Steroid use is not a curse

This was originally posted on the AWEARNESS blog

As a Chicago Cubs fan, I am well versed in curses. So when I read that WWE wrestler, Eki "Eddie" Fatu, had died of a massive heart attack and Yahoo! Sports lumps his death in with many others that have occurred in the wrestling word in the past 10 years, calling the "staggering" deaths a curse, I said heck no! A curse would be if all these men had died in freak accidents worthy of recreation in the next Final Destination franchise. Rather, almost all the men have died of causes that can be traced back to steroid use. That says to me that the WWE has a big drug problem it needs to continue to address rather than a mere curse to break.

I have faith that most of WWE's fans know that it's all entertainment, but that doesn't mean that they necessarily condemn steroid use. They can see that the actors in the ring, jacked up on steroids, are earning a lot of money to make people forget about the worries of life. All the positives of steroid use -- none of the negative side effects.

In males, anabolic steroids can reduce sperm count, shrink the testicles, cause infertility, and enlarge the breasts, among other side effects. In women, they can increase body hair, make skin rough, decrease breast size, enlarge the clitoris, deepen the voice, and cause other biological changes. Are WWE fans thinking of those side effects when they watch their favorite wrestlers in the ring? I doubt it.

I don't know what the answer is for this issue. Suspensions aren't helping and Fatu was kicked out of the WWE for violating their drug policy. But clearly something must be done before the "curse" of steroid use claims more lives.