The Pat on Sports: Supplements are not Steroids
BY PATRICK PEBLEY

Well shock of shocks the Knoxville media has come to Campbell County to find something else to complain about. This time it is the use of nutritional supplements like protein powders and creatine. Both of these are common with anybody who lifts weights, especially if they are competitive athletes.
Of course the way the rumor mill in Campbell County goes these have been turned into evil anabolic steroids. Let me tell you I have been involved in athletics for a long time and know my way around a weight room. Comparing protein powders and creatine to anabolic steroids is the equivalent of comparing my Mustang to a car from NASCAR.
I have been around steroid users and if the kids playing at Campbell County have been using them they need to get their money back.
It is easy to spot a steroid user. They tend to retain water, lose their hair, and have acne problems. They also tend to be built more like the folks that grace the cover of Flex magazine. Nobody playing for Campbell County looks like that. They look like normal high school athletes that put their time in during weight training.
When I was at ETSU I lived down the hall from a pair of steroid users. They were high school basketball players from a West Knoxville high school that decided they wanted to “get big”.
In their quest they discovered anabolic steroids. I watched them go from normal sized athletic college students to monstrous freaks that look like they stepped directly off the mother ship in less than a semester.
I have to admit that I was impressed by their gains. I probably would have considered taking steroids myself at that point.
One incident changed that. I was coming home from class one day and noticed there were several campus cop cars in front of the dorm. “Great, they have found something bad in my room”, I thought. As it turned out the two guys I mentioned above had flown into a roid rage.
They wouldn’t really let us in so I stood outside and watched the furniture fly from their third floor window. They threw their TV, microwave, and dorm fridge out their window. Most stunning though was the fact they fold their room chairs in half and tossed them out the window as well. If you have ever been to college you know what these chairs are like. If you haven’t they are bulky, wooden, and only marginally comfortable. But they are built to last and certainly are not easily folded. At this point I decided that maybe I should just stick to lifting weights without any chemical enhancements. Lord knows I was already losing enough hair anyway.
Back to the Campbell County situation now. I certainly do not think Coach Wells was in the wrong letting these kids use these supplements. I know for a fact that most schools do use them. They are pretty safe if taken according to the directions printed on the label.
Creatine is dangerous if you do not properly hydrate after using it though. I also know from my time as a coach that very few youth athletes properly hydrate. Mountain Dew is considered a source of water for them but the sad truth is that soda dehydrates you further.
Hopefully several valuable lessons were learned by this incident. One is that supplements, while very good, must be used according to the directions. Two is that improper use can lead to health problems. Three is that the Knoxville media will gladly run here for the kind of story that wouldn’t even be a blip on the radar if it happened in Knoxville.
Supplements are now officially banned in Campbell County Schools. Hopefully the kids that are working out will continue to use them and use them properly at home.

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