Line up at the counter

The world is certainly experiencing difficult times right now. The MSM is desperately scrambling to find what new story they can plug in now that it's become obvious that John Mark Karr only wants to be Jon-Benet Ramsey's killer. CNN can't figure out when to turn their microphones off during bathroom breaks, or how to cut the audio remotely. The return trips to the hurricane ravaged south for the President and others are turning into debacles.

And yet, there is a glimmer of normality to what's happening in the world. That glimmer is the recent report that the NFL is facing a steroid problem that would make Barry Bonds drool with childlike glee. See, even though the league has a drug-prevention program in place, and even though they are catching players (generally for things like marijuana, however), it's fairly obvious that NFL players are prone to wanting to "juice up" before big games. After all, this is a contact sport where being 225 lbs makes you tiny.

As the report points out, the average size of professional football players has increased dramatically in the last twenty years, and, when you look at the other prescriptions some of these players allegedly take, there should be a cause for concern. But why hasn't this been noticed when players make the spike in weight and strength from college to the pro levels? Is it really that common for someone to graduate college at 250, and then one year later weigh-in at close to 300 with an ability to lift twice what he used to?

Maybe this is why former (or, even, wannabe) pro football players sometimes find their way into the leagues of professional wrestling. After all, what other "sport" fully acknowledges the fact that a good portion of the talent is using steroids to some extent? Of course, keeping that in mind, all prospective NFL players should simply look towards Hulk Hogan and Rick Flair. Trust me when I say that nobody wants to turn out like that, and nobody thinks that looks good.

Ultimately, fans don't seem to really care if their favorites are juicing up or not, so long as they get to see the results of the carnage on the football field. And, with the potential for roid-rage, or players being upset at the other team for checking out their drug-induced mammaries, I'd say that the hits are just going to keep on coming.