In Memory of Steve Bechler
From the Cheap Seats
by Chris Hahn
From the Cheap Seats sends condolences and sympathies to the family, friends, and other loved ones of Steve Bechler.
It is always tough to hear about an athlete passing away during his prime. Perhaps what is most scary is that it makes the rest of us ‘unfit’ folks acknowledge our mortality. Unfortunately, part of being in the public’s eye means that such an untimely death is bound to come under scrutiny. I hope, however, that the family of Steve Belcher can be allowed to grieve without constant scrutiny as to his actions and how they contributed to this sad story. The sporting world should focus on using his memory to save the lives of others without tarnishing his own.
The world of sports has become a world that surrounds and swallows athletes of all ages. The big-time pressure of performing day-in, day-out has filtered down from the professional ranks to collegiate and pre-college levels. As the LeBron James phenomenon has easily demonstrated, today’s world of mass media hype can cause kids who can’t even vote to feel the rest of the country breathing down their necks. And as the pressure on young athletes builds, they instinctively look for the edge they need to be better than the other guy.
The latest trend in getting that edge is sports supplements. The problem is that many of these supplements make it on the shelves before anyone really knows the potential long-term affects. That unknown doesn’t seem to matter, though, as athletes line up in droves to become bigger and better in order to get an edge on their competition. Even the best-of-the-best are known to take some type of supplement (see Mark McGwire), and the MLB steroid scandal last season revealed that many athletes accepted potential health issues in their future if it helped them produce results in the present. But is this ‘win at all costs’ mentality healthy?
Unfortunately, it may take Bechler’s death to provide the startling wake-up call that those future health risks may not be so far in the future. Although many thought the death of Korey Stringer would provide this realization, football boot camp is quite different from the Grapefruit League preps. Perhaps athletes will now realize that many of these over-the-counter supplements are not worth messing with, regardless of the short-term benefit.
I will not claim that this tragedy will be ‘worth it’ if it keeps other athletes from a similar fate…I don’t believe in such a trade-off. However, given that we are at a point where certain things cannot be undone, I hope we can use this experience as a lesson, especially to the younger athletes that are growing up in the world of sports and hype and supplements. While learning from this event and preventing it elsewhere cannot bring Steve Bechler back, at least we can honor his memory.