<DIV>I don't understand this. I really don't. Why is steroid use on the national spot light? Why does it outrank in importance of so many problems this country has? I would think the 90 million people in this country without proper health insurance, the majority being children, would be a higher priority then steroid use. I can think of at least 12 other things that are more important then what athletes choose to do to their body. I am sorry, but I am outraged this issue takes money, time, and resources of our government over that of so many other pressing issues. I am frankly, more concerned about how many undergarment protectors a person on medicare or medicaid gets than what a person freely chooses to inject in is or her body.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Donovan</DIV> <DIV><BR><BR><B><I>Paul Rumelhart <godshatter@yahoo.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px;
BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Prosecuting physicians and steroid makers for providing high school and <BR>college athletes with steroids, while being a good idea, only treats the <BR>symptoms. The real problem, in my opinion, is that these athletes are <BR>venerated in our society to outrageous levels far beyond their real <BR>worth as human beings (at least in most cases - I'm sure there are real <BR>heroes wearing jerseys out there). Take most of the money away, take <BR>the unreasonable fame away, leave the game to those who truly wish to <BR>devote their lives to it just for the sake of the game. That would help <BR>things more than just tightening the screws on steroid use. It would <BR>probably be more fun to watch, too.<BR><BR>It doesn't matter anyway. It isn't going to happen. Which means that <BR>once the steroid problem is "solved", the sports conglomerates will run <BR>smack into whatever the next problem is caused by someone trying to <BR>emulate some wacko
sports celebrity who is economically motivated to <BR>screw the system. <BR><BR>Paul<BR><BR>Tom Hansen wrote:<BR>> Reread the last few lines, Mr. Rumelhart.<BR>><BR>> "Who do we blame for that? Where are they getting it? How can their parents<BR>> and even coaches NOT know? <BR>><BR>> That's where the follow-up stories should begin."<BR>><BR>> Those are the important questions that MUST be answered.<BR>><BR>> For the past several years high school and college athletes have been under<BR>> the impression that it is OK to "cheat the system", that the benefits in<BR>> doing so come in multi-million dollar contracts.<BR>><BR>> BALCO, along with the physicians that illegally provide steroids to<BR>> athletes, should be criminally charged, and the athletes who knowingly use<BR>> illegal performance-enhancing drugs dismissed from professional sports.<BR>><BR>> Seeya round town, Moscow.<BR>><BR>> Tom Hansen<BR>>
Moscow, Idaho<BR>><BR>> "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college<BR>> students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."<BR>><BR>> - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)<BR>><BR>> -----Original Message-----<BR>> From: Paul Rumelhart [mailto:godshatter@yahoo.com] <BR>> Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 9:35 AM<BR>> To: Tom Hansen<BR>> Cc: Moscow Vision 2020<BR>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] The Buried Story of the Steroid Scandal (Bob<BR>> Schieffer)<BR>><BR>> I think we have this backwards. We shouldn't try to clean up our ball <BR>> players so that our kids can emulate them without problems, we should <BR>> teach our kids not to hero-worship someone simply because they play a <BR>> particular sport.<BR>><BR>> Oh, and if we could dismantle the multi-billion dollar sports industry <BR>> and carve it back down to a group of die-hards that don't care about the <BR>> money or
the lifestyle or the perks because they just want to play the <BR>> game itself, that would be great. No million dollar contracts, you just <BR>> get a salary that is on par with what a fireman or a policeman gets. <BR>><BR>> As a replacement, we could always put billions into televising our fire <BR>> and police services (for example), so that kids could hero-worship <BR>> someone who risked their life to save someone else instead of someone <BR>> who hits a little ball with a stick, no matter how well.<BR>><BR>> I'd also like a pony.<BR>><BR>> Paul<BR>><BR>> Tom Hansen wrote:<BR>> <BR>>> >From Bob Schieffer's closing commentary on today's (December 16, 2007)<BR>>> edition of "Face the Nation" -<BR>>><BR>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------<BR>>><BR>>> The Buried Story of the Steroid Scandal<BR>>> By Bob Schieffer<BR>>><BR>>> When I was a kid,
all I wanted to be was a ballplayer. <BR>>><BR>>> We didn't have coaches back then until we got to high school. We learned<BR>>> <BR>> the<BR>> <BR>>> game from each other and from copying the major leaguers. We copied<BR>>> everything from their swings to the way they walked. <BR>>><BR>>> Because they chewed tobacco, I chewed. It was part of the game. <BR>>><BR>>> My dream to be a ballplayer ended but it left me with a heavy addiction to<BR>>> nicotine. <BR>>><BR>>> Years ago, I finally beat it, but it was probably the reason I have a<BR>>> disease called ulcerative colitis, and almost certainly the cause for my<BR>>> bladder cancer decades later. <BR>>><BR>>> I still take drugs to control the colitis. Surgery got the cancer. <BR>>><BR>>> But I can only thank the stars there were no steroids in my younger days. <BR>>><BR>>> My baseball dream ended
when I hurt my arm in high school and it finally<BR>>> gave out during my first year of college ball. <BR>>><BR>>> Had I known of a magic potion that would have made me stronger and kept<BR>>> <BR>> the<BR>> <BR>>> dream alive, I would have been no more hesitant to try it than I had been<BR>>> <BR>> to<BR>> <BR>>> chew tobacco. If my heroes had done it, that was all I needed to know. <BR>>><BR>>> The baseball stars got their names in the paper last week but we buried<BR>>> <BR>> the<BR>> <BR>>> lead to this story. Deep in the report it said hundreds of thousands of<BR>>> <BR>> kids<BR>> <BR>>> - kids who have the same dream I had - are putting their lives at risk<BR>>> <BR>> using<BR>> <BR>>> this stuff. <BR>>><BR>>> Who do we blame for that? Where are they getting it? How can their parents<BR>>> and even coaches NOT know?
<BR>>><BR>>> That's where the follow-up stories should begin.<BR>>><BR>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------<BR>>><BR>>> Seeya round town, Moscow.<BR>>><BR>>> Tom Hansen<BR>>> Moscow, Idaho<BR>>><BR>>> "If not us, who?<BR>>> If not now, when?"<BR>>><BR>>> - Unknown<BR>>><BR>>><BR>>> =======================================================<BR>>> List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>>> http://www.fsr.net <BR>>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>>> =======================================================<BR>>><BR>>> <BR>>> <BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>><BR>> <BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse
since 1994. <BR>http://www.fsr.net <BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> 
<hr size=1>Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ "> Try it now.</a>