“Naive” and “stupid,” these are Alex Rodriguez’s excuse when he admitted his steroids use. For now, he’s off the hook for that. But the next time anyone makes “stupidity” “ignorance” and “naiveté” an excuse to use steroids, they should be penalized. These are no longer valid excuses with quite a number of sports superstars being investigated and facing criminal charges and suspensions due to the use of performance enhancing drugs. The media has made sure that the people were aware of what these banned substances are and what they can do.

What is more alarming are the deaths of several WWE contenders, the latest of which was Andrew “The Test” Martin that can only be blamed on steroids. 21 months ago, wrestler Chris Benoit killed himself after he shot his wife and son and Eddie Guerrero died of a heart attack. Both deaths were attributed to steroids.

From the Northern Star:

There is no better word to describe this string of drug-fueled deaths other than “ludicrous.” More and more big name athletes are admitting to at least having tried banned substances in not just wrestling but all sports, including baseball’s Alex Rodriguez, who said he was “stupid” and “naïve” to do so. But it’s overwhelmingly clear the message the “big four” sports leagues and WWE are sending to its performers: be “stupid” now, don’t be sorry later.

As it stands, the first violation of WWE’s wellness policy is punished by a 30-day suspension without pay. Major League Baseball imposes a slightly harsher punishment for a first offense: 50 games without pay. The NFL, NBA and NHL all adhere to similar programs, and all tend to let their players off the hook far too easily.

Because of the alarming reports of steroid use and the fact that it has gone down to young athletes, more stringent rules were being imposed in the professional sports community. But as methods to detect steroids continue to improve, the steroids business is becoming more and more lucrative. Something has got to be done to curb the use of steroids if it cannot be stopped.

Just how much would the next would-be sports hero pay you if you tell him that there is a “performance enhancing drug” that is better than anabolic steroids, can be bought legally and easily, and is safe for the body? Thousands of dollars perhaps. Interestingly, this “alternative” is something that most people eat everyday. Athletes and bodybuilders should have this in their diets and probably they are just not aware of its effectivity. This supplement provides the body with the needed boost in energy and strength by providing a good source of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and the like. The perfect performance enhancers are vegetables. Literally.

From The Huffington Post:

Study after study–from the work of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, author of the China Study, to that of my own father, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, gold-medal winner at the 1956 Olympics and author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease–show that the only way to enhance performance and stay healthy is to eat a plant-based diet.

It’s not just doctors who endorse this message—more and more outstanding athletes are showing people there’s a better way. These men and women include Tony Gonzales, record-setting tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs; Salim Stoudamire, plant-eating guard for the NBA Atlanta Hawks; Martina Navratilova, the world’s winningest tennis player; and my very own hero, Dave Scott, six-time winner of the hardest endurance race on the planet, the Hawaii Iron Man triathlon.

And, what about seven-time Tour de France winning cyclist Lance Armstrong, the most tested athlete on the planet? He’s never tested positive, and he’s an 80 percent plant-strong guy.

Instead of selling their soul to the devil short-term, these great athletes bought their long-term health by eating nothing but plants.

So exactly what do vegetables do? They prevent the development of health risks such as atherosclerosis and high blood pressure that steroids cause. They are anti-aging agents meaning they can have protective effects on joints and muscles. They enhance performances by promoting energy production and indirectly, muscle formation. What’s best is that if you use vegetables, you won’t get caught or charged or punished.

What is the difference between the NBA and the MLB? Well, first of all, there’s the game. Second, there are the players. And third, there is steroid use. Major League Baseball started out to be a clean sport with several of its best players earning titles and awards based on pure training and hard work. Now, however, it is probably the only sport that has been tainted with so much steroid use and widespread performance enhancing drug abuse. Basketball, on the other hand, used to be that sport that was almost dragged down by “gangsta” mentalities and recreational drugs. Yes, its tattoo-laden players had that “we bad and we know it” aura. Now, though, NBA has been redeemed. During the NBA All-Star game, basketball players, officials and fans were proud to know that out of the 20,000 people there, no one had used performance enhancing drugs and no one doubted the talent of the athletes.

From The Canadian Press:

“There are no questions,” Tim Duncan said. “They know we’re tested. They know we’re clean and they know the product that’s put on the floor are natural athletes that are performing the way they perform.”

The reasons behind that are many, though commissioner David Stern would like everyone to believe that the league’s drug-testing program is so stringent that it’s almost impossible to cheat. Olympic drug-testing experts say that’s not entirely true because there’s not enough tests and they don’t test for enough things, but what is true is that everyone in the league is tested four times a year and it’s truly random.

The real reason, though, may be that steroids never became a big part of the NBA culture because the perception among players is that they wouldn’t help much.

According to Chauncy Billups, basketball doesn’t have any need for anabolic steroids or growth hormones. Basketball is more of a mental game rather than a sport that needs its players to have rippling muscles or something to that extent. Nobody suspects anything bad from NBA players and that is something that basketball is truly proud of on top of every veteran and retired members of the sport that deserved the awards they received.