Chuck Grassley: “America is a nation of sports fans and sports players. In fact, it is hard to imagine something more influential in…”

“America is a nation of sports fans and sports players. In fact, it is hard to imagine something more influential in today's society than athletics. As children, we grow up emulating our favorite players in the backyard. Year in and year out we watch and hope that this is the year our favorite team makes it to the Super Bowl, the World Series, or the Big Dance. And every 4 years we watch in pride and tally the medals as American athletes compete in the Olympic games. Every day millions of young people from across the country share the same dream of one day playing in the big leagues. But the reality is that most will never get the chance. In an average year, there are approximately 2 million high school boys playing football, baseball, and basketball. Another 68,000 men are playing the sports in college and 2,500 are participating at the major/professional level. In short, only 1 in 736, or 0.14 percent will ever play professional sports. With that kind of competition, compounded by the lure of fame, endorsements and multi-million dollar contracts, an increasing number of young athletes are giving in to the seduction of performance enhancing drugs hoping to gain an edge on their peers. And what can you expect when some of the biggest superstars in sports have been found using steroids as a way to improve their performance.”