If you read most sports columnists and listen to the blathering of politicians, it's just awful that athletes have taken steroids and, by using them, have found the added power to break records.I suppose these critics would like to turn the page back before Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa were having that spectacular, summer long home run derby. To me, that was one of the greatest personal rivalries in the history of sport.

So, now we hear they were juiced, pumped to the gills with chemicals.Who isn't?.That gal at the office who has been chatting her way to sale after sale, secretly powered by diet pills, should she give back the company paid vacation she won in the recent sales contest?.Should her name be stricken from the corporate record books and that plaque on the wall be removed, the one proclaiming her to be the best of all time?.The shareholders don't care.

She lit a fire under other reps, including every woman in the place who admired her run for the gold, and sought to outdo their "personal bests.".Last year's winner, Bill, was also juiced most of the time.

Word has it he schmoozed and boozed his way to more than one big sale. That extra scotch habit may have given him all the confidence he needed.What about those actors and actresses that binge and purge to fit the part? George Clooney put on an extra 40 pounds for his Academy Award winning turn in "Syriana," possibly using more than chocolate shakes to put it on and then to take it off.Heck, even the great Babe Ruth played drunk, arguably better drunk. Who will ever know?.Mickey Mantle, was also known to self-medicate, otherwise, the excruciating pain in his legs might not have carried him around the bases after his homers.

Let's not dismantle the trophy case or disinherit some of the best athletes of all time.I don't care if they're juiced. I want to see the best performances from the best athletes, and if they accomplish this through some chemical experimentation, no problem!.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of Customersatisfaction.

com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, "The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable," published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.

D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

By: Dr. Gary S. Goodman