Here are some views on steroid users. Steroids have started huge controversies. Some fans view steroid using cheap, some feel it's okay, and some just use their views to get them a laugh. I feel that steroids are ruining all sports. They are not as much fun to watch anymore because whenever someone hits a homerun, you may think they are using steroids. Athletes who use are just ruining their lives. All are cutting their life short.
I can only speak for myself, but in my opinion, MLB has morphed into some sadistic 2055 A.D. Arena Baseball League. Now all we need is savage genetically engineered hounds chasing down left fielders en route to a fly ball. You tell me what is more important, money or integrity?
P.J. Grana, Boulder, Colo. I could take steroids all day and still not hit a major league fastball. Steroids don't put anything in the player that's not already there. What's needed is counseling for the player that addresses why he/she doesn't feel that his/her natural and already proven abilities aren't enough. Elliott Delman, Evanston, Ill. How come nobody has informed the Royals about all of this? Mike, Kansas City, Mo. What should baseball do? Are you kidding me? Nothing! Lethargic, depressed, and with shrunken genitalia, these guys are the role models for any generation! Woohoo! My heroes! Jack Burden, Lancaster, Pa. Steroids in baseball surprising? You're kidding, right? I hope Ken Caminiti is baseball's Lyle Alzado, without the cancer. Don Fehr and the players' union MUST get behind the elimination of steroids, for health reasons; until then, no reform will happen, because Bud Selig is worse than useless. And, a point: if Barry Bonds is on steroids -- not just supplements, which he most assuredly is using -- he will break down before reaching Hank Aaron's record. Allen Barron, Seattle Horrible, just horrible. We take Olympic medals away from athletes on steroids, but we're supposed to look the other way in MLB because a guy can make the ball go further? Drug testing is commonplace everywhere, and used in other sports, as the article mentioned. Baseball should be no different. Tell Chad Curtis -- here's one fan who cares about illegal steroids. I'd rather see the results of a player's pure ability. It may not be a 105 mph pitch, but at least it will be real. Howard Langsner, Great Neck, N.Y. Saddest thing about rampant steroid use in baseball, and it comes as no surprise, is how it tramples on the game's history. It is an insult to the greatness of Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays or Stan Musial when some second-rate ballplayer juices himself up and generates statistics that rival truly great players. It also distorts the game itself. It changes it from one of speed, grace and skill into long waits for the three-run homer. If the players had any class, and most of them don't, they would adopt a testing program. But I am not holding my breath. Alex Steffan, Boston That's it. I'm done as a baseball fan until MLB has a comprehensive drug testing policy. I feel so naive. I really thought that the players had gotten bigger and stronger because they had learned the value of hitting the weight room and staying in shape during the offseason. It breaks my heart that I won't be able to give my children the same experience I had growing up -- to go to the ballpark and feel good about your guys and cheer on your team. Matt Bookman, San Jose, Calif. Twenty years ago, pro football was experiencing the problem of steroid use among their athletes. At that time, I was a college freshman who was coming off a torn ACL. I went from 280 lbs. to 245 lbs. I had two choices, "juice" myself up like all of the other players around me or quit. Needless to say, I chose the latter and do not have any regrets. Fortunately, the NFL and the collegiate levels have cleaned up this problem and now young football athletes are not faced with such a dilemma. The same cannot be said however for today's young baseball athletes. But unfortunately, MLB is quite the opposite. The players union is much stronger than in other sports and will not allow the testing of such drugs while reasoning that they are protecting their privacy. And the owners are unable to implement a salary cap, much less steroid testing. Until the owners can take control and implement these changes without the threat of a strike, this will continue to be an issue. I truly believe it will take serious injuries or death to cause any change. This news does not surprise me in the least, nor do I have much empathy for these millionaire athletes who are risking their lives. Even though one can tend to feel bad for the clean athlete competing for a job against someone using illegal substances, in actuality, this player will win in the long run. T. Martinez, San Jose, Calif. If the athletes want to ruin their health for money, I suppose that is their choice. However, my preference would be for testing and zero tolerance, since I don't find any glory in the way that offensive records are being mocked in today's baseball. The home run record has no meaning if it is smashed every three years or so. Regardless of what baseball does about the steroid problem, recent offensive records should have larger asterisks by them than the one they put by Roger Maris' 1961 campaign. At least he was clean while he was swatting them under pressure. Art Blume, El Paso, Texas
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