Well No Shit

I'm sorry, maybe I'm overreacting. But I am simply outraged at this latest story posted on CNN.com (click here). Apparently, in the latest professional sports steroid ring bust, there were several prominent professional wrestlers involved, including Randy Orton (left).     No...you're kidding, right? You mean, professional wrestlers want to artificially inflate their physicality, much in the same way they do their persona? Next you're going to be telling me that bodybuilders, NFL lineman, and strongmen take steroids too. Well no shit. Let's all be good journalists and talk about something that A) people don't already know about, and B) that people give a shit about. Look, these athletes are grown men. These are their lives and their bodies. Just as I will never criticize someone for smoking, I will never criticize someone for taking steroids. If they are willing to accept the negative with the positive and decide that they still want to, then why do I care?     Besides, these men are competing at the highest levels of their respected athletic endeavors (make no mistake about it, pro-wrestling is a physically demanding sport, despite its scripts). In certain sports, under certain circumstances, it takes steroids to reach that elite level of performance. Yes, like all drugs, steroids can be dangerous to your health. But there have also been reports and stories where doctors and trainers say that, under supervision and with strict moderation, steroids can be an incredibly beneficial tool for the professional athlete: the one whose body is his job. I don't have to approve of it or like it. I just accept it and move on. Taking steroids doesn't automatically make these guys look ripped and hit home runs. They still have to train, eat right, practice, etc. They still have to work as hard as they can to get the full benefit of the drugs they are taking. Sure, it's cheating, but as Kyle Turley once said, "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'."     It is the responsibility of the individual sport or professional organization to monitor and regulate the drug use of its players and employees. Pro wrestling does not have such stipulations. These men knew it was part of the game when they decided that this was going to be their career. If this news is supposed to come as some sort of shock, causing me to lose respect for these guys, then I guess I missed the point. I've known they were on steroids since I was ten years old watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock come up through the ranks. Every time I look at my favorite bodybuilder, Jay Cutler, I know he's on steroids. I know every slugger in MLB was on steroids during the home run bonanza of the late 90's. I also know that it's not my problem, because it is the personal responsibility of these men to manage their lives.     The war on drugs in this country extends beyond just marijuana and mushrooms. Steroids are also a big part of this war, one that has been so highly publicized in the media over the last five years that it is beginning to infuriate me. I'm tired of it. Congress has gotten involved on several occasions, wasting everybody's time and money. Countless athletes have been identified, spanning all sports, ruining careers along the way, because they used drugs to get ahead. I would think that America, with its cut-throat reality-tv attitude would be all for steroids. But then again, I have to remember that drugs are wrong. God said so. Now where are my Viagra, Xanax, Vicodin, and Lipitor?