Another wrestler dead, and no one cares
Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 8:20 PM
This one is so common, it’s barely news: Chase Tatum, a 34-year-old ex-professional wrestler, was found dead in his home. The probable cause of death is an accidental drug overdose.
For those of you keeping score at home, the toll of wrestlers and former wrestlers who have died before the age of 50 since 1997 is closing in on 70. That is a significant number. As Sports Illustrated’s Frank Deford observed last year, it’s the equivalent of 435 premature deaths among NFL players and alumni or 186 major league baseball players and alumni.
This should be seen as a national disgrace, but for some reason, it provokes little more than a yawn. Maybe it’s just because there are so many who die young (There’s a list of the departed here.) we’re used to it.
The only time we notice if it’s something really spectacular, like when Chris Benoit took out his wife, his 7-year-old son and himself last June. But if there’s shock, I’ve yet to see any outrage.
Professional wrestling isn’t baseball; the outcomes are scripted and it’s entertainment masquerading as sport. Just the same, the heroes and villains of the genre are enormously popular, particularly among those young and impressionable kids that Congresspersons always make sure to refer to when they’re grilling Bud Selig or Roger Clemens. Hulk Hogan is a cultural icon; Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota, which is a real state.
It isn’t just athletes who use steroids. The drugs are quite popular in gyms among people who just want to look big and buff – like those rasslers on TV. And Congress hasn’t even mentioned that a lot of law enforcement personnel use them – yeah, the guys who are out busting kids for smoking joints.
Two years ago, John Hoberman, a professor at the University of Texas and author of “Testosterone Dreams: Rejuvenation, Aphrodisia, Doping,” had this to say when Congress was holding another of its sports-and-steroids hearings:
One of the remarkable anomalies of the anti-steroid campaign of the past two decades is that it has virtually ignored the many reports of steroid use by police officers in the United States and in other countries. Unknown but clearly significant numbers of policemen have imported, smuggled, sold, and used anabolic steroids over this time period. According to an article that appeared in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin in 1991: "Anabolic steroid abuse by police officers is a serious problem that merits greater awareness by departments across the country."
For the full article, go here.
This is standard procedure in Congress for a lot of things – go after whatever will get you the most headlines and don’t worry about the rest of the problem. What the voters don’t know won’t hurt you.
In defense of Congress, the subcommittee that earlier this year called in the commissioners of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB also asked WWE impresario Vince McMahon to stop by to talk about steroids in his “sport.” McMahon said he couldn’t make it – his lawyer was busy. A few subcommittee members expressed displeasure, but that was pretty much it.
McMahon, who claims to have a drug testing policy at WWE and even announces suspensions from time to time, said he’s really interested in the problem. He just can’t make it to the hearings. The no-show was barely mentioned in the stories on the hearings.
Can you imagine the wrath that would have followed if Bud Selig had told Congress to take a hike? Can you imagine the headlines?
But it’s just wrestling, and we don’t care. If I were Roger Clemens, I’d really be ticked.
