Bonds and Steroids
Barry Bonds is a Major League left fielder in San Francisco Giants. He is thought to be one of the greatest baseball players, though his reputation is far away from being clean.
Barry Bonds has been accused of using steroids and he was a key figure in BALCO scandal.
According to different sources Barry Bonds started using steroids after the baseball season in 1998. At that time he began to rely on a wide variety of performance-enhancing drugs over the next few years. The scandal around Bonds and his usage of steroids became widely known among many experts and they detailed account of Bond’s experience with steroids.
Experts claim that Barry Bonds came to an idea of using steroids after he had watched McGrive gaining national acclaim. It is not known whether Bonds was envy or just wanted to improve his game performance. Though, these facts are not important for the experts and journalist. They are interested in the fact itself and having done investigations in the field of the problem, today they may provide people with a sweeping picture of Bonds’ thoughts about using steroids, about the role of his trainer in the scandal, as he is considered to be the one who introduced Bonds to specific drugs, and about the choice of sunstances, which changed quite often, because they simply couldn’t satisfy sportsmen. Hundreds of stories have been written about Barry Bonds and BALCO scandal. Journalists and experts have lifted these scandals to the level of international stories, which has played it’s role: Major League Baseball was forced to toughen its steroids policy twice.1
Experts suggest that Barry Bonds was not truthful, when during his testimony in front of jury in 2003 he claimed that he was using a clear substance and a cream supplied by BALCO, and that he thought they were flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis.
He also said that he never had injected himself with drugs, though there is evidence that in fact he learned how to do injections. Experts provide a conversation in which Bonds says of starting another drug cycle, "I'll do it myself."
Experts suggest that Bonds’ decision was deliberate as he obtained medical advice from third parties before he began to use steroids and was told he shouldn't take them. But Bonds, being encouraged by Anderson, ignored the advice. According to sources he began using Winstrol, a powerful steroid also known as stanozolol and a longtime favorite of bodybuilders. These steroids were supplied by Anderson, Bond’s trainer, who usually injected Bonds in the buttocks. Winstrol "eliminated the pain and fatigue of training," allowing Bonds to relentlessly lift weights at World Gym in Burlingame in the months before the 1999 season. But apart from this effect of steroids, there was a problem as Bonds added 15 pounds of solid muscle that off-season, going from 210 pounds to 225. At spring training in Scottsdale the Giants began calling him "the Incredible Hulk." As far as Bond learned that Winstrol was not a magic treatment, he changed these steroids for steroids of another kind. 3
Bond has also felt that the use of steroids influenced his body and he faced several problems, among which elbow injury (his arm muscles so large that the elbow tendon could not support them) and pain in his knee and back. All of these negative affects have forced Bonds to leave usage of steroids, but just changing them for another kind. Among them he used Deca-Durabolin and later human growth hormone. Bonds especially favored growth hormone, because it allowed him to stay muscle-bound and maintain his thirst to train while also feeling flexible. Apart from that it improved his eyesight.
The drugs helped Bonds in his late 30s become probably the best hitter in major-league history. It especially encouraged Bond to continue using them, as at the same age even the game's greatest sluggers and his own father, Bobby Bonds, saw their skills begin to erode.
In such a way Bonds was involved in the world of steroids and could not or simply didn’t have desire to stop the usage of them. He was addicted and ran in a so called circle. For example when he could feel the drop of energy that came when he was cycling off the performance or when his power started to decline he would simply tell Anderson to start him on another drug cycle. If Anderson refused, Bond could easily go without his help. 2
All the above mentioned facts contradict with information and evidences given by Bonds at the court, where he claimed he used a clear substance and a cream given to him by a trainer. Bonds told a U.S that he received them from personal trainer Greg Anderson during the 2003 season. According to Bonds, the trainer told him the substances were the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a pain-relieving balm for the player's arthritis. said he didn't know they were steroids. On the other hand according to documents he used "the cream," "the clear," human growth hormone, Depo-Testosterone, insulin and a drug for female infertility all of which can be used to mask steroid use.
Some people tend to justify Bonds saying that those steroids were not banned by baseball at the time and the slugger believed they were natural. However, this scandal around Bonds and Baseball League changed situation. Even though Bonds has not been charged with any crime in connection with the BALCO incident, nor linked by other than allegation to any chemical abuse, the steroids he is accused of taking were and are illegal in the United States without a prescription. Though, he has never failed a steroid test during his baseball career, he is still under investigation for perjury by a federal grand jury regarding his testimony before the 2003 grand jury investigating the BALCO case, in which he denied using performance-enhancing drugs.
It is vital fpr people to understand that Bonds was using steroids. Many people, who evidenced his transformations, say they believe that those changes were the results of steroids use. And if there are many evidences of this kind, then people probably understand that we cannot speak of a national hero. The world of sport is cruel, and the heroes are really the best people showing the best results. If somebody has ever been accused of steroids usage, it makes his reputation spotted. It may be understandable that people involved in sports do want to see how their results decrease, but all people with ageing change, their abilities and skill might become bad. It’s important for them to realize that this is a natural process. If they cant, if they are addicted with the idea of being first, they choose using steroids. This shows that they don’t care about young people, about youth. It is important to be example and using steroids has nothing to do with it. Despite the attention on steroids and professional athletes, most medical experts are more concerned about the drugs' impact on younger users. Medical experts are concerned about the drugs' impact on younger users, who might have wish to be as good as their idols. According to doctors, steroids as well can cause powerful psychological dependencyfor young people who are obsessed withbody image. Now parents and teachers are encourage to be watchful for their children and students. This is especially called because according to statistics reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, steroid use doubled among U.S. high-school students between 1991 and 2003. 4 More than 6 percent, or as many as 1 million U.S. students, said they had taken steroids for at least one cycle. Steroids can damage the heart and liver, stunt bone development and cause extreme mood swings, acne and weight gain, researchers say. That’s why coming off them can be just as dangerous. And the adolescents are more vulnerable to steroid withdrawal because they’re already at a high risk for many problems including suicide risk.5
References
1. Bonds testified that substances didn't work Retrieved on May 18, 2007
Web site: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1937594
2. Barry Bonds Took Steroids, Reports Everyone Who Has Ever Watched Baseball
Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Web site: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/46188
3. Why Bonds used steroids Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Web site: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/03/08/MNGAKHKF371.DTL
4. Steroid addiction a risk for young athletes Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Web site: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7348758/
5. Steroids. What they rally do to out bodies? Retrieved on May 18, 2007 Web site:
http://www.mta.ca/health/articles/steroids.pdf
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