June 10, 2002

'Roids and Wrestling: Been there, done that:
The athletes of pro wrestling (and yes, they are amazing athletes) had a ridiculous steroid problem in the 80s, when guys' muscles were literally tearing their own skin from their skeletons. And now guys like Davey Boy Smith (one of the famed British Bulldogs) are dropping dead before they are 40. He's not the only one. And if baseball really has the problem that Canseco and Caminiti say it does, the sport should expect similar casualties.

posted by Conquistador to baseball at 11:46 PM - 3 comments

I've heard two reasons why this won't happen: 1) I've heard from a doctor that steroid use by the classic gym rat with a hypodermic is dangerous, since self-proscribing is incredibly difficult and easy to overdose. But this doctor (wish I could find the link) said one could prescribe a safe regimen of steroids to get the muscle- mass building without the side effects- i.e., the shrinking nads, the male boobies, and the keeling over dead part. 2) As Malcolm Gladwell said in an interview with Rob Neyer about this whole steroids brouhaha, the very fact that people are talking about steroids shows how far behind the curve journalists and MLB is on this issue:

Gladwell: The best example of how impossible it will be for Major League Baseball to crack down on steroids is the fact that baseball and the media are still talking about the problem as "steroids." In fact, my guess is that most players aren't using steroids at all. Like most world-class athletes, they've probably graduated to human growth hormone or straight testosterone, both of which are much harder to detect. (Ever wonder why a certain aging but remarkably successful power hitter can say with such conviction that he's not using steroids? He's not using steroids. He's using something better.)

posted by hincandenza at 12:21 AM on June 11, 2002

If Don "The Rock" Muraco is still alive, I'd say there's no danger. If he's dead, at least he left a gorgeous corpse.

posted by yerfatma at 07:21 AM on June 11, 2002

I wouldn't assume that pro wrestlers are somehow akin to gym rats, while baseball players find the "safe" ways to 'roid up. After all, the big WWF steroid scandal of '93 involved a bona fide M.D. I'd also suspect that people like Triple H are aware of the cutting edge technology, and just as likely to swap to HGH as any baseball player. The big difference I see between the WWF and baseball, as far as drugs go, is painkillers. These are mentioned in the article but IMHO not given as much importance as they deserve. There've been, what, ten or so under-40 wrestlers dead this year... but many of them have been suicides and strongly linked to painkiller-related depression.

posted by Bryant at 05:36 PM on June 11, 2002

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