Welcome, and thanks for taking a second to check out this blog. I hope it proves to be an excellent source of news, analysis and entertainment.
I wanted to start this thing off with a fun top-10 list or something, but a more serious issue caught my eye yesterday that I can’t help but sound off on:
The lead story in the Sentinel Sports Digest Tuesday reported the Texas Legislature voted to send a bill to Gov. Rick Perry that would implement mandatory random steroid testing in the state’s high schools for all sports. Budget planners set aside $3 million per year to fund the program, which would test athletes in every sport.
I realize performance enhancing drugs are THE hot issue in sports right now, but is this really a big enough problem to warrant this level of enforcement at the high school level? Yes, steroids are extremely dangerous, and yes, prep football is taken very seriously in Texas, but how many teachers can be hired for $3 million-per-year. How many music and art programs could be funded?
The article says New Jersey and Florida are the only states that currently have statewide steroid testing programs. Last year, New Jersey’s testing came back with zero positive results.
Way too many kids are out there trying to earn D-I scholarships through all the wrong methods, but this isn’t the way to stop them. The bill would also require coaches to go through a training program to help them educate kids on the dangers of steroids use. What’s wrong with sticking to that solution? It would be cheaper, less invasive, and give kids a motivation to not do this stuff besides not being able to suit up on Friday nights.
What do you think? How would you feel about a steroid testing program in Santa Cruz County?
