Our #1 Story of the Decade should come as no surprise. It has been the one word that has dominated sports throughout the 2000s. The Story of the Decade is unquestionably steroids.
Steroids, doping, and performance enhancing drugs are no strangers to sport. See the East German Olympic team. But, in the 2000s, we saw performance enhancing drugs affect sports like no other decade before. In this decade, story after story after story about steroids have taken center stage on the American sporting landscape. Especially in the sport of baseball, steroids and performance enhancing drugs have disappointed fans and make us wonder whether we can believe that the star athletes of today are legitimate, or drug-enhanced freaks. This decade we've seen Olympic Gold Medalists go to prison, former MVPs die at an early age, memories of great moments shrouded in doubt, and the greatest record in sports fall, except it was a moment that will live in infamy instead of glory.
Without doubt, baseball's battle with performance enhancing drugs has put a strain on the game throughout the decade. Heck, we're calling these years the "Steroid Era." We all know the names and the stories: Bonds, Balco, McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, Canseco, The Mitchell Report, Clemens, Radomski, and A-Rod. But, more importantly than the fact that these guys have used and seen their public reputations fall by the wayside is the disgrace they have brought to sports.
We've covered a lot of ground in this Decade Series over the past few months - but is it a wonder that of all of the great players, teams, and moments that we've covered Barry Bonds isn't on any list. Look around you, on any "best of the decade" lists - where is Bonds' 756th home run, or even his 71st that broke Mark McGwire's record? We've all been told that the all-time home run record is the greatest in all of sports. When somebody passed Hank Aaron, it was supposed to be one of the magical moments in sports history.
And yet, there are no highlights of Bonds breaking the record. There's no celebration, and there's no hero's adoration for Bonds. His breaking of the home run records are moments sports fans would rather forget than remember. Many people still consider 755 and 61 the "real" records. That is the real crime of steroids in the 2000s. Fans of an entire generation have been robbed of great moments in sports by cheating baseball players with heads the size of Jupiter.
Not even our past or future memories are safe. Remember the '98 chase between McGwire and Sosa? Remember how they saved baseball after the strike? Remember how much fun it was to be a baseball fan again and to watch them make history seemingly every day... well now what do we remember? We remember how dumb we were for not noticing the anomalies taking place. We remember how ignorant baseball and the media were of steroids entering the game. And we remember the embarrassing day on Capital Hill when McGwire didn't want to talk about the past... and Sosa forgot to speak English. And that wasn't the only embarrassing appearance by a baseball player on Capital Hill! The greatest pitcher of our generation, Roger Clemens, was involved in a schoolyard he said she said with former trainer Brian McNamee. After a furious campaign to save his tattered reputation, Clemens is now in hiding with Bonds away from the public eye.
But what about our future memories? What will happen when Alex Rodriguez surpasses Barry Bonds as baseball's all-time home run king? Surprisingly, A-Rod hasn't suffered the same vitriol that Bonds has after his startling steroid admission before the 2009 season - maybe it's because he actually came clean. Maybe it's just that sports fans are immune to their stars being exposed as cheaters. Won't he be just another sign of the Steroid Era and another black mark on the game of baseball?
But what about other sports? Marion Jones forfeited her gold medals and served time in prison for lying about her steroid use. Floyd Landis was stripped of his Tour de France victory in 2006. The French have chased Lance Armstrong like Sherlock Holmes - but no facts of Armstrong abusing performance enhancers has come to light. Boxing is clouded in a dispute between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao over drug testing which might prevent the Fight of the Century. The NFL saw Shawne Merriman suspended for steroids, but has largely escaped scrutiny for performance enhancing drugs. Rashard Lewis was suspended for 10 games, but again the NBA has been void of major PED controversy. Some guy named Doug Barron was suspended from the PGA Tour for PEDs, but at least they snuck into the Tiger Woods scandal for a day.
But, above all else, steroids and sports mean that we live in a different age. An age where skepticism abounds about the athletes we watch and cheer for on a daily basis. An age where we don't know who is legit, and who is a cheat. An age where millions of people can be disappointed in the people they admire on a regular basis.
Let's hope as the 2000s end and the teens begin that the Steroid Era can be firmly in the past and sports can finally move on. Let's hope that kids don't have to bring signs to ballgames about steroids in the next decade.
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