Which is Worse?

Unless you've been living under a rock or live everyday with the sole purpose of avoiding any media outlets and people in general, you know that the two biggest sports stories over the past two weeks have been that Michael Phelps enjoys cannabis and Alex Rodriguez doesn't mind it when grown men stick needles into his behind (but only in 2003 obviously).


He may be a great swimmer but that doesn't make him the sharpest tool in the shed. Photo from flickr.com






And as these stories have been growing with new reports and speculation of what will become of these two spectacular athletes in their own right, a question has been posed; which is worse? I forget when this question was first brought to my attention, I know I was driving in a car somewhere with someone, but I don't quite remember who, which really just makes me fearful that I am already losing my short term memory and I'm only 21 years of age. Anyway, the story, told to me by whoever this person is that I cannot remember went like this: A little boy went up to his mother and asked, "Mom, is it worse to be caught smoking marijuana or is it worse to take steroids?" After a few moments of thought, his mother had no clue how to answer the question, because both were equally terrible in different ways.

Now, if I had been the mother of that child (thankfully I have yet to bear children, once again only 21-years-old) I would have set him straight right away. Of course it is worse to take steroids than it is to take a hit from a bong, the two are not even comparable. Michael Phelps participated in some recreational drug activity that you, your parents, and maybe even your grandparents if they were hip happenin' cats enjoyed at least once in their lives. Am I condoning marijuana usage? Of course not. Am, I saying that it's more likely that you've smoked out of a bubbler before than had a cousin inject steroids into your butt? Most definitely.


Music gets him in the zone, not Mary J. Photo from Flicker.com

And, although more people having done one particular thing doesn't make it right and the other wrong, let's get right to the heart of this issue which is, what is more likely to help you succeed in your sport that you are paid millions of dollars to play, Mary J or steroids? Michael Phelps is not a better swimmer because he hit a bong. Michael Phelps is certainly not lighting up a joint before diving in for a race nor is he going to lose any of his medals for smoking marijuana. Instead, he just suffers public embarrassment of proving he's not a god but just a 23-year-old dude with a possible speech impediment who parties just like any other 20 something year old in America. And, come on, the guy just brought America pride and bragging rights for the rest of eternity in swimming, give the man a break!


Up, up and away! Like his career. Photo from Flickr.com



A-Rod, or A-Fraud (love that nickname) on the other hand, should probably share some of his honors and records with his good ol' friend Mr. Steroids, and his cousin for pumping him up. A-Fraud claims he only took them in 2003, which I guess is somehow supposed to make America breathe easier and forgive him, but not so fast A-Fraud. Anyone who knows anything about sports knows that 2003 was a significant year in Mr. A-Fraud's career, he earned his third Most Valuable Player Award with 54 home runs and 156 RBI's on the year and was noticed by both the Yankees and the Red Sox and ultimately penned a contract with the Yanks for a disgustingly large amount of money. Steroids didn't just pump up his body, it pumped up his career. It brought him to almost a super human level, among the greats such as Bonds and Pettitte (hm odd they both also tested positive for steroids). And, maybe the most laughable thing of all is A-Fraud expects us to believe that he hasn't been taking steroids since he joined the Yankees back in 2003. Yeah, because that is all too believable that he would stop taking a substance that made him Yankee material now that he is on arguably one of the greatest baseball teams of all time. I think those roids are starting to get to your head A-Fraud.

So, will Michael Phelps never take a hit from a bong again? Doubtful. I would just hope he does it in the privacy of his own home and when he doesn't have millions of dollars in endorsements on the line. Will, A-Fraud never take steroids again? Now, that is a question I don't have the answer to, one would hope not and with the situation he's in, who knows what the future holds for this fallen star's career. But, with the steroid scandals surrounding baseball in the last five or six years it does bring back the question of why isn't there a salary cap in baseball? The Boston Red Sox's ownership is highly in favor for a salary cap for the 2012 season and this is coming from the management of the team with the second highest payroll in the Majors (second to the Yankees of course). If there was a salary cap, then teams couldn't offer people like A-Fraud these ridiculous paychecks that arguably force them into illegal activities such as steroids to stay on the top of their game and earn their paychecks.

If you look at the stats, almost all of the players who have recently been caught red handed steroiding are either from the Yankees or big names like Barry Bonds with even bigger paychecks. If they were forced to make less money and couldn't get these big contracts with big name teams, maybe players could relax a bit and spend more of their effort getting into top shape the natural way instead of resorting to HGH and other steroids. It's just a thought, but while it may be impossible to prevent youngsters from experimenting with marijuana, the MLB should be working harder to make it impossible to take steroids or make the consequences so severe that a player wouldn't even think twice when given the opportunity to get juiced up.