High and Inside in the Newsweek Magazine

High and Inside

In the Newsweek Magazine article "High and Inside" by Mark Starr, the issue of illegal drug use among professional sports players is given focus. Citing particularly the case of American baseball stars, Starr puts forth the argument that the issue illegal drug use such as subsistence to steroid injections goes beyond the fact that it is illegal -- the bigger issue at hand is that such a system prevails in sports organizations because it is supported and encouraged by everyone in it.

In arguing this primary thesis of the article, Starr exemplifies the case of baseball star Jason Giambi as one of the models of how the proliferation of illegal drug use has made it so common and an imperative requirement for a professional athlete. Chronicling Giambi's career as a professional baseball player, the article details how, just before the peak of his career, he had already subsisted to a steady supply of steroids, such as synthetic testosterone and human growth hormones or HGH. Similarly, Starr cites other professional players to point out that Giambi is not alone in this kind of 'bad habit.' He mentions another baseball star, Barry Bonds, as another steroids user. Marion Jones, one of the well-known athletes accused of subsisting to steroids, does not escape Starr's discussion, for Jones is one of the professional athletes who served as the catalyst for professional sports organization to look into the effectiveness of their drug testing programs for professional athletes and players.

Of course, Starr also includes other "players" in the game of steroid use in the country's professional sports organizations. BALCO, Giambi's supplier of steroids, finds itself accused of harboring the illegal habit of enhancing the athletes and players' performance by supplying them with steroids. Personal trainers of athletes and players are also pinpointed as one of the primary influences why players learn to use illegal drugs, as Giambi's experience shows, it is the personal trainer (to Barry Bonds) Greg Anderson who introduced him to steroids. While Giambi acknowledges that he had used synthetic testosterone and HGH, Bonds denied his use of steroids, alleging that he thought what Anderson was letting him use were "nutritional supplement and a balm for arthritis."

By naming names, Starr then sets the "stage" for the game of finger-pointing in the system of illegal drug use among America's professional athletes and players. BALCO revels at the fact that they know more about the system of illegal drug supply and use among these professionals, acting as an informant for the authorities. The athletes and players, meanwhile, put the blame to their personal trainers, having introduced them these kinds of "performance-enhancing" steroids. Perhaps the main point of all this is how illegal drug use has become a trivial issue for the people concerned, and what becomes important for them is to 'escape' from the offense they have committed immediately by giving testimonials and naming names about their drug use and suppliers.