their livelihoods which is just as important if they have family and enjoy all the perks of being a pro sportsman. This is where I'd like to allude to the latest Boston athlete, Steve Wright, who was said to have tested positive for Human Growth Hormone. Personally I will NEVER besmirch or vilify any athlete that uses PED's. I'll explain why after I inform you as to where this all started.
     According to a 1985 Time Magazine article German Historian Otto Freidrich claimed that Hitler's physician Ernst Gunther Schenk gave hormones to Hitler and the SS troops. When the Russians moved in during WWII, they took all secrets pertaining to testosterone.
    In the mid 1950's The American Olympic Lifting team took with them as their team doctor, decorated war veteran, Dr. John Zeigler who was one of America's most brilliant scientists. When Dr. Zeigler found out that the Russians were using testosterone and beating the Americans, he was incensed. Upon returning home, he approached the Ciba corporation and for a fee of $100.00 created the 1st anabolic steroid- methandrostenolone- better known as Dianabol. Dr. Ziegler allowed his judgment to get clouded by his competitiveness and patriotism and took a step that would put to  shame Victor Frankenstein. He disseminated Dianabol to weightlifters at the York Barbell club in PA. Later, a Olympic team trainer in approximately 1963, took the drugs to the NFL. It is alleged that the Chargers were the 1st team to use them and that year at an AFL conference game., they clobbered the Boston Patriots 51-10. If you think PED's are exclusive to sports, think again. Do you really think that all the action stars of today got that way due to whey protein and vitamins? According to the fine book"The 20 Best Bodybuilding Steroids On the Market", author Robin Barratt states,"Every well muscled film and TV star, fitness presenter, singer and celebrity most likely takes steroids to help them look the way they do". With that, I'd like to get back to my reasons for not vilifying any athlete caught.
   Do you remember the famous speech in "Patton"? It went, "America loves a winner and won't tolerate a loser". Athletes are pressured by fans, media, owners and sponsors to win. Winning is worth billions of dollars! If just ONE person uses a PED to achieve an advantage, then the rest of the athletes are pressured into doing likewise rather than losing their ranking and ultimately their jobs. It seems that we, as a nation(and I'm not sure why) are obsessed with winning and like it or not, it pressures athletes to appease the masses as they once did centuries ago. I don't blame the athlete. What he or she does is an aftereffect of giving the crowd what it wants. Given the panoply of possible health issues that can occur, it's a very sad story indeed. The gladiators once raised their sword to the emperor and stated, "We who are about to die, salute you". I guess now, we really haven't changed that much since then at all.