Why Would Anyone Use Steroids Anyway?

Rumors have been swirling around Barry Bonds for the last few years that his sudden and thoroughly unprecedented uptick in offensive production is the result of performance enhancing steroids. Although as of the time this article was written nothing has yet been proven one way or the other, a simple comparison of Barry Bonds' musculature from as recently as the early 90s to today reveals a shocking change in physicality. If you go even further back and compare Bonds' rookie card to this 2005 card, the difference is beyond shocking, it's…well…almost conclusive. Almost.

Why would an athlete with all the natural gifts Bonds was born with take a chance on performance enhancing steroids? Even before he became a bona fide contender to break Henry Aaron's home run record-something he never was before the last 90s-he was considered one of the best players in the game, a perpetual All-Star, a seasonal MVP candidate. If it turns out that Bonds does break Aaron's record, and if it turns out that he did indeed rely on steroids for help in breaking that record, his legacy won't be the record itself. It will be that nagging question: Why did he do it?

Even if every professional athlete in America were regularly tested for steroids four times a year, it still wouldn't even begin to reveal the extent of steroid use in this country. The problem gets it media authority because of athlete abuse, but if an unannounced test were mandated of every person in America tomorrow, the results would show steroid abuse in probably every single industry: doctors, teachers, sales clerks, engineers, farmers, entertainers. That fact isn't meant to be alarmist; in fact, most of the people who work those jobs and all others don't use performance enhancing steroids. But the fact that so many do whose job doesn't require professional-caliber athleticism brings to mind that nagging question again: Why do they do it?