Today there are two stories that have hit the news wires that reinforce my position that we are surrounded by people who will cheat to look better and to play better. 

There are two stories in the news today – one high profile and one low profile – that serve to illustrate/reinforce my position that people at all levels of society are willing to cheat in order to look good and to play better. 

Let’s talk about Sylvester Stallone and the “customs offences” that he’s about to be charged with in Australia.

In case you missed it, Australian authorities found substances in Stallone’s posse’s luggage that resulted in the 60-year old muscle man being briefly detained, and led to a raid on Stallone’s hotel room and private jet.  According to news reports “body building drugs” and/or human growth hormone were found in the luggage, and today Australian authorities are reportedly going to file charges against Stallone.

The low profile story features a busted steroid ring that operated out of Morris County, New Jersey and included a volunteer football coach from Hanover Park High School among those who did the “perp walk.”  According to authorities, an illegal drug lab in a home in East Hanover was involved in cooking up and/or selling everything from cocaine and prescription drugs to steroids, and that the Hanover Park football coach is accused of selling steroids to at least one 17-year old high school student.

These stories make it crystal clear that everyone from a Hollywood legend on down to high school kids are willing to cheat to look good and play well.  Everywhere you look these days someone is telling you how to look better or what you can do to get into better shape; Hollywood types, infomercial bimbos and himbos, athletes and personal trainers bombard us with their sales pitches every day. 

We’re told the Bowflex will give us the best workout ever while we’re provided with images of models working out on the machine.  How many of you have ever thought about the possibility that these people have either used drugs or plastic surgery in order to improve their appearance?  When you look at an ad for a nutritional/weight loss supplement have you ever thought that the woman in the photo might have had liposuction or breast implants in order to achieve this ideal physique?

Are any of you high school sports fans?  Have any of you ever see a kid – or a group of kids on the same team - who looked like a man among boys from a totally physical standpoint and thought how can that be, can they be on steroids?  Unfortunately, in this day and age this is a valid question. 

In 2006-07 New Jersey implemented a performance-enhancing drug testing program for all kids who play on teams that qualified for the state playoffs in any sport.  The authorities have done this for a reason; they have heard the whispers from the clean coaches and administrators in the state that drugs have started to taint New Jersey’s high school sports scene.  This breaking story out of East Hanover, NJ should shock some people and serve to alert them to the problem that is all around us.

I’ve seen first hand what people who depend on their looks to make a living will do.  Hell, I’ve seen people who don’t make a living based on their looks tell people that they lost weight through a great diet program when I know they had lipo.  I’ve seen women - from all walks of life - who had breast augmentation swear to friends, family and business associates that they didn’t.  I’ve know guys on the juice tell everyone who was in earshot that they got bigger and stronger in 6 weeks or so by clean living, working out and eating chicken breasts.

In just the last month alone we’ve had several more reasons to be totally jaded when it comes to accepting improved athletic performance at face value.  With Stallone’s current Australian trouble we may get a better of idea of how a 60-year old can look like a 40-year old, and it won’t be because of the supplements that he’s been trying to sell to us.

Maybe some good will come of this in that some people will start to realize that you can’t judge a book by its cover and can’t live up to the artificial standards set by the cheaters that are all around us.

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