Chuck Klosterman discusses steroids in the NFL, through the prism of the Beatles:
"It can be strongly argued that the most important date in the history of rock music was Aug. 28, 1964. This was the day Bob Dylan met the Beatles in New York City's Hotel Delmonico and got them high. Obviously, a lot of people might want to disagree with this assertion, but the artistic evidence is hard to ignore. The introduction of marijuana altered the trajectory of the Beatles' songwriting, reconstructed their consciousness and prompted them to make the most influential rock albums of all time. After the summer of 1964, the Beatles started taking serious drugs, and those drugs altered their musical performance. Though it may not have been their overt intent, the Beatles took performance-enhancing drugs. And this is germane to sports for one reason: Absolutely no one holds it against them. No one views "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" as "less authentic" albums, despite the fact that they would not (and probably could not) have been made by people who weren't on drugs."And speaking of steroids, now comes news that 11 pro wrestlers have been linked to the Albany/Florida probe. The biggest names involved are Edge, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio, and the late Eddie Guerrero, who died of a heart attack in late 2005.
A commenter on ESPN.com asks if they're going to "put an asterisk in the record books" next to every WWE champion who used steroids. I think it would be easier to put an asterisk next to every champion who didn't.
Posted by Stephen Silver at March 20, 2007 05:22 PM