Baseball: The Steroid Problem.
The year 1998 was considered to be one of the most exciting years of baseball. Mark McGwire, first baseman for the Saint Louis Cardinals, and Sammy Sosa, outfielder for the Chicago Cubs were teeing off Home Runs in the midwest sky. Both Sosa and McGwire were chasing Roger Maris’s seemingly “unbeatable” record. In 1961, Maris hit 61 Home Runs, setting the record for most home runs in a single season. Throughout the years, players came close, but were unable to break the seemingly invincible record, until the 1998 season. Then, not only did one player surpass the 61 home run mark, but two players did: McGwire ended the season with 70 hits; while Sosa ended with 66. This was an exciting time for the MLB, 1998
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The guidelines had two main factors: One, each player would be tested at least twice a year; two, the punishment for offenders was also dramatically increased, first time offenders would be given a fifty game ban,without pay, a second time would result in a suspension of 100 games, and third time offenders would be banned for life. In reality, players have and always will use an unfair advantage as success is measured by an athlete's ability to keep ahead. Whether It be pine tar, amphetamines or steroids. By banning steroids, players have resorted to using undetected illegal substances. Therefore, instead of banning PED’s altogether, it should be allowed with one major stipulation, the MLB should create a committee dedicated to the sale and use of steroids. Current commissioner Rob Manfred should allow players to use them at their own risk by creating and controlling a legal market. This would eliminate players from using worse illegal and undetected drugs and would give each player the same potential advantage. If instead of going through a black market, it was legalized, doctors could create less harmful PED’s. In addition, this would cause more …show more content…
Fans go to games to watch superhuman athletes play, not average ones. McGwire and Sosa generated so much fanfare because they did the impossible. Only years later, Barry Bonds astounded fas around the world, as he broke McGwire’s record. As the great Vince Lombardi once said “Defense wins games, offense sells tickets.” With the absence of steroids, pitchers are taking over the game; by using steroids a player is able to reach his full potential. Dr. LIncoln Allison argues that in truth, steroids are not really “cheating”, they are just a way to bring out the full ability from a player. “A sportsman or woman who seeks an advantage from drugs just moves up to the level appropriate to his or her underlying ability”(107). She suggests that we deal with other, much greater problems, before worrying about teroid issue, ”In general, the risk to health from performance-enhancing drugs is considerably less than that from tobacco or alcohol, and we ought not to apply paternalistic moral assumptions to sport that we are not prepared to apply to the rest of
Jose got ripped, but Mark remained lanky,” (McGwire 123). It was simply Jay’s word against Jose’s. No one will probably ever know the real truth, but what is accurate is Mark using steroids. He even admitted it himself and sent a shockwave through baseball. What is also certain is Mark McGwire will always be Matt Trusty’s baseball hero, regardless of the steroid scandal.
Not only can steroids affect players, but it can also tarnish the name of The Hall of Fame. To me, The Hall of Fame is about hard work, commitment, and dedication. So why let steroids users in The Hall of Fame now? No one
A step in this direction is the new drug testing program that was negotiated and approved by the owners and players for the 2005 season. It is far more comprehensive, intrusive, and punitive than the 2002 program that it replaced. Time will tell whether the new program will rid the sport of the blight which allows juiced-up players to achieve phony records that overshadow authentic accomplishments (Staudohar. 2005).” All players work hard everyday, but the ones who are taking steroids to get ahead faster are just cheating themselves. Although, there could be a brighter side to steroid use.
The prime reason why performance-enhancing drugs (PED’s) are forbidden in professional sports is because they give the users an unjust lead or advantage over the rest of the competitors. Various sports leagues, such as the NFL, and MLB and UFC have attempted to set an even bar by testing for drug use and punishing those tested positive. It’s a noble effort, but it’s clearly not working. This is why its time for a change in the
The article tries explain how an athlete can get PEDs for therapeutic use, it also explains the limitations of this process. It also tries to explain that the reasons that may sway athletes to take illegal PEDs are very complex, these factors range from peer pressure to misleading information on PEDs to many other factors. In addition, the article also examines the dangers of the use of PEDs from a health stand point and a professional stand point. This article I believe provides valuable information for my research as I am trying to formulate the many reasons why an athlete would use performance enhancing
Professional sports are big business, and the use of steroids by professional sports stars compromises the integrity of the game; therefore, the American government has to intervene in order to maintain respectability in professional sports: With the Legislative branch, Congress is ready to propose stricter laws for the usage of steroids by professional athletics, the Executive branch has investigated allegations of steroid abuse by the Major League Baseball with the Mitchell Report, and the Judicial system has weighed in on the abuse of steroids with the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court ruling that records of players in Major League Baseball teams that tested positive for steroid use were not legally obtained. Much heated
By allowing professional athletes to use drugs, what message are we sending out to young sports players and those who idolize their sporting heroes? Is the goal to inform them on how to cheat, or how to use your own muscle and blood to win? Performance-Enhancing drugs used by athletes can cause many health problems and create an unfair advantage to other athletes. Many of the performance enhancers used have serious health risk and allow the use of such substances could cause peer pressure to all athletes to consider using them. Athletes dreaming to improve their performance the easy way are often the first you see to start using substances; this places them at risk of the many consequences.
Athletes are also role models to kids and teenagers and allowing PEDs would make younger athletes want to use them too. But at the same time, maybe PEDs are ethical. Isn’t the goal of professional sports to have the best of the best battling it out on national television? Professional athletes are supposed to be the strongest, fastest, most powerful people in the world, and PEDs would make them stronger, faster, and more powerful.
In conclusion, Performance Enhancing Drugs should not be tolerated in any sport, whether professional or amatuer. These drugs are highly dangerous and even lethal to all athletes who use them. It is also unfair to athletes who choose not to use these drugs, as they are performing on their hard work and talent and not relying on an “edge” to help them reach their goals. These drugs are highly addictive, just like any other street drug or alcohol and can be fatal in many cases.
Athletes who use steroids are not playing for the love of the game but to simply get money. Athletes who use steroids damage their own well-being and the image of the sport. Athletes who use steroids are affecting themselves just as much as the sport itself. Playing a professional sport should be fair; no one should be using steroids. Being great at any sport should be with hard work and dedication, not cheating by using
Every athlete in the world wants to be the best they can be and want to perfect their sport they play. Performance enhancing drugs would exactly make them absolutely perfect but it would put them that much close to conquering that goal. If it was more
One disadvantage of this policy is that it undoubtedly would take some time and effort to establish the program, but with the time and effort would come a decrease in the amount of players who ruin their careers due to drugs, which is ultimately the main goal. Another disadvantage to this is that some people would not be completely persuaded by the program, and would get involved with drugs despite their knowing that drugs are not necessary. This would not be too big of an issue, because the amount of people who would take take drugs after learning of the harmful effects that they can have on the body, would be very small. The final disadvantage of the policy is that some young athletes are inspired to take prescription drugs not only because they believe that they can become a better player while on drugs, but also because their parents take prescription drugs. Some athletes may decide that because their parents take drugs, they should take drugs too.
Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) have been used in sports for many years. The common term for it is doping. It is one of the most important issues among professional athletes today. Doping should not be allowed in professional sports. The use of performance-enhancing drugs creates a disadvantage for the athletes that don't use PEDs since they will not perform as well as the athletes that used the drugs during the game or competition.
Why Steroids? Imagine if you had a record that was so hard to beat, even the legends of that sport couldn’t make an attempt to break it. Then out of nowhere, a person that was never heard of breaks that record you’ve worked your entire life to achieve and the person who broke it was a steroid user. The communities of sports fans have different views on this subject.
Medicine Isn’t Always for the Ill: Allowing the Use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs in Sports In today’s ever-advancing world of science and medicine, the use of performance-enhancing drugs, or PED’s, is becoming increasingly more complex and abundant in professional sports, with competitive cycling having the highest number of reported cases. Performance-enhancing drugs have been used ever since the ancient Olympics in Greece and the popularity has only increased as it becomes easier to use and harder to detect. Due to the ineffectiveness of punishments, lack of accurate testing, and increased availability, performance-enhancing drugs will always find their way into sports, so instead of having athletes permanently barred from a sport they’ve devoted their lives to, and having innocent reputations tarnished from the false-positives of faulty tests, PED users should be included in their own separate league with