Little Leaguers, high-school players, and hometown fans alike were disappointed to see yet another of their baseball heroes, Alex Rodriguez, added to the list of players who admitted to using performance enhancing substances. Parents and coaches who have used idolized players like Rodriguez as examples of those who get ahead by playing healthy have to be shaking their heads, wondering what news will break next.

On Saturday, Sports Illustrated reported that Rodriguez had tested positive for two anabolic steroids (testosterone and Primobolan) in 2003. In an interview with ESPN, A-Rod admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs from 2001-2003. Here’s what Rodriguez said:

“When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure, felt all the weight of the world on top of me to perform and perform at a high level every day. Back then, it was a different culture. It was very loose. I was young, I was stupid, I was naive and I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth, you know, being one of the greatest players of all time. And I did take a banned substance. For that, I’m very sorry and deeply regretful. And although it was the culture back then in major league baseball overall … it was very … I just feel that … I’m just sorry. I’m sorry for that time, I’m sorry to my fans, I’m sorry to my fans in Texas. It wasn’t until then that I thought about substance of any kind, and since then I’ve proved to myself and to everyone that I don’t need any of that.”

As parents and caregivers, what do you think of his statement?

P.S. Want to learn more about performance enhancing substances so you can be informed when you to talk to your teen? The Partnership recently launched a website to provide parents and teens information on the heath risks from steroids, stimulants and HGH.

• 	Posted by: Joe Keenan | 3 Comment(s)
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With the arrival of Opening Day, baseball fans have their eyes focused on the upcoming season.  A number of outlets from ESPN to talk radio to print media have commented on the fact that it’s nice to be able to finally talk about baseball instead of steroids.  Both of these are true for me.  I’m looking forward to my beloved Red Sox trying to defend their World Series title.  And I’m glad to no longer listen to debates about whether or not we should trust Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee.  But just because it’s out of the headlines, doesn’t mean the problem has been resolved.  It only means that it has burned out its freshness in our 24-hour news cycle.

It has been my experience that families work much the same way.  A problem like an addiction will come into focus and will drain all of the family’s attention for a period of time.  During this period, discussions will take place, plans will be put into motion and - most importantly - promises will be made.  During the crisis period we are at our best.  Eventually, the family trauma exhausts everyone and fades into the background.   They try to move on and hope that the problems have been solved.

We do have to move on.  And we do have to keep from dwelling on a single problem at the expense of all other considerations.  But, just as Baseball will only truly heal if the powers that be do the tough work and revisit the problem without the headlines in order to check on progress, our families will only heal if we go to the trouble of checking in on hard to talk about issues and make sure that everyone is following up on those promises.  

Just because something is out of the spotlight, doesn’t mean that it’s no longer there. 

• 	Posted by: James Ponti | 4 Comment(s)
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Thank goodness the writer’s strike has ended.  (For the record, I was part of the 90% that voted to end the strike.)  In the absence of traditional Hollywood fare, a slew of reality shows developed in their place.  Many of these had a surprisingly high drug and alcohol content.  In case you missed them, here are some scenarios:

Liar, Liar - The West Wing meets Sports Center in this political drama that pits rivals battling it out in Congress.  Only in this drama the rivals aren’t Republicans and Democrats, but a legendary athlete and the trainer who claims to have supplied him with Performance Enhancing Drugs. 

Full (Wine) House - This popular awards show features a star with a drug problem severe enough that the US Department of State won’t allow her a visa to enter the country.  Therefore she has to accept her awards on a closed circuit television.  Amazingly, one of the awards she wins is for a song called Rehab.  (That, children is what we call irony.) 

American Idle - Like the similarly named talent show, this series features an attractive young woman with a good if not great singing voice who, with the help of high production value, big-time packaging and hype, is turned into a superstar.  Only during this series, she doesn’t sing.  She is just a pawn as others move her in and out of therapy and medical care. 

• 	Posted by: James Ponti | 0 Comment(s)
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The Mitchell Report, which examines the use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs in major league baseball, is different things for different people.  For columnists and talk radio hosts, it has provided fodder for debates and questions about who did what and when.  For young athletes hopefully it has been a warning of the dangers of such drugs.  But for parents, it has presented an inspiration. 

Forget the names.  Forget questioning the thoroughness.  Forget the ugliness involved.  The Mitchell report has done one very significant thing.  It has taken something that most fans suspected - that drugs are a problem in baseball - and it has turned that suspicion into a conversation.  No matter how uncomfortable it is, the communication is necessary to move in the right direction.

Likewise, there are many families in which despite the veneer of normalcy, there is the underlining suspicion of a problem - whether that problem is drugs or alcohol or something else.  And like baseball, that problem needs to be discussed.  The good thing is that you don’t need hire a senator and a team of investigators.  You just need to face the problem and commit to making it better. 

• 	Posted by: James Ponti | 2 Comment(s)
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Forget politics, if you want strange bedfellows go no farther than the world of substance abuse in popular culture.  This week’s odd couple is none other than the glamorous and petite former tennis star Martina Hingis and the beefy and gruff current football coach Andy Reid.  Whether it’s fair of not - this week they are the public face of celebrity drug use.

Hingis retired from tennis after acknowledging that a drug test at Wimbledon returned positive for cocaine.   Reid was thrust into the spotlight when his two sons were sent to prison for multiple drug offenses and a judge described the family home as a “Drug Emporium.”

But some questions arise and I would like to hear some answers from other parents.  First of all, do we as a society totally dismiss Ms. Hingis’s claims of innocence?  (Certainly, we’ve heard other athletes and celebrities claim innocence only to be proven guilty later.)  Does the fact that it was cocaine and not a performance enhancing drug, change our collective perspective?  And, here’s a dicier one, does the fact that she’s not American play into the reaction she is receiving?

Now, onto Mr. Reid.  Are his sons’ troubles really newsworthy?  After all, the boys are not public figures?  Is the public debate about their drug abuse, or our perceived opinions of his parenting?

I’d like to hear what you think. 

• 	Posted by: James Ponti | 0 Comment(s)
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Marion Jones has admitted to the world that she cheated and abused drugs in order to reach the pinnacle of women’s track and field. She has been suspended from competition and has returned the five medals she won at the 2000 Olympics.

In the wake of this disclosure, words that have been commonly used in the public discourse include “sad” and “disappointing.” They’re interesting words because they have not been used much - if at all -in the discussions about other athletes who have achieved (or have been accused of achieving) a pharmaceutical advantage.

Why are we treating Marion differently?

I think a big part of the answer is parenting. (More…)

• 	Posted by: James Ponti | 0 Comment(s)
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