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3/10/08 Several people have approached me to ask why Congress got involved in the Steroid and HGH investigations, citing the position that they believe our congressional leaders have more important things to do… Here’s the back-story that no one seems to be talking about. Recent studies have shown that between 5-11% of High School athletes have tried steroids, and the percentages among football players might even be higher. Like it or not, High School athletes imitate the sports stars they admire. Successful entities like Nike, Gatorade, Red Bull, et al, understand this and they’ve capitalized tremendously. The Nike swoosh is everywhere, and young athletes proudly wear the swag for a reason. But, it is learned behavior. Just like taking steroids… Like it or not professional athletes are role models and if they are not allowed to use performance enhancing drugs, then congress will send a message it’s not OK for anybody to do it. Unfortunately it’s too late to save the life of Taylor Hooton, the nephew of former Major Leaguer Burt Hooton. At the advice of his High School Coach, Taylor believed he needed to get bigger to make the Varsity Baseball Team as a junior at his HS in Plano, TX. One day his father came home to find him hanging from his bedroom door with a leather belt tightened around the neck of his lifeless body. At 17, he was dead. For months he’d been injecting himself with anabolic steroids, and they had made him violent, depressed, puffed up, and eventually… suicidal. So, what’s the big deal about steroids? It really isn’t about Bonds, McGwire, Palmeiro or Clemens. It’s about your sons and daughters. It’s a matter of life and death, literally. They too want to be like their heroes, but is the ultimate price worth it? It’s not too late to save them, if they listen to Congress. (c) 2008 Novi
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