As a longtime sports announcer, Bob Costas has seen almost everything.

Costas has covered nearly every major sporting event in the world. He has covered seven Olympics, as well as the Super Bowl, NBA Finals and World Series with NBC. The 19-time Emmy winner has gained insight into the larger issues in the world of sports.

Costas visited Des Moines on Thursday, as part of Drake University’s Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series, and discussed a wide range of issues outside the box score.

While having covered so many sports, Costas doesn’t hide the fact that his favorite sport is baseball. Not surprisingly, the issues facing Major League Baseball were in the forefront for Costas as he met with reporters Thursday morning, with steroids being among them.

“I think baseball has done a very good job, although belatedly, improving their program concerning performance-enhancing drugs, testing for more substances, testing more often, ratcheting up the extent of the punishment,” he said.

Costas said performance-enhancing drugs are a reality in professional sports today, something fans should realize as they watch a game.

“It’s pretty clear that drugs throughout sports are a significant problem,” Costas said. “When you watch sports today, no matter what kind of romantic notions we sometimes attach to sports, a sophisticated person realizes that probably a certain portion of what we see in all high level sports is probably inauthentic.”

As Barry Bonds chases Hank Aaron’s all-time home-run record in baseball, Costas said there is no doubt his record will be tainted.

“He would have never been able, even in the prime of his career, let alone at what should be the tail end of his career, do what he has done for several seasons even for a month or two months without performance-enhancing drugs,” Costas said. “It’s obvious, it’s true, everybody knows it, and it’s not an authentic performance.

Another issue facing Major League Baseball is the marketing system, giving larger-market teams that are able to generate a larger payroll a decided advantage over teams in smaller markets.

“You still have a significant gap between those at the top and those at the bottom of the revenue generating scale,” he said. “If Kansas City or Pittsburgh or Milwaukee were ever to win something, it would have to be a lightning-in-a-bottle situation.”

Costas wrote a book, “Fair Ball: A Fan’s Case for Baseball,” addressing some of these issues. He said he didn’t want his celebrity status to give him a free pass, and made it a priority to make sure his writing was worthwhile, despite that he is a broadcaster more than a writer.

“I think your obligation, if you have some sort of public recognition, is if you’re going to write a book, if you’re going to go out and give a talk, make the quality of it worthwhile,” he said.

The lecture itself took on a lighter tone Thursday evening at the Knapp Center, as thousands of people saw Costas open up with stories about various events he has witnessed, including humorous stories about famous announcer Jack Buck, former voice of the St. Louis Cardinals, and baseball Hall-of-Famer Yogi Berra.

Costas allowed audience questions, which ranged from settling arguments with friends about the best baseball players and discussing issues of the game. Drake freshman Ted Schleisman said he thought Costas did a good job of keeping the atmosphere light while still touching on the pressing issues.

“I thought it was the perfect blend of humor along with insightful anecdotes and good messages about the sporting world and the baseball world,” Schleisman said.

“He’s juiced from here to Pluto”

– Costas on Barry Bonds

Visit www.iowastatedaily.net to read more of acclaimed sports broadcaster Bob Costas’ thoughts on steroids, race and economics in baseball and Michael Jordan’s last NBA Finals appearance.