Meeting the Band. (revised)

One year, for John's birthday, his dad got him a great gift: tickets and backstage passes to John's favorite band. He could not have been more excited. John bought a T-shirt from the band and listened to all of their music repeatedly in the few weeks leading up to the show. Finally, the day came. He and his dad went early to the venue. Because of their backstage passes, they could get in early and hang around and watch the concert come to be. John was awestruck. At one point, he saw the band members and could not conceal his excitement

"Dad! There they are!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know, just wait until they play," his father replied.

And play they did. They played a long set and John could not have been having more fun. After the show, they went backstage, and they saw the band again. John's dad wanted to go up and meet them, but John was frozen with fear and awe. Finally, he managed to walk forward and strike up conversation with the band members. They told him that, with a little practice, he could become as famous as they were. Obviously, they were just trying be nice, but John took those words to heart. At the time, he played the guitar a little, but didn't like it that much.

Through the years, John practiced. He formed a band with a couple of friends. Gradually, they became more and more well known. All of a sudden, their record was on the iTunes Top 20 albums chart. In an interview with a magazine, John was asked about where his musical inspiration came from. Immediately, he thought of the show his dad took him to for his birthday. He told the whole story of that concert the impact it had on him. He ended the story by telling the reporter that, on a wall in his house, he has framed the backstage pass from the concert all those years ago.

Meeting the Band.

One year, for John's birthday, his dad got him a great gift: tickets and backstage passes to John's favorite band. He could not have been more excited. John bought a T-shirt from the band and listened to all of their music repeatedly in the few weeks leading up to the show. Finally, the day came. He and his dad went early to the venue. Because of their backstage passes, they could get in early and hang around and watch the concert come to be. John was awestruck. At what point, he saw the band members and could not conceal his excitement
"Dad! There they are!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know, just wait until they play," his father replied.
And play they did. They played a long set and John could not have been having more fun. After the show, they went backstage, and they saw the band again. John's dad wanted to go up and meet them, but John was frozen with fear and awe. Finally he managed to walk forward and strike up conversation with the band members. They told him that, with a little practice, he could become as famous as they were. Obviously, they were just trying be nice, but John took those words to heart. At the time, he played the guitar a little, but didn't like it that much.

Through the years, John practiced. He formed a band with a couple of friends, and they were able to climb their way up to the top of the music scene. Still, John lists his favorite childhood band as inspiration. On a wall in his house, he framed and hung up the backstage pass from the concert all those years ago.

Performance-enhancing drugs in other sports

Steroids and other PEDs have been used most prominently by baseball players, but they have also been used by athletes in other sports.

In the NFL, a survey was conducted in 2009 and 1 in 10 players said that they had used anabolic steroids while still playing. 16.3% of offensive lineman and 14.8% of defensive lineman also confidentially admitted doping. Most notably, Shawne Merriman tested positive for steroids a couple of years ago and was suspended for four games.

Doping is also a problem in cycling. Floyd Landis, the winner of the 2006 Tour de France, tested as having a high ratio of testosterone (which is used as a PED) to epitestosterone, another hormone. Later that year, Landis tested positive for a synthetic testosterone. He was then stripped of his Tour de France title and banned from cycling for 2 years. Landis has also accused Lance Armstrong of doping in 2002 and 2003 (two years Armstrong won the Tour de France), probably the most famous cyclist of all-time, of doping. Armstrong has turned aside and denied these claims.

There have also been cases of doping in Olympic sports, most notably with Marion Jones, the famous sprinter. She was accused of and admitting to taking anabolic steroids, and was deeply apologetic to her fans and country. There have also been accusations made of female athletes who either allegedly aren't really female or have abnormally high levels of testosterone and possibly were doping. 

Barry Bonds, baseball's home run king*

Barry Bonds is baseball's home run king. But there is an asterisk that comes with that title. That is because of his alleged use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. In 2005, Bonds was indicted on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice in relation to the government investigation of BALCO, a co-operative that was charged with providing athletes with anabolic steroids and other banned drugs. Bonds' trainer at the time, Greg Anderson, was the BALCO employee charged with supplying athletes with these drugs. Bonds received two substances from Anderson, which he was told were nutritional substances, but were actually an anabolic steroid and a cream used in conjunction with anabolic steroids ("the cream" and "the clear"). The book Game Of Shadows alleges that Bonds used stanozolol and other steroids.
Between his early years in baseball and his final years playing the game, Bonds' physique changed dramatically. He got noticeably larger and gained a lot of weight. His head size also increased dramatically, a known side-effect of anabolic steroids. Bonds attributed these changes in his physique to an intense workout regimen and a healthy diet.
Bonds has the most home runs of all-time with 762 long balls, but we may never know for sure if that number deserves an asterisk next to it in the record books.

The Mitchell Report

The Mitchell Report is a result of former senator George Mitchell's investigation into the use of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) in Major League Baseball. It's a 409 page report that details the history of performance-enhancing drugs in sports and names a lot of athletes allegedly connected with the drugs. Among these names are Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Miguel Tejada, among others.
The Mitchell Report also details Brian McNamee, a personal trainer who allegedly helped athletes acquire steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Most notably, McNamee trained Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. Pettitte has admitted to using HGH and has apologized for doing so. McNamee claims to have injected Clemens with anabolic steroids, which Clemens denies. Clemens was recently indicted by a federal judge for, among others, lying to Congress. There will be much more on Clemens, McNamee, and others to come!