Lesson 11: Olympic Athletes and Drug Use

Every four years I suggest we discuss an article, “Over the Edge” that Sports Illustrated published in 1997. It contains two questions Bob Goldman asked Olympic-level U.S. athletes every two years since 1982.The first was “If you were offered a banned performance-enhancing substance with two guarantees: 1) You will not be caught. 2) You will win. Would you take it?”  In 1995, the answer from 195 of 198 athletes was “yes”. The second question was “You are offered a banned performance-enhancing substance that comes with two guarantees: 1) You will not be caught. 2) You will win every competition you enter for the next five years, and then you will die from the side effects of the substance. Would you take it?” In 1995 more than half the athletes, 53%,  said “yes”. Over the years the answers have been pretty much the same. Goldman reports he has not been able to determine if the glory or money associated with modern sports explains the answers.

I usually interject unto the discussion Martin Luther’s observation that there are no real atheists, because our god is whatever we place first in our loves. I suggest some seem to make sports into their god and so break the First Commandment.

The paper always includes a summary of False Glory: The Steve Courson Story published in 1991. Steve was an active member of our church who played on the offensive line for the championship Pittsburgh Steelers from 1978 to1983.

He was reviled by many in the sports world for admitting he began taking steroid drugs beginning after his freshman year at the University of South Carolina. At that time his body weight went from 225 to 260 in a month and a half. His career ended when he developed a heart condition he blamed on the steroids. When the NFL refused to take any responsibility, he became disillusioned with big time sports. He wrote numerous controversial articles and gave hundreds of talks calling for getting our priorities back in line. He felt it was essential that we make sure high school sports are fun, delay highly organized sports until later in childhood, and establish NFL limits on weight as in wrestling and boxing. But above all he counseled not making winning at all costs the driving force.

In 2005 he testified before Congress. “How can coaches teach valuable lessons about preparing youth for life when their value is based only on wins and losses?…We as a society in this age can ill-afford these misguided philosophical messages of winning regardless of the costs to dominate our youth sports landscape. More than anything we need to bring youth sports back into perspective as a “training camp” for life. …Sport teaches invaluable lessons in the game of life. Learning how to prepare for success, developing an intense work ethic, recognizing the importance of teamwork and last but not least learning not to quit when things get tough, these all are useful tools in the game of life.”

The discussion is always special, because just about everyone in town remembers Steve as one of our high school heroes and the young people would often see him in church with his parents when he was in town. You can check on the discussion that followed in the first comment.