Many people in today?s world our worrying about getting in shape by losing weight. For an athlete though getting stronger, bigger, and faster is pushed on them everyday by their coaching staff. Constant hard work without any improvement puts an athlete in a frustrating frame of mind. With steroids an athlete can instantly boost their weight and strength abnormally, which leads to instant success in athletics. The under the radar usage of steroids has ballooned out of control in all sports, but the main focus has to start on the high school level and not the opposite way as what is being done. The playing level in athletics needs to be evened out, and in high schools mandatory steroid testing is needed.

Without steroid testing, domination of certain high schools is evident. Just watching a powerhouse high school team, you can see certain schools that have men playing against boys. Just a year ago a lot of these athletes were averaged sized junior varsity players. O, but put them on the right workout regimen and there all of the sudden overnight successes. It doesn?t matter what workout plan you?re on, it takes many years of hard work to gain an extreme amount of muscle mass. Plus with more schools being built, the school boundaries have become more condensed, and thus should result in an eventual fallout of talent level for any school.

In 2003, Buckeye high school based in Phoenix, Arizona made national news when ten players were kicked off the team for steroid use. The whole situation wouldn?t have happened if a mother didn?t find steroid pills in her son?s room. Myself, I attended Highland High school and knew several kids that were using steroids. Most had steroids incorporated as a two to three week part of a ten to twelve week workout cycle.

The easy attainable access of steroids can stem from any local gym. A couple of my friends attend a local World?s Gym, and have said they?ve been offered steroids over five times. A survey done by the Centers for Disease Control found out that steroid usage amongst high school athletes has doubled from 1991 to 2003. At taylorhooton.org it is the website of an organization created by Don Hooton in dedication of his son, Taylor. Taylor committed suicide July 15th, 2003 and the depression caused by steroid usage is what led to his suicide. On the site there are a handful of other high school and collegiate athletes that?s parents have detailed information on their deaths caused by usage of steroids. Including, Rob Garibaldi who was told at USC he could be a great future baseball prospect if he could add weight to his 160 pound frame. Working out didn?t help, and Garibaldi started using steroids he obtained from a USC trainer. He ended up gaining fifty pounds, but just like Hooton the harmful side affects of the steroids led to suicide. According to the Taylor Hooton organization they estimate that 500,000 to one million high school athletes use steroids.

Only four percent of high schools have mandatory steroid testing, and one of the main reasons why is because the tests run around $100. If a school can afford to put in extra money on jerseys, warm ups, weight lifting equipment, and out of state trips to compete, than they can find the money to institute mandatory tests. They should be done at random times, so that students can?t work their way around the test. If the test is done right before the season, than an athlete can start doing steroids right when their season starts and get away with it. Doing it randomly though would keep athletes on their heels and afraid of embarrassment from getting kicked off the team. If they get kicked off the team for steroids, they?d still have to attend the classroom part of school and face humiliation.

Gaining an upper hand is the sole and only reason why an athlete chooses to do steroids. If it isn?t stopped soon, than there are going to be more stories that should?ve been prevented told.

The only way for high school steroid testing to be done, is for the media, parents, and coaches to bring out the idea more. High school coaches more than anyone should start teaching their athletes on the harms of steroids to keep them from doing it. Telling someone something still doesn?t stop anything if there is no punishment involved. Steroid testing amongst high school athletes would open up a lot of eyes and change athletes steered in the wrong direction. Who knows if Taylor Hooton or Rob Garibaldi would?ve changed their ways if they failed a steroid test.

Baseball has been scrutinized on another level and the affecting results are to be determined. It may take a long time for the real truth to come out over the last fifteen to twenty years, but in all reality steroid use is a worldwide issue. All sports levels from professional, college, and high school are using it on a different scale.

If there is going to be a designated steroid test for professional athletes, than maybe it should also be brought into the collegiate and high school ranks. Any athlete that wants a boost or upper hand to prosper is going to do all they can to improve. When their work ethic starts to fail and they grow tired of their coaches daily abuse, what do you think they are going to do? Quit is an alternative some athletes do, but steroid use has become a growing problem especially on the high school level.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger recently shot down a proposed bill to implement steroid testing in the high school ranks, it makes you scratch your head for obvious reasons. Here is a guy that?s career was propelled by steroids, and even though it wasn?t banned at the time, it destroyed a lot of the early users lives. He has seen it first hand what the effects can be, but yet pushed it aside.

Another problem with athletics is the advice athletes are receiving. Most athletes have some sort of workout regimen that they follow, and then before or afterwards they have ten thousand pills they are suppose to take. These trainers are telling when and how often to take every pill in the book. More than often when a professional athlete tests positive for a drug, they automatically will say I had no clue. Nine times out of ten, I?d agree with that, because why research when you?re the one paying your trainer? Still athletes should have some sort of responsibility to ask questions, or figure out for themselves what they are taking.

Steroid use isn?t just a problem amongst athletes, as you can go into any average gym and point out users. In fact, if you go to a gym on a consistent basis, it wouldn?t be shocking to hear about someone approaching you about taking steroids. It?s around that much, and something needs to be done to cut it down.

David Boston recently failed another test for steroids, and the NFL is still researching a leak of information on nine current or former Carolina Panthers that allegedly bought steroids from an undisclosed source. Steroids may be illegal in the NFL, but there is an obvious loophole in the testing. Since testing is done on specified dates an athlete can do almost anything, and stop a few months before the test. On the other hand maybe the NFL should include the same sort of testing they have for first and second time violators, and that is random tests multiple times during the season. That system has been very effective, and often has pushed violators out of the league because they can?t get their problems solved.

The media can keep dwelling on Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire, but in all actuality they are old news. If they have done it, it was five to seven years to late. McGwire is out of baseball, and Bonds may have a year or two left at best. They need to focus on the next generation and prepare the athletes that are on the verge of using steroids not to. Waning out the usage is going to be a long process but can happen if a system is implemented.

Its been a long time since a trade rumor has swayed in no direction except stagnant talk and still be alive, but that is exactly what is occurring between the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals. The rumor is still fresh yet dead, and may end up being a draft day trade.

According to reports, the Cardinals may see if the back they want in the draft is on the board for the first or second round. If the back they want is there than they will take him. If not, the Cardinals will agree with the Bills to swap their second round picks, so the Bills can move ahead eleven spots. It?s a neck and neck game, and the Bills aren?t budging a smidgen until they feel they?ve got the proper deal.

If this trade doesn?t happen, things could get real ugly. No other team has expressed attentive interest as the Cardinals, and that means Travis Henry may be stuck in Buffalo for the final year of his contract. Henry has already stated he will not play in a Buffalo uniform, as he feels his job was taken away without fair comprehension. Basically he went down with an injury, and that resulted in his departure and relinquishing of his starting job.

Just imagine how Henry feels, as he has been in Buffalo his entire five year career, and has been an elite back. Yet, Buffalo opted a long time ago to give McGahee the job, which could prove to be a golden move.

Dennis Green is a strong minded coach, and he?ll do whatever it takes to get what he wants done. He seems open to the idea of having an explosive back like Henry to complement with Marcel Shipp. With the nucleus of receivers and maybe a flashback 2000 Kurt Warner, the Cardinals shockingly would head into 2005 as the top team in the NFC West.

On Buffalo?s side, LJ Shelton is a raw big man that has had his ups and downs with Arizona while struggling with injuries. His size and youth alone make him a plus to any offensive line, and his strength is parallel with the likes of Orlando Pace and Jonathan Ogden.

For more on this report, here is a link to the East Valley Tribune?s latest story on the delay of this trade. http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=38559

If there is a market to make money in, businesses will expand. It?s a logical concept, and the NFL is one of the top businesses in the world. It may be based in the United States, but plenty of countries follow it, and every Super Bowl almost every country is covering it. Basketball, has struggled with its teams above the border, and even had to relocate the Vancouver Grizzlies to Memphis. Baseball, on the other hand has had prominent success, but still not up to par with the fans in America. Football though has never expanded beyond either border, but plans may be in the works.

Every preseason the NFL usually does a game in a few different global markets, including Mexico and Tokyo. For that one game, the crowd in attendance makes it look like a hyped up Super Bowl. Basically every year the NFL has been monitoring the situation, and sees a potential boost from pursuing an international franchise.

It?s almost a done deal for the Arizona Cardinals to host a home game in Mexico City to face the San Francisco 49ers. That has to be tough on Dennis Green and the Cardinals, because most of the fans across the border are Cowboys or Raiders fans. It shouldn?t make a difference, as the Cardinals fan support at their own stadium is minimal.

Expect the game to be packed to capacity, and then for the NFL to schedule more games down there and maybe even in Canada. It?s amazing the NFL hasn?t done this sooner. With every other sport, their schedules can get rough with road trips because their schedules are scattered. At least in the NFL, a team can prepare moderately for the same routine based on one game a week.

Don?t expect another franchise to be determined for quite some time, as the NFL is still adjusting to the new division realignment and trying to configure a new playoff system with additional teams.

When any athlete gets drafted by a franchise, they automatically think this is the city and team they want to spend their entire career. That could have been a logical thought ten or twenty years ago, especially if you were a high draft pick. Nowadays though, an agent or NFL personnel would laugh at a rookie making such an insane assumption. Truthfully, no athlete is safe anymore and will be interesting to see how some great athletes choose where to have their jerseys retire, after playing on three or four teams.

Franchises cutting athletes has risen to a high point this year to get under the salary cap, and it?s made a very interesting start to the free agency period. Still, the chaos of letting athletes leave starts back in 1999 in Buffalo. The Bills glory days from the early 90?s were fading out in the mid to late 90?s, but still had the same nucleus of veterans. With a change of direction in mind, the Bills turned away the thoughts of keeping Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, and Bruce Smith. It had to have been a tough decision for the organization, but for two of the three athletes it proved to be the right one.

Andre Reed went on to the Washington Redskins in 2000, where he was a non factor, and then failed to make the Denver Broncos final roster a year later. It was the way a Hall of Famer shouldn?t leave the league, but it happened. For Thurman Thomas, he signed to the ultimate Buffalo rival in the Miami Dolphins, and had a career ending injury after being a minimal part of the Dolphins offense. Added to that, Thomas was once again put in the spotlight on a negative note when he was arrested for drug possession in 2004.

Bruce Smith, was the only athlete of the three that deserved an extension as he went on to Washington and still posed as a strong defensive end.

With Jerry Rice still trying to continue his career, the examples of Reed and Thomas should be a factor for Rice this time around. He is too great of an athlete, to let his mind get in the way of his body. He has his titles and legacy, and has no more to give to the game of football.

For Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, and Bruce Smith the latter parts of their hall of fame careers will be an after thought, as they?ll always be remembered as Buffalo Bills.

The new image of sports is dictating a new management from the players perspective. In years past teams had more of a jurisdiction of judgment in what they wanted to do with an athlete. Nowadays, athletes are taking control of their own situation and looking to capitalize in an environment that suits them for the immediate future. Disgruntled athletes protesting a holdout are becoming more of a downplayed situation rather than a negative perception of the athlete. What Keenan McCardell did last year in Tampa Bay is only going to continue to happen for high profiled veteran athletes. The reason why is because their dollar value is as high as ever, yet teams want to play it off as much as possible. Management?s whole angle is to use that athlete and then make him a salary cap casualty, like we?ve been seeing the last three to four years.

The past couple of season there has become an extreme indicator that restructuring deals is not working enough. Every team?s original game plan when signing an athlete is to make him as happy as possible. Therefore, they go out and sign him to a long-term deal, that looks great but is in all actuality a dreamland lucrative deal that the salary cap has no room for. Most athletes realize that, and is why a strong signing bonus is the main ingredient to lure any athlete via free agency. Just look at Mushin Muhammed this season.

At thirty-two years old, Muhammed is lucky if he has two to three solid receiver years left in him. The Bears though signed him to a six-year deal. It doesn?t make any sense, but for Muhammed the signing bonus of twelve million dollars kicks on the light bulb.

Out of all the shocking situations to develop as of late, none raises your eyebrows more than the Santana Moss and Lavernues Coles swap. Here are two young athletes on young talented teams, that aren?t even giving a chance to their teams to mesh and grow together. It?s understandable that neither athlete was happy with their involvement in their teams game plans, but who?s to say that?s going to change in a new place?

As an athlete, you get better when you have to adjust your style, and learn new ways to become a threat. It?s dumbfounding that either athlete could even have the audacity to demand a trade. Moss had a down season, but none of the Jets receivers flourished because Pennington was hurt the majority of the season. In fact Moss didn?t catch his first touchdown until week nine.

The adjustment phase of adapting to quarterback injuries or struggles is a process that happens on every team. Moss and Coles both endured quarterback switchups constantly last year, and I think that created a monster inside of each that they were above their respective teams standards.

Every team that becomes successful always looks back on the journey they all had as a unit. The growth process of a team is becoming non-existent amongst athletes, because all they care about is the dollar bill. For Washington, the deal makes more sense, as they were faced in having to cut Coles anyways. Santana Moss is at the end of his deal, and basically the Redskins are just signing Moss a year early, as they?ll extend his contract before the regular season.

When other athletes see a trend of power actually work, its going to become a crazy environment in the NFL. No longer will athletes sit back on horrible teams and wait for another chance. It?s wrong though, as the Corey Dillon?s will tell you, it is worth the wait. For all the hard years Dillon fought in Cincinnati, he stuck it out. Sure, he made plenty of statements to the media and even demanded being traded, but when it came time to play, he represented in a Bengals uniform.

His play never fell off, and that?s when quality teams come knocking on your door. Dillon then signed with New England, and wa-la his eight year career thus far has made it worth those struggling days with the Bengals. Dillon will always have that after taste of flashback losing seasons from Cincinnati, that drives him down the stretch of seasons. What will be there as well is the additional bonus of a 360 degree turnaround Super Bowl season.