The Psychology of Sports
By Dr. Richard Lustberg and Charles Deitch

 On The Couch: An Analysis of Current Topics and Issues in Sport
December 8, 2004

Steroids: Jason, Bobby, Sammy and The Fans

As the most recent revelations regarding the confirmed steroid use by some of sports’ biggest athletes continue to roll out of the closet, many fans, and others connected to the sports world are in total shock.

Their worlds have been rocked.

“You mean to tell me that Jason Giambi and now Barry Bonds and a potato sack full of famous and not-so-famous baseball players have been taking steroids?” they’re asking inquisitively. “How could I have been so blind? Where have I been all these years?

“Did my eyes deceive me when I saw Barry Bomb, Jason Gigantic, and maybe even Sammy So-Urge morph into muscled-bodied superheroes who accomplished feats that even Willie Mays could not?  What must I have been thinking?”

The real question here, however, is what were the fans and the baseball community thinking? The answer is simple. They weren’t. Based upon media reports, interviews, and water-cooler gossip, there appears to be an atmosphere of denial, mixed with ambivalence, and sprinkled with tacit acceptance.

Denial is a very powerful psychological tool and coping mechanism that is used pervasively by individuals. There are a million drug addicts out there who will tell you they don’t have a problem. Others are in denial about their relationships, jobs, and just about anything else dealing with life on this planet. 

There are many athletes who remain in denial. O.J still believes he is not guilty; Pete Rose still thinks his career and reputation smells like one; and Barry the Bomb has told us he was just using a sophisticated version of Ben Gay? And what about Scott Peterson, Has he confessed yet? Oops, wrong reference. While Peterson made lying look like an Olympic event, he’s no athlete.

So why should sports fans be any different from the rest of us? It is amazing how many people who watch the WWE remain convinced that what they see on the screen and in arenas is not scripted. So, it is just a short emotional jump to apply our natural tendencies toward denial to baseball.

Why are the fans in denial?  Because what they obtain from sporting events and players fulfills a great deal of their psychological and emotional needs. In the face of overwhelming evidence against these players, what else could explain their reaction? In terms of Barry Bonds, it is clear that many fans are and remain thrilled and excited to see him perform his on-field feats.

The psychological escape and the need to fulfill our desires to watch our heroes succeed, allows us to overlook the obvious. We need these players to do this for us because we fear there wouldn’t be anything else to get excited about.

Some may say we have not progressed as a civilization from the days of the Roman Coliseum where the crowds roared as two warriors fought to death, or when the Mayans used to sacrifice the captain of a losing team of an ancient basketball-style game. However, we are making progress when compared to these historic sporting event highlights of the past.

Common sense also suggests that a certain subset of fan does not care whether Barry, Jason or Sammy, are found to have used performance enhancing drugs. After all, it does not affect the fan’s life, and to see one of these players hit an indescribable moon shot is worth the risk to the player’s life. It’s just a game, a form of entertainment. If players want to jeopardize their careers and health, who are we to stop them?

We live in an era where performance-enhancing drugs, like Viagra, Levitra, Botox, and other sophisticated narcotics, are commonplace. So it’s no surprise that some fans simply shrug when they learn their favorite players are juiced up.

Also overlooked, is the fact that some fans themselves are taking illegal substances in gyms, in homes and on playing fields across the country. To condemn these athletes would be hypocritical and, at the very least, would force self-condemnation and self-introspection by these fans. For a lot of people it’s easier to live in a world of denial and rationalization than to come to grips with their own issues.

We are a society of great scientific advancements. We are also a society that has no problem bastardizing those advancements for the exact opposite purpose than was intended. Sadly, thanks to the actions of Barry, Jason and others, as well as the blatant blind eye turned by the public, it looks as if we’ll become more infamous for the bastardization, than famous for the discovery.