Barry Bonds, Steroids, & Botox (tjmf-25008)

Performance enhancement is not just practiced in professional sports. As a society, we endorse it in the entertainment industry. But we castigate performance enhancement in professional sports. Why?

One has to raise an eyebrow at the steroid controversy with Barry Bonds. Barry is accused of enhancing his performance with chemicals. What is performance enhancement?

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Is it only defined in the Sports industry? What if an actor needs to look younger or sexier? Do they not utilize chemicals or surgical procedures? Why are actors and entertainers not cheating? Why do we only hold sports figures accountable in the performance enhancing debate?

Why is Barry Bonds held to a performance enhancing moral standard when the rest of society not only endorses enhancements but has created a multi-billion dollar industry of performance enhancing procedures?

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Can Barry Bonds be the only person in America attempting to enhance performane? Shall we pull back the veneer of our indulgent society? Say, begin with Hollywood? To enhance performance actors may engage in the following: Face Lifts = increased youthfullness = increased performance Breast Jobs = increased sexiness = increased performance Tummy tucks = thinner bodies = increased performance Lip jobs = increased sexiness = increased performance Nostril Manipulations = better looks = increased performance Mood Drugs = better focus = increased performance

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That is only the Hollywood crowd. I'm sure the rest of the U.S. population would never consider increasing their appearance or enhancing career related performance metrics.

Are steroids as harmful to the body as nicotine or alcohol? Our society endures thousands of alcohol and tobacco related deaths, and millions of dollars of alcohol related medical problems.

Amusing how a few high profile steroid cases cause a national catastrophe. Are we just sleepy tired of talking about our weekly hangovers, our increasing DUIs, our alcohol related domestic violences, or our billion dollar alcohol and tobacco related health care costs?

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Is it easier to criticize an overpaid star athlete and yell steroids! Ha, I knew it. No way could you hit a ball further than me without steroids! So our Botox, face slicing, fat vacuuming, Prozac enriched society has the audacity to allow and promote surgical and narcotic mutilation of the human body while complaining about the dire role synthetic testosterone plays in a home run statistic? Savor the above hypocrital sociological tenant before continuing.

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The asterisk attaching pundants so hell bent on ostrisizing Barry Bonds are jealous couch potatoes and have finally found a way to say gotcha to elite athletes. We feel better about ourselves when we discover a reason to bring our heroes back down to earth.

Decreasing the gap between ourselves and the famous crowd gives us mere mortals a moment of equalness. We wake up in the morning and take our fix of caffeine, inject our bodies with nicotine, take our Prozac on the way to our Botox injections before having lunch and our midday martini, which is just a way to loosen up, alter our mood, before we race over to our favorite Cosmetic surgeon for that long awaited face lift.

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Q: Jane, why did you get that face lift Jane? A: I need to look younger to compete with the younger actors at my auditions. Q: Is that performance enhancement, Jane? A: No, I am just using technology to make more money. Q: O.K. Jane, I guess slicing your face open like skinning a rabbit, ramming a vacuum cleaner hose inside your buttocks, and injecting botulism in your forehead is acceptable...just please do not take Steroids!

In conclusion, I do not promote steroids. I do not promote most of the other hipped supplements on the market. I also do not promote alcohol, nicotine, Botox, or vacuum cleaning out your abdominals. But I think hypocrisy in our society is eyebrow raising in itself, and as the creator of CoopdawgSports said in his recent interview, "When eyebrows are raised, let the mind ask why."

About the author: MaMaster Lifestyle Fitness Coach, MBA, International business expert, and amateur bodybuilder. I have trained international clients and busy people from all walks of life. Please visit us at CoopdawgSports.com