Mine would obviously benefit professionaly from incremental velocity, given his current skill set. The moral and physical price is just not worth it. It wouldn't mean life changing money and would probably mean life changing side affects. It is just not worth it.
quote:Originally posted by Infield08:
Thankfully, my son has never taken PED's, although he certainly could have been tempted to by the comments he has received over the past couple of years. Here's a sampling from emails written by coaches at 3 D1's:
"ben just needs to get bigger and stronger / more physical"
"As for things to improve, I would just say you need to continue to get stronger."
"needs to get stronger physically.... just needs to get more physical"
How about this instead, "For Ben to improve and become stronger he needs to become more physically mature".
I think maybe that sends a different message.
The NCAA really messed up 7-8 years ago when they were considering adding baseball to its year-round steroid testing program (which already includes football and track)...and they decided the added expense was not worth it.
As it stands now, what is to keep a college player (other than cost and moral fiber) from getting involved in steroids? The only time they would even have a chance of being tested would be in post-season...and the smart player would be cycled off by that point in the season. The players (and the medical community) KNOW they work...and being 18-22 year-olds, they are not going to think about the long-term consequences...just the "now" (much like the 22-46 year old players).
Testing IS important (in terms of a deterrent)...but one who WANTS to cheat is going to cheat...testing (and more importantly, EDUCATION) will help keep the "experimental" user from hopefully engaging in PED activity.
As it stands now, what is to keep a college player (other than cost and moral fiber) from getting involved in steroids? The only time they would even have a chance of being tested would be in post-season...and the smart player would be cycled off by that point in the season. The players (and the medical community) KNOW they work...and being 18-22 year-olds, they are not going to think about the long-term consequences...just the "now" (much like the 22-46 year old players).
Testing IS important (in terms of a deterrent)...but one who WANTS to cheat is going to cheat...testing (and more importantly, EDUCATION) will help keep the "experimental" user from hopefully engaging in PED activity.
I completely understand. My softball playing daughter crossed colleges of her list where the coaches seemed to be drooling (very open and enthusiastic) she could pack on thirty more pounds of muscle. They saw a slasher they thought could be a power hitter. She was 5'10", 140 as a high school junior. She's added ten pounds of muscle.quote:Originally posted by P&CMom:
There is enormous pressure on young baseball players to put on muscle. I have no problem with the guys training and eating correctly, but these kids often train to the point of breaking themselves down and look for that something extra to help them recover quicker or get bigger quicker.
My son is a freshman in high school. The varsity coach told him if he puts on twenty pounds he may have a shot at varsity as a freshman. What he's really saying is my son needs to increase his upper body strength, quicken his swing and increase his throwing velocity. He's a late bloomer. He was 5'2", 115 last year. He's 5'9", 133 right now. I told him those seventeen pounds, if he can gain them while playing basketball, will come from proper diet or they won't come. If he doesn't make varsity until soph year but he's healthy, that's they way it goes. I think varsity this coming year is a stretch anyway even though I see where he could compete for a position.