Performance Enhancing Drugs and their Effects

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Performance Enhancing Drugs and their Effects

Sports are America's number one source of entertainment. We often love to see game-winning homeruns, hail marys, eighty yard runs, and records being broken. We want OUR athletes to be at their best. We do not care at whose expense this entertainment comes, we just want our money's worth. How do these athletes perform at such high levels day in and day out? Most of them go to the gym and hit the weights or go to the ball field and practice some hitting. But others take an easier way out. They decide to cheat themselves of becoming a truly better athlete. Those cheating athletes turn to performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids or androstenedione, a.k.a. andro. These players feel the negative consequences of these drugs are out-weighed by the positive consequences. Those players are wrong.

As a fan of sports, I want my favorite teams or players to be at their best. I want them to win. No, not just win; I want them to be spectacular in doing it. I want my team to give me heart-stopping action. Whether it is a homerun in the bottom of the ninth to win the World Series or it is a buzzer beater from half court to win the game, either way my team has to be great. I do not care about their practice habits or what is going on in their household; I just want them to perform at their best every night. I know most of you are guilty of this too. We turn on the TV at the beginning of the baseball game and the announcer says, "Joe Schmo won't be playing tonight cause of a broken leg he suffered last night in a terrible car accident." At first you will be shocked and hope he is ok. Then you ask the TV, expecting to get an answer, "When is he gonna be back?!?!"

Sports today have become so competitive that players will hurt others to win or at least get an edge. If they do not hurt others, they hurt themselves. Lately there have been many cases of players being caught with some type of performance-enhancing drug. It seems that the pressure for these players to succeed has pushed them to the level of "at all costs". Recently, ex-Major League Baseball (MLB) superstar Jose Canseco admitted to using anabolic steroids while he was in the pros. Canseco was one of the premiere hitters in his time. Canseco a...

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Work Cited

Associated Press. “FDA attempts to stem sale of andro.” 11 March 2004. ESPN. 15 April

2004. .

Breeder, Craig E. “Oral Andro-Related Prohormone Supplementation: Do the Potential

Risks Outweigh the Benefits?” Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology 28 (2003): 102-17.

“Caminiti Comes Clean: Ex-MVP says he won award while using steroids.” 28 May 2002

Sports Illustrated.Com. 22 April 2004. .

Community Drug Alert Bulletin: Anabolic Steroids. U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Bethesda, MD. April 2000.

Bechtel, Mark: Kennedy, Kostya: Swift, E.M.. “Bodies of Evidence.” Sports Illustrated.

14 April 2003: 25.

Llosa, Luis Fernando: Munson, Lester: Wertheim, L Jon. “Jolt of Reality.” Sports

Illustrated 7 April 2003: 68-76.

Research Report Series: Anabolic Steroid Abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

National Institute of Health. April 2000.

Rushin, Steve. “Big Man In The Big House.” Sports Illustrated 30 June 2003: 17-19.

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