As I was approaching sixty years of age, I decided to get as serious as I can be about fitness. I will admit that I haven't had the eating and drinking parts under control as consistently as I could have, but, four years later, I'm still pretty confident I am healthier than I have been in some time. Once it becomes habit, doing the work is not really that hard. Some of it is just grinding it out, but when you remember why you committed to it, you "just do it" (to coin a phrase). Now and again, you look around for some inspiration when or if you become discouraged.
Now, Alex Rodriguez, has demonstrated an inspiring sort of commitment to his own brand of fitness for many years. Yes, I am talking about the use of illegal supplements. According to some who went to high school with him, he has been using them since high school--during a six-month period, he was able to increase the weight he could bench press from 100 to 310 pounds, putting on 25 pounds of muscle between his sophomore and junior years. Yes, the drug use began after his sophomore year in high school, according to statements recently made by former classmates. Are they telling the truth? Who knows? This much is clear, A-Rod has not been telling the truth about drug use while he's been a Yankee. He was once again revealed to be a cheat. The people who have been accusing him turn out to have been right.
Could he have begun as a high school sophomore? Today, according to an editorial in The Staten Island Advance, it is estimated that 75% of illegal use of steroids today occurs among high school students. Performance enhancing drugs fall in the same class of offense as amphetamines, morphine and opium do. There's a reason. They can kill you. It takes commitment to fitness to take that kind of chance, doesn't it?
This week, he even reached another plateau that few reach. He was the subject of the opening skit on Saturday Night Live. Congratulations, A-Rod, not very many people outside of politics get skewered on SNL opening skits.
But back to commitment. It takes dedication to rise to the level of a major league baseball player. There are millions upon millions of people who, as kids, played baseball. The most talented among them dream of playing varsity baseball in high school. Only a few of them make those squads, and even fewer make the starting lineup. Then, consider how many of the hundreds of thousands who play in those starting lineups in high school, are on successful high school teams. Then there are the thousands who try out for minor league teams, and how rare it is for a minor league athlete to make his way up to the majors. I mean, facing those odds, it must take incredible dedication. So, why not improve your odds by taking steroids? Only a few, like A-Rod, have the stuff to make that kind of commitment--and stick with it--just so they can hit 600 home runs in the majors. Who can blame the young high schoolers who look to him for inspiration.
We should be proud. We should admire his commitment. Now, when he needs our support, when people are lining up to tell stories about him. Wanna hear another one? Now, people are saying he used to give away to opposing hitters the pitches his own catcher was calling for when games weren't that close. It seemed he was hoping hitters on the other teams would return the favor. That one is really a stretch, isn't it? What some people will say to get quoted in the papers. Poor A-Rod... And, he's down the $25 million he was going to make next year. But he's planning to take Major League Baseball to court. Here's a man dedicated physical performance and fitness. Kids, I'm thinking you and I had better look elsewhere for inspiration, if we ever need to look beyond those we know and love for the inspiration to keep on grinding it out.
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