A dose of reality from professional wrestling

The statistics are appalling. What's most appalling of all, though, is that it took decades for anyone to give a damn.

If you have been following the media coverage of WWE wrestler Chris Benoit's double murder-suicide, you've probably run into some information concerning wrestling's sketchy history of wellness (or lack thereof), with performers dropping dead at middle age -- or younger -- at a startling rate.

Regardless of how Benoit's toxicology tests turn out -- and we probably won't have that information for weeks or months -- pro wrestling is long overdue for change. While you can't put all of the blame squarely on one person or entity, the horrible truth is that this industry and its performers have proved, individually and as a whole, that they are gravely incapable of instituting a healthy lifestyle on their own.

They are grown men, for sure. But if the death toll shows anything, it's that these grown adults need a babysitter. Pro wrestling needs to be changed from within, and quickly. The "sport" might be fake, but the tragedies are very real. If internal regulation doesn't happen quickly, outside forces are preparing to step in.

And just think -- if authorities had not found steroids in Benoit's home during their investigation, the wrestling industry would probably be off the hook for this one, too.

Scapegoating baseball

Barry Bonds is about to eclipse Hank Aaron's all-time home run record, and the writers in sports media circles absolutely hate it. Bonds is the poster child for alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. He was the focus of the book Game of Shadows and has been the target of an ongoing federal investigation regarding perjury.

Is Barry Bonds' home run record chase spoiling the media's steroid agenda? (AP)

Yet Bonds is playing the role of spoiler for many writers. He continues to hit home runs and laugh all the way to the bank. That's not how the media wants to see his career end. Bonds wasn't supposed to succeed and reach the top of the mountain. It's not the media's definition of a storybook ending.

Barry Bonds is supposed to be the negative image of steroids in baseball. The campaign against Bonds and others associated with BALCO was supposed to inspire sports fans to demand changes to clean up America's national pastime. Instead, the media has been greeted with a mixture of antipathy and begrudging acceptance by the fans in relation to Bonds' home run chase. Fans suspect they might know what Bonds has done to increase his physical size and hit more home runs, but their reaction to Bonds' chase of the record has been relatively subdued.

Fans tend to be smarter than their counterparts in the media. They understand that athletes cheat. A lot. Fans also try to rationalize some of the cheating. "If you're not cheating, you're not trying" is a phrase commonly uttered. If you had a chance to make millions of dollars by taking performance-enhancing drugs even if you knew it would shave years off of your life, would you do it? Publicly, fans might say no. Privately, most would likely say yes.

Baseball was supposed to be the template for members of the sports media to go after athletes for their rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs. Steroids. Amphetamines. With spring training, a 162-game regular season, and rounds of playoffs, it is natural that baseball could be a sport that fosters an environment of cheating by taking performance-enhancing drugs. In terms of steroid abuse, it was the prime sport for outside forces such as Congress to make a public example. If only baseball could be cleaned up, then it would supposedly send a message to kids that steroids and other drugs are not good for them.

After the tragic murder-suicide last week involving Benoit, it looks like Congress and the sports media glossed over one of the biggest industries in professional sports, which has a storied history of rampant steroid and prescription drug abuse.

That "sport" is professional wrestling.