Hait & Eichelzer Blog
Steroids, Sports, and Congress
February 12, 2008
This is my first attempt at any blog as my work and family schedule take up the majority of my time. Further, my blog entries may be few and far between because of my schedule.
Just so everyone understands, I am a sports fan and many of these entries may be about sports. I enjoy watching NFL and NCAA football, MLB baseball, NCAA basketball, and I have been known to watch a few hockey games and some NBA playoff games. I participate in year round basketball leagues. My five on five team won the championship last season against much younger teams (cue the crowd noise). I have participated in the Atlanta Lawyers League Flag Football league for a numbers of years. Our firm’s team has been to the championship twice but no ring yet (I stress yet). Growing up in Northwest Iowa, I became a die-hard fan of the Minnesota Vikings, Iowa Hawkeyes, and Chicago Cubs. I have now become a fan of the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Thrashers, and Atlanta Falcons. I have been a fan of the Hawkeyes since age 3, a Viking fan since age 7, and a Cubs fan since age 13 (thank you cable television and WGN).
The first soapbox issue that I would like to address is a question I heard the other day, “[w]hy is our government spending so much time, effort, and tax dollars on the steroids in sports.” My simple answer is that if professional players use steroids the kids that idolize these players may jump to the conclusion that it is okay for them to use as well. When I was child I thought like a child. Growing up I idolized Ryne Sandberg and Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs. I believed these men to be infallible. I believe that if I knew that they were using I would have thought it may be okay to use. Certainly, times haven’t changed that much and kids all over Atlanta feel that Chipper Jones and Jeff Francoeur are on the same god like level as Sanberg and Dawson were to me. It would be heart breaking for these kids to learn that their idols were cheating. However, the heartbreak would be immense if these kids decided that steroids were okay to use on themselves. This is why I feel it is so important for the government to aggressively pursue these issues. I have three children myself and I hope that when they reach the age to idolize players that these issues are behind us. Thanks for reading.
P. Kent Eichelzer, III 2/12/08
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