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To begin with, I am getting a little tired of the asterisk. It used to be a little meaningless symbol designed to draw attention to something but without some ulterior motive. Not any longer. The lowly asterisk has risen the the status of judge, jury and executioner. By placing an asterisk next to Barry Bonds, and arguably the entire last few years of baseball, the home run ball that broke Hank Aarons record is now more infamous than famous. You could argue that players like Bonds and McGwire used steroids to play better and longer though no actual proof exists. Certain people point to his head growing (a sign of steroids) or his game improving but he was already good. And, by the way, if you have millions in the bank you can eat perfect, train perfect and have the time to practice your craft. Even Lance Armstrong, a man who survived multiple steroid charges only to have all tests fail, did the same thing. He got better older and after cancer!! It is possible even if you don't like Barry Bonds, and I don't, it is possible. And, by the way, every person who did steroids did not rise to Barry's level so was it him or juice or both or neither?? By default, Jason Giambi and others linked to steroids have become an enigma. Do we root for our players under a cloud of steroid abuse or do we malign them in order to feel better about ourselves? Can we just take a second here?

If you go back over the history of steroids, at least in baseball and football, then the 70's had to be the steroid hay day. Back then steroids were legal or barely illegal and you cannot tell me that no one cheated. To imply that players wanted to be better for the sake of being better began with a Canadien sprinter named Ben Johnson is ludacris!! Sure everyone loves the game and today's athletes do make a killing but isn't the cash relative? In the 70's a salary of one hundred thousand dollars was a lot more than many Americans made and do you think no one did steroids just to play better?? Besides, steroids don't just make you look like the the incredible hulk. They can make you lean, quick or hide injury so just because your not BUFF does not mean your not juicing.

One team that sticks out in my head from another sport is the Steelers. I remember watching a NFL movie on them and they interviewed one of the offensive lineman. He was freakin huge and it wasn't all natural. What about Lyle Alzado who tried to make a comeback at 42 with the Raiders and would have except for a pesky brain tumor. No, every generation, with regards to sports has had its share of those who cheated (or did they simply use all avenues at their disposal to get better) to play the game. Baseball hasn't been squeeky clean since the Black Sox took money to lose. More>>