by Zach Bigalke

Created on: January 04, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

After a year in sports in which rumors ran rampant in regards to doping allegations and violations, America's preeminent sporting enterprise failed to effectively take a firm stand on the steroid issue when it was announced that San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman was named to the 2007 Pro Bowl in Honolulu. This inability for the NFL and new Commissioner Roger Goddell to take a hard-line stand on this issue will only cause a breeding ground for more players to attempt to gain the edge. If it is known that a player can have a Pro Bowl-caliber season despite a quarter-season ban for a positive drug test, then more players will take the risk to gain the edge on the field and in contract negotiations. Because, as history has proven, cheating and chemical enhancement are not being eradicated from sport anytime soon.

All sport has a long history of substance abuse. Where cocaine and amphetamines were once combined with alcohol and other narcotics in an attempt to increase stamina, endurance, and pain threshold, the advent of the steroid era has seen an ever-increasing arms race in the pharmaceutical labs. As Mark McGuire's eligibility for the Hall of Fame came up for the first time and Barry Bonds inched ever closer to Henry Aaron's record of 745 home runs, the accusations continued to fly around in baseball. Nine cyclists were given their walking papers before the Tour de France - the crown event in a sport with a long history of doping - including pre-race favorites Ivan Basso [winner of the 2006 Giro d'Italia] and Jan Ullrich [1997 Tour champion], for their supposed involvement with Operation Puerto-implicated Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. Among the remaining competitors, Floyd Landis of the Phonak team seized the reins, only to fall from grace and claw his way back on successive days in the Alps. Later, the 2006 champion would be found to have ultra-high discrepancies in his testosterone levels and be found positive for traces of synthetic testosterone. In July, co-world record holder in the 100 meters, Justin Gatlin, tested positive for a second time and faces a lifetime ban from his sport.

Until athletes see and fear substantive penalties, they will continue to seek an edge against their competitors. In fields where a tenth of a second or another pound of muscle mass or the ability to have a degree-higher power-to-weight ratio can equate to gains of millions of dollars, it is no surprise that there is also a long history of abusing these fields for personal gain. A four-game suspension does little to dissuade an NFL player from injecting HGH or any variety and combination of steroids and testosterone. The increase in earning potential can augment any loss of playing time. And, as Shawne Merriman has illustrated for sports fans, it can even be parlayed into greater successes.

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