News flash: Post-steroid sports world never really existed

The second-biggest sports league in North America is waist-deep in what could be the biggest performance-enhancing drug bust in history, and thank goodness for it.

Thank goodness that Major League Baseball is putting itself in the litigiously tenuous position of basing what could be 1,000 games’ worth of suspensions to some of its biggest stars on the testimony of a drug dealer it previously portrayed as a lying scumball. It’s a desperate move that proves the point.

Thank goodness the list of players implicated in an ESPN report this week includes known or suspected drug cheats like Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and former Royals outfielder Melky Cabrera. Thank goodness for it all. Bring on more.

Because with every drug bust, big and small, maybe we fans make another step toward seeing reality – that the notion of a post-steroids sports world is pure fantasy, like the genie in that commercial (unless you’re Derek Jeter).

Steroids in baseball did not stop with the Mitchell Report, just like steroids in football did not stop with Lyle Alzado’s death, just like performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympics and other sports did not stop with the BALCO scandal. Cheating moves on, evolves, from greenies to steroids to HGH to whatever new drug we’ll hear about in six months.

This is as much a part of sports as coaches who curse. Drug cheats have been on the scene longer than the national anthem. There’s even some evidence that ancient Greek athletes sought performance enhancement in wine potions, herbal medications and hallucinogens.

So we’re supposed to believe that busts like this can bring about change? The cheaters are more sophisticated and well-funded than ever.

It’s worth remembering that Major League Baseball is less than two decades removed from a much-needed boon in revenue and popularity built in no small part on the feats of juiced-up sluggers. MLB, the players’ association and mainstream media either missed or ignored the issue, and why not? Everyone was benefiting.

When the tide of public opinion turned, so did the policies. So now brilliant scientists and well-intentioned executives make it harder on cheaters. They develop new tests, stiffer penalties and tougher rhetoric, but if they’re honest they will tell you that trying eradicate all use of drugs in sports is a fool’s errand.

Oh, they can try. And they should. There is a higher calling here about public safety. These are drugs, after all. So steps like MLB’s random blood tests for HGH are fine. But the bigger truth is as long as money and fame are to be had by hyper-competitive athletes with matching egos and hubris, this conversation will never end.

We’ve been talking about performance-enhancing drugs for years and years and years. We’ll be talking about them for years and years and years to come. This is high-stakes Whac-A-Mole, minus the “Game Over” sign at the end.

The inclusion of Rodriguez and Braun into this newest controversy is particularly instructive. Together, they have made well over a half-billion dollars in professional baseball. Rodriguez already admitted to drug use, but then said he quit. Braun failed a test last year, but had it overturned.

If two men in pro sports ever had reasons to stay away from performance-enhancing drugs, it would be Rodriguez and Braun. They have, perhaps, cheated anyway. And they’re not alone. The list of potential cheaters in this one case alone includes more names than two entire starting lineups.

Everyone can find reasons. They won’t all cheat, of course. But they will all face this choice. Many of them will resist temptation (perhaps out of fear). Many will not (perhaps out of fear). Money and fame are to be had, after all.

This is the sports world we all helped create. The one we’re all part of. This is the ugly side of athletics, the inconvenient truth that will persevere long after this investigation is complete and any suspensions are served.