More than 10,000 high-school student-athletes from the state which you are strongly encouraged not to mess with were tested for steroids and the results are in.
How many were returned positive, you ask? Well, what would seem like a reasonable number? 50? 100? 500? That would still only be five percent. They take their scholastic sports seriously in Texas, especially football and baseball.
I would have considered it a lock for the number to at least crack triple-digits and break the one-percent mark. But I would have been way off. According to the Associated Press, only two athletes were found to have taken unauthorized substances.
How could this be? A few thoughts after the jump.
It's important to also consider that "three students refused to be tested, according to the figures released by the University Interscholastic League. One athlete left a testing area without cause or approval, and 18 missed the mandatory testing without an excused absence." If you add those numbers to the original two you come up with 24, which seems to be a more reasonable number.
Still, that means less than one-quarter of one-percent of high school athletes in the state probably have taken steroids. I still have a hard time believing that.
Part of the reason why the numbers are so low is that these students are only tested in the summer time, which means they could be in an off-cycle focusing on heavy lifting and get back on come the start of the season. Maybe these players are savvy enough to outsmart the testing process.
Or maybe the message of the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs is finally getting through to young athletes. Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are now the butt of countless jokes (no pun intended). That 'roided-up professional wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and son before killing himself last summer. The dangers of steroids have never been so evident as they have been over the last year.
So which is the more plausible explanation? Savvy steroid users beating the system or sober-minded youngsters scared straight by the exposure of others? The comments section awaits your input.
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