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Steroid Use

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Submitted By 8u774l8k
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Dylan Moreau

Dr. Monteiro

ENGL 1301 - 376

10/21/14

Cheaters Never Win

Picture yourself and your family at the ball park on a nice Friday afternoon. The game starts, and the first pitch is thrown, and boom, a home run! The next batter comes up to bat, the pitch, and another home run! Before you know it, the score is 10 to zero in the first inning. This is not what you had in mind coming to the game, but now it is almost certain every hitter will knock one out of the park. The predictability makes the game no fun to watch, and strips the game of it's natural flow of things. The use of steroids in sports is wrong because is undermines the game being played, not to mention they are banned in most, if not all, professional sports around the world.

There are multiple ways to look at this issue, but regardless of which way you choose there are concrete facts about steroids that should make you think twice before choosing a side. The use can halt growth in adolescents, cause behavioral side effects, psychological issues, and inflict major physical distortions. These conditions apply to both males and females and include acne, clotting disorders, liver damage, premature heart attacks, strokes, and elevated levels of cholesterol to say the least. With all of that being said, some might question why anybody would consider taking this drug. Due to our modern love for sports and competition, athletes around the world are willing to do almost anything to make it to the top. They have devised methods of taking steroids without getting caught and will continue to do so as long as they leave with a win or a gold metal. According to Dr. Richard T. Bosshardt, a medical expert on the subject, “Sports can teach children to young adults so many valuable lessons: the value of hard work, consistency, and goal setting... To have this undermined by doping among those athletes we most admire alone makes doping unacceptable” (p. J.6). So not only are steroids affecting the game, the players, it is also affecting the youth who inevitability look up to their sports heroes.

When someone talks about their achievements, you should respect them especially if they worked really hard and dedicated themselves to their craft. Imagine if right after someone finishes telling you about their accomplishments they tell you that they flat out cheated to get there. You would immediately lose all respect for that person because they took the easy way out. The same applies in sports when someone breaks a record and soon thereafter it is known that they used some type of synthetic supplement to enhance their abilities. Nobody would respect their record because they know that the record was set by the person with the help of an illegal substance. But there are multiple way to look at the use of steroids in sports. Some might argue that since steroids are already being used very widely in sport around the globe, that they should be legal but only under medical supervision. This would mean that athletes would not have to keep experimenting on themselves and medical experts could tell them exactly how much and when to take these supplements. Kate Schmidt, a medalist in the Olympics, states “The drugs are a fact of life in sports, so let's make them legitimate and safe” (n .P. 1). Coming from an elite athlete, she has an inside perspective on how the games are played, and what it takes to make it to the top. She is addressing the fact that since steroids are already abused, why not regulate the use and capitalize on the money to be made. There would be more records to be broken, more advertisements, and more money to be made with athletes excelling in their field of play. However, knowing that all of the professional athletes are using steroids to do the amazing feats they do would undermine their true abilities. We would never know the true human limits when it comes to competitive sports because everyone participating would be altering their natural abilities with synthetics. Everybody is different and sure there are people out there who would love to watch people hit home runs nonstop, and constantly break records knowing that it is all a hoax. Kevin Baxter offers another perspective, “Baseball was drained of its charm and innocence long ago, when it went from being a kids' game to the multibillion-dollar enterprise we know as Baseball Inc.” (p. C.1). Mr. Baxter is referring to how the game used to be played for fun, and now it is all about doing whatever it takes to make as much money as possible. And how modern athletes will disregard the respect for the game and focus on making the big bucks while cheating to do so. This poses a problem because the game is now being played for the wrong reasons.

Cheating to do something or to get somewhere in life should never be encouraged or instilled upon the youth. This simply discredits everything we have been saying about hard work, and the legitimacy of our accomplishments. Not everyone in the world is cut out to be an all star athlete, olypian, or a professional at something, but as long as we have the right mentality about how to get things done the right way, the world will become a better place.

Works Cited

Baxter, Kevin. "Taking Heart and Soul Out of Game." Los Angeles Times. 14 Jan. 2014: C.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

Bosshardt, Richard T. "Doping Is More Than Just Cheating." Orlando Sentinel. 17 Jul. 2011: J.6. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

Schmidt, Kate. "Steroids: Take One for the Team." Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA). Oct. 14 2007: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.

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