What I Think About Athletes Who Use Steroids

One of my favorite college courses was a class I took for my Classics major at Lawrence University. The class was a specialized study on the Ancient Olympic Games. But just like the Greeks who organized them, it wasn't a simple thing to study, examining far more than just events and statistics. The focus of the course was on arete (are-uh-tay), the ancient Greek word for "excellence." In truth, the English term "excellence" doesn't completely capture the full nature of a person the term is meant to embody. A person who exhibits arete, a trait found in demi-gods like Heracles, is someone who has reached the pinnacle of greatness and demonstrated a degree of achievement in something FAR beyond the average-day man. They are, put simply, the best of the best, signifying the pinnacle of fitness, skill, endurance and, almost automatically, nobility and greatness.

To look at modern athletics, you could probably name a number of athletes that demonstrate the greatness encapsulated by the term arete. Michael Jordan, Roger Maris, Micky Mantle, Tiger Woods, Jerry Rice, Jim Brown, Bruce Jenner, Michael Phlelps ... they and others come to mind quickly. Athletes who were/are at the top of their games.

Twelve years ago, I like much of the nation was swept up in the excitement of the home-run race to surpass Roger Maris' single-season home-run record of 61. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, two amazing ball players who seemed to simply will home runs to happen each time they stepped to the plate. The race was a joy to experience! I remember when McGwire broke the record first, Roger Maris' family in attendance, and there was an honest nobility to the moment. The legacy and greatness of Maris had been passed on to the next generation of ball players. I was proud to have witnessed it.

This month, the same Mark McGuire admitted to having used steroids the year he set that record. Sammy Sosa has admitted to using steroids since that year as well. Barry Bonds, who would surpass that record himself in 2007, admitted he used steroids. Jose Conseco. Andy Rodriguez. It seems that almost once a week a professional athlete in one sport or another is "testing positive" for some performance-enhancing drug of various intensities.

I have only one thing to say to any athlete who uses steroids of any kind: You're out of the game.

There should be no second chances for these players, no forgiveness, no records allowed to stand on the books, and above all else they should never again be allowed to play the game again professionally. 2000 years ago, athletes in the Olympic Games worked as hard as athletes do today to prepare themselves for their competitions. But those athletes, those bearers of arete, didn't cheat, didn't cut corners, didn't use artificial means to enhance their own abilities. They did it the hard way, with skill, endurance, training and a little luck. Those athletes, and their modern equivalents, are the truly great athletes of history.

For any athlete to soil their bodies and performances using science and drugs and technology to improve themselves beyond their normal means is to shame the spirit of athleticism in general. Does that mean athletes shouldn't lift weights or use treadmills to become faster and stronger? No, because in the use of those devices the athlete can show yet again their propensity for greatness. By taking a shot of some chemical, someone who uses steroids is simply cheating; cheating themselves, their fans, their game and its history. They tarnish anything that they may achieve and they certainly do not bring glory to the sport or themselves. There should be no tolerance for these people who abandon the very core nature of athletic competition for their own benefit. They should be forced to leave their sport immediately, their records stripped, their honors rescinded ... hell, I'd suggest the fans strap them down to a rail and carry them out of town.

Athletes have always represented the best that we can achieve, particularly in a physical way. They demonstrate greatness (arete) by taking their game to a higher level. They are praised, well-paid, and honored for those achievements. Anyone who uses steroids doesn't deserve to be in the same place with such people. One strike and they're out, that's what I say ... and I'm right.