Opinion

‘Roid rage runs rampant

Professional sports trend taints the Special Olympics

By Travis Cowing

Posted on Feb. 23, 2004, at 12:00 a.m.

As of right now, four people are being indicted for their involvement in a steroid operation that supplied many athletes with anabolic agents. It is speculated that between 2000 and 2003 the company known as BALCO supplied athletes in the NHL, MLB and other professional organizations. BALCO has also been found guilty of supplying anabolics to Olympic athletes.

Among those indicted is the trainer for baseball slugger Barry Bonds. While Bonds has had no comment other than he “feels sorry for his trainer and good friend,” he has been shadowed by recent questions of his own steroid use for the past few years of his career – an allegation he vehemently denies.

Steroid use has always plagued many professional sports. Former NFL great Lyle Alzado claimed he not only used, but abused, steroids during his prolific career. And just in the past two years former pro baseball players Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco said they too used the muscle-building drug during their playing days.

Most of the professional organizations test for steroids. Even the MLB Commission has agreed to random testing after it found that more than five percent of their players tested positive.

However, there is one group of athletes that has managed to avoid steroid testing. I am writing this column to inform you of a travesty that is, and has been, occurring in sports for years. The problem: kids at the Special Olympics are using steroids. Now I know what you’re thinking: Why would Special Olympic kids take steroids? Well that is the beauty of their ploy. Because we as a society don’t think a “special kid” would ever take steroids, we have never bothered to test. Because all the other professional sports have been taking heat for steroid use, the Special Olympics has managed to slip in under the radar.

I attended the Special Olympics last year – as a spectator – and what I saw appalled me. There were definitely more than a few kids “on the juice.” I saw one Special Olympian run a 50-yard dash in just over 23 minutes. He shattered the old record of 31 minutes. Now, if that isn’t a sign of something fishy I don’t know what is.

While watching the Special Olympics, I watched one record fall after the other. I saw a huge 55-pound bench press and unbelievable long jumps that were well over 2 feet. Clearly many of these athletes were “chemically enhanced.” And I will say that the men weren’t the only ones “juicing”at the event. I saw a couple of women who were probably using as well.

But my biggest surprise came during lunchtime. I saw one athlete sitting on the bleachers waiting for his mother to bring him a hot dog. When she returned, hot dog in hand, the athlete screamed at her because she had put relish on the dog. The mother politely asked him to stop screaming and he answered by grabbing the hot dog and heaving it onto the playing field. ‘Roid rage? I think so.

In defense of the Special Olympics, I will say that I saw no clear-cut evidence to steroid use. I scoured and spied in the locker rooms but I saw no signs of steriod use or drug paraphernalia. If these kids are “juicing” then they’re doing it very discreetly. When I asked some of the athletes about steroid allegations, however, they ignored me and tried to change the subject.

Hopefully I have opened your eyes to the widespread problem of steriod use. Perhaps if word got out, we could put a stop to steroids running rampant in the Special Olympics. Maybe we can at least get the committee to randomly test some of their athletes. But maybe the committee already knows, and they let this behavior go on to boost ratings and attendance. It’s a question we may never get the answer to. Now I know why these call these athletes “special.”

Travis Cowing is a man that has no moral fiber or personal boundaries.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 23rd, 2004, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.