AthleticsToday

“Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” This is one of the most famous sports quotes in history. Vince Lombardi, a former NFL coach, stated it. I think that every coach that I have ever had has quoted this at one point or another. This statement sums up the way most coaches and athletes feel about competition and winning. Most athletes want to win. If you do not want to win, what is the point in playing? I have made this statement myself several times. I am a very competitive person. I hate losing, and I believe that winning is important. However, there comes a point when there are things more important. If, in order to win, one must cheat, is this person really winning? Some would say that this person is winning. This is what is wrong with athletics in the world today.

At the the end of my freshman year of high school, my coach called me into his office and had me sit down. He put a large container on his desk. It was creatine. It was a new fad at the time. He told me how taking this and lifting heavy would help make me a better player. At the time, I was 14 years old and I had not even started shaving. I was lifting very light weights since that was what my doctor had told me was best. I politely told my coach that I did not want to take it because I was not sure what was in it or what it would do to me. He tried to convince me, but I respectfully told him "no." I remember walking out of his office almost feeling bad. I felt as though I was not giving my all to the team. To this day, I have never used creatine. In retrospect, I am very happy with my decision.

Knowing what I know now, I am very happy that I never lifted heavy weights and took supplements before I could even drive a car. The thought of trying to bench three hundred pounds before one is fully matured is a dangerous idea. This was at a small high school in northern Minnesota. In order for us to win, I had to be the strongest I could be even if that meant being stronger than I could be without supplements. I find this to be very disturbing. It does not stop there though.

I thought maybe it was only in football that we have this attitude of "win at all costs, worry about the effects later." My junior year of college I found out different. I was trying to play basketball in college. I went through the first 8 weeks of the season, which includes the most intense running and conditioning of the season. I had pain in my knees which was diagnosed as patellar tendonitis. I told my coach and he told me to talk to the trainer. The trainer told me that they could keep me on a variety of painkillers. I told him that the doctor had told me that if I played a full season I could suffer from arthritis before I was 30. The trainer told me, “Well at least you’ll be able to play this season.”

I decided that playing basketball at a small division three college would not be worth early arthritis. These are just two examples in my life. I would never say that I am an elite athlete or that I have had goals of becoming a world-class athlete. If this is what it is like in the small high schools and colleges that I have been involved in, I can only imagine what it is like at larger universities where the revenue from sports represents a significant portion of the school’s income.

Whether it is creatine or steroids, it is clear to me that taking supplements is cheating. In the world we live in, however, it is almost looked upon as necessary. When the steroid scandal in Major League Baseball broke news last year, everybody seemed shocked and appalled. I do not know why. When we give high school athletes supplements to become bigger, faster, or stronger, why wouldn’t they take stronger supplements when the stakes get higher?

When I worked at the YMCA, I had young people come up to me and ask how to become like their favorite athlete. Many of them would ask me about supplements. They acted as though they would do anything to become this person. I think that some people believe if they could only be the best athlete in their sport, everything would be solved and they would be happy forever.

I wonder if people realize that the majority of athletes are past their prime by the time they reach the age of 35. Granted, there are exceptions but most professional athletes are retired long before 40. Then what? If you devote your whole life to be the best, and then you are done before 40, what is next? This brings us back to the idea that being healthy is probably better than being the best at all costs. I do not believe there is any one single goal in this world that one could achieve that would guarantee eternal happiness. That is something that one must achieve by him- or herself, not by taking steroids, creatine, or some magic pill to turn into a super athlete.