Bradshaw & Steelers: Two Decades of Steroid Abuse

I am of tired of hearing about steroids in sports as a person can possibly be, but the most recent former athlete to come forward really got me thinking. Hall of Fame Quarterback Terry Bradshaw admitted to taking ‘steroids’ in the 70s. I have a couple of problems with this. First steroids have dominated the media, we are now even concerned about it in horse racing. There is not a day that goes by where you are not constantly reminded of the scandals and controversies associated with it. Beyond the redundant nature of the coverage associated with these stories is the fact that Bradshaw has now fueled the fire with a very vague admittance of his use. To those in the general public meaning those not in the medical field, those who have not played sports at a competitive level, and those who are not particularly knowledgeable with either of those fields the connotation of the word Steroids is a kiss of death. During Bradshaw’s comments on his use he stated

We did steroids to get away the aches and the speed of healing. My use of steroids from a doctor was to speed up injury, and thought nothing of it… It was to speed up the healing process, that was it. It wasn’t to get bigger and stronger and faster.

That is where we get into the differences between anabolic steroids and corticosteroids. To break it down easily and quickly in layman’s terms: Anabolic Steroids are most commonly related to hormones specifically testosterone. They effect protein which in turns helps one build cell mass especially in muscles. Hence performance enhancing, cheating, bigger, stronger, faster, ect. Corticosteroids on the other hand help with such thing as response to stress, inflammation, and immune systems. They are used for a wide variety medical treatments and are administered in a variety of ways. Cortisone is a form of these steroids that are used regularly in professional sports and more importantly are not illegal/banned. They would take care of the getting away from aches part, but the long term effects actually hurt the athlete. I would delve further, but that would be going to far for my particular point.

Terry Bradshaw was a great athlete, is a great commentator, and a seemingly good person. The second problem I have with this story is that the lack of clarification of what he took is disturbing considering the effects that anabolic steroids had on the rest of his teammates. According to an article written by on CBS Sports 34 former Steelers players have passed away since 2000, with 16 of them being under the age of 59 (8 in their 50’s. 5 in their 40’s, 2 in their 30’s) . Seven of those 34 were linked to ‘heart problems’. This story goes on and on, with reports of attempted suicides, heart failures, partial brain damage, ect. I hate to add Bradshaw on a list of former Steelers who have allegedly lost their lives due to the steroid use in the 70’s and 80’s, but he needs to be more careful and much clearer about his use. If not only because of how sensitive the steroid issue is on a whole today, but out of respect and consideration for fellow teammates who have \suffered far worse fates.

4Real Out...
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A few morning Stories

Apologies to all of you out there, no updates yesterday had a busy day didn’t get around to any new updates. With that said let’s recap some stuff.

I get RSS feeds in my email. Which means every time a site updates, I get a memo about the new story. Coming into work today I read my ESPN updates like a police blotter. I know I have stressed this a thousand time by now, but how far is this going to go. When is this going to stop. Read my first post God Help Us if you need the background of what I’m talking about. The top stories of today and yesterday included the words affidavit, judge, plea, appeal, gun, and so on. The stories are about Sean Taylor’s assailants entering not guilty pleas. 3 or 4 stories about the baseball/steroid investigation, Todd Sauerbrun released for off-field issues, and so on in that order. I’m sick of it, and you all know I’m sick of it.

It seems like everyday something new is coming out in the steroid investigation. And the last two days are no different. Jason Grimsely’s testimony from last year came out and didn’t name the big names that everyone thought it would, to add more to the "he said – he said" aura surrounding this investigation. Yesterday it was reported that players will not be at the hearings, despite now having the power of the law on their side. Today it has been reported that they will. When will we get a straight answer on all of this, well we all know, never.

I don’t know where I stand on Curt Schilling’s comments regarding Clemens. Schilling said that Clemens’ Cy Young’s should be taken away. Though I think if you look at Clemens’ early numbers compared to his Cy Young numbers, Schilling’s got a point, where does it end. MLB is not supporting an asterisk on Bonds’ record (further showing my belief that they secretly supported the steroid era until forced into fighting against it). They are going to have to re-write a lot of record books if they want to remove the steroid era players from their “earned” spots in history.

I love Zo. Always have. He has had such an amazing career, and Wednesday night he tore the patellar tendon in his right knee. If it is in fact his last game (having previously stated that this would be his last season) he went out the way he wanted to go out. Well, almost, “That's not the way I envisioned myself walking off the court (with the help of teammates) for the last time in my career," he said. "I've been through so much in my life. If I had to crawl off the court I would have. Nobody was going to push me off on a stretcher off the court. That wasn't going to happen." You gotta love his will and attitude. The man missed a year for a kidney transplant. He’s got a lot of heart. The earliest timetable for his return would be late April, early May, but that is not common on a 37 year old. With that said, Zo has a ton of heart and I for one wouldn’t be all that amazed if he came back. And if not he can say he ended his career having to be dragged off the court. Once Zo is gone, it’s pretty much down to Shaq holding onto the NBA of my youth. Unless Jordan makes another comeback, he looked pretty good at the Bobcats practice earlier this week.

And in another update, Fast Willie Parker broke his leg last night. This is terrible news for all Steeler fans, and I admit I root for the Stillers occasionally. Without him in their running game making a run at the AFC won’t be easy in the coming months. But in the Silver Lining report, that should open up a spot for an AFC running back in the Pro Bowl. I wonder who t should replace him.

To end on a good note, there will be a special guest in the audience this weekend in Buffalo. My favorite story of the year, Kevin Everett, has said that he will be in attendance this weekend for the Bills finale.
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