BONDS is bad?

Whether you like it or not, steroids and human growth hormones have become a part of baseball. There, I said it.

For centuries, human beings have attempted to look for solutions to make their lives easier. The invention of the steel plow, the printing press, as well as the more recent invention of the computer were all created in hopes of making the life of the worker an easier one, as well as improving and expediting or her performance. The invention of the steel plow made the life of a farmer an easier one, while improving his or her performance and increasing their overall output. The printing press played a prominent role in sparking and spreading the Protestant Reformation in the 1500's, helping various preachers and theologians throughout Western Europe to spread their message to the masses which would transform Western religion and history forever. The computer? Will that's completely changed the lives of the workforce in the 20th century and beyond.

Can we and should we compare the use of steroids in improving the performance and livelihood of the athlete to the respective impacts of those aforementioned inventions? Of course not. But like the previous inventions, steroids and human growth hormones were created and utilized with the same intentions: help the user perform to the best of his/her abilities, and make his/her life easier. Steroids and human growth hormones have done that for a number of athletes. They have been used by athletes from a myriad of sports, including track and field, football, basketball, and soccer to name a few, and their use has proven to signficantly increase the performance of the user. As shocking as this may seem to some readers, the use of steroids by athletes in virtually all sports is rampant, commonplace, and for the most part...accepted! Why then is the use of steroids in baseball considered so vile and unconscionable compared to their use in other sports? Is it the notion of baseball being "the last pure American, wholesome sport" that we try so hard to maintain? Maybe. But these "baseball purists" need to understand that times are changing. As the world modernizes and people find new ways to improve their performances in the workplace and throughout their lives, controversy and fear will always accompany the change.

People say Barry Bonds is a cheater who doesnt deserve to be in the Hall-of-Fame. They are ridiculous. First off, most people say this because the media hasn't traditionally portrayed him to be "a Saint" because he doesnt like being asked pointless and idiotic questions over and over for some foreign reason. The fact that Bonds isn't known as the "kindest human being" shouldn't be a reason for his banishment from the Hall? I don't recall reading about Babe Ruth's incessant philantropic efforts.

When Barry Bonds was in his formative years with Pittsburgh, he may have been pound for pound the best hitter in the National League in the early to mid 1990's. First off, there is no proof that Bonds did in fact use steroids and human growth hormones. Does this writer believe he did? Yeah, he probably did. But aside from his use of steroids (which makes him one of over half of major league players to do so), Bonds has been a phenomenal player throughout his entire career. I can assure you that more than half of major leaguers since 1990 have used some type of steroids. If there are high school players in New York State who are doing it, then I can assure you of the mass frequency of those at the highest level doing it. As controversial and "unfair" as many may believe steroids to be, one cannot argue that they are a "tool" that can be used in order to improve one's performance and make their job easier. Steroids should be legal...what's so bad about improving the game? Times change, and Baseball needs to change with those times.

Let's not make Barry Bonds the scapegoat here...he's just a phenomenal player who's taking the brunt of the blame for the hundreds of major leaguers who have taken the similar substances as he. I, for one, am in favor of legalizing steroids. At this point, players are fully aware of the health risks, but if they want to take those chances and attempt to improve their personal performance at the workplace, and consequently in their lives, then why not allow them to do so? Wouldn't Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison (two of our greatest inventors and great American heroes) see my point? Ha...