Truth has overtaken dishonesty to take the front seat as baseball sluggers have been accused of cheating with the game after they were found to be guilty of using steroids in baseball and cheating baseball lovers from the true spirit of the game.
Things are not appearing good now after names of some of the biggest baseball players namely Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Gary Sheffield and Manny Ramirez came up for usage of steroids in the game of baseball.
It has been noticed that popularity of steroids has been on all-time unprecedented high when compared to the last many decades as teen and prospective baseball players are not finding any fault in idolizing these players assuming that they cannot be made scapegoats while their idols are still taken with respect.
From Nydailynews.com:
Major League Baseball is not the only party affected by this disgraceful controversy. For decades, youth all across America had looked up to these players in their dream of becoming big league ballplayers. Kids and adults who had grown up saying, “I want to do everything my favorite player does,” were now saying, “If my favorite player is taking steroids, then it’s okay if I do.”
Fearing for the image and integrity of America’s Pastime, Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan “Bud” Selig devised a two-pronged attack to exterminate the use of performance-enhancing drugs at the highest level while teaching future players at the lowest level: tougher testing and anti-steroid education. Selig would have to change what he called “a terrible message to young people.” In July of 2005, Major League Baseball embarked on what it called the Anti-Steroid Initiative. Selig teamed up with the Partnership For A Drug-Free America to create a comprehensive, global advertising campaign aimed at “educating parents and young people about the health dangers of these substances (steroids).” The partnership hired world renowned advertising agency BBDO Worldwide Inc. to create both print and television advertisements outlining the risks of taking performance-enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball spent more than $10 million to run the ads on national broadcasts such as the All-Star Game and the World Series.
It was recently reported that Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan “Bud” Selig embarked on what he termed as the Anti-Steroid Initiative by teaming up with Partnership for a Drug-Free America in order to create a global ad campaign. The campaign by Selig is expected to create awareness among young players and their parents about the harmful effects of steroids apart from all possible ways to stay away from steroids.
This initiative is expected to offer a new paradigm to the game of baseball, which was earlier lost due to accusations of steroid usage in baseball.
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