Jackson Free Press

Last week, Major League Baseball suspended Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. Braun already got out of another positive PED test on a technicality last year.

Joining Braun in the PED Hall of Shame last week was U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay. The former world champion is now out of the World Championships this year in Moscow, Russia.

The NFL and National Football League Players Association finally made some progress on testing for human growth hormone. One of the biggest fights between the union and the league was blood testing for HGH.

I believe Braun and Gay should be treated like they gambled on their sport. They should be banned for life for using PEDs.

We marvel at what athletes can accomplish on the court, field or track, because the elite in any sport can do things with their athletic gifts that we laymen can only dream of doing ourselves.

By using PEDs, they not only cheat their teammates and fellow competitors, but they also cheat us. The reason we look up to them in their respective fields of sport is because of their perceived natural abilities.

It seems like such a lie to find out the only reason an athlete is able to be so great is because of drug use.

In fact, I can forgive former baseball great Pete Rose for gambling. Rose was (or maybe still is) in the grips of a disease--which is what gambling is, a disease. Rose, like any addict, had to gamble to get his fix. But using PEDs doesn't come from a disease, unless the disease is greed.

Braun and other PED users only take drugs to enhance their performances for the money and fame that they earn on the athletic field. They cheat to get the next big contract or endorsement deal.

Using PEDs also cheats someone else out of a roster spot--some player who is clean, but didn't make it to the big leagues because a cheater took their spot.

Baseball has allowed cheating to run rampant, to the point that its record book is tainted. Barry Bonds is listed as the home-run leader with 762 homers, displacing Hank Aaron's rightful place at the top of the list.

PED users Bonds and Mark McGwire were allowed to cheat Roger Maris out of his single-season home run record. Both Maris and Aaron should still top the record book, but baseball allowed cheaters to steal others' true-earned glory.

In my opinion, none of the known PED users should be allowed in the MLB Hall of Fame. In fact, no known PED users in any sport should be allowed to enter their respective Hall of Fame.

If players were banned from their sport for life for using illegal drugs, I bet PED use would dry up quickly. These athletes wouldn't want to risk losing their fame and fortune.