Steriods in sports

1285 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Performance enhancing drugs within sports

Steroids in Sports
In my opinion, the initial reason a person starts to play any sport is to either to have fun or mainly to emulate their favorite sports figures. So many kids want to swing a bat like Barry Bonds, or rush the football like Jamal Lewis, or play soccer like Pelle’. When I was younger, I wanted to tackle like Lawrence Taylor. Since these children like to do what they see their role models do, what happens if they find out that their favorite person boosts his skills by using illegal substances? Since there are a lot of impressionable minds out there, some of those little fans may be swayed to do the same when they get the chance to. Steroids are addictive, just like marijuana or other illegal substances, and there are some well known athletes abusing them to get a quick “power up” instead of actually working hard to achieve muscle tone, or that extra intensity; that extra strength that they think they need. Steroids are seemingly displacing hard work in today’s sports world.

I asked coach Wilson, my hometown football coach, about his opinion on steroids. “I’ve caught some boys taking steroids personally, and I think the main reason that it’s taken is competition. They usually do not know how to lose, and they will do almost anything to win.” When I asked him what could be done to improve on this problem, “ Well the only thing that I can think of to sort of contain this problem is random testing for athletes.”
“There is now a cream out that players do not have to inject into their blood stream, they just have to rub it on their skin, and it won’t show up in a blood test.” He went on to state that “In Highschool it’s pretty easy to point out most of the kids using.” “You can mainly tell by their attitude, and their size for a highschool student.” Also, he stated that “steroids don’t really make you better, I mean they don’t really increase your speed or agility, they just increase your intensity level, and make you bigger as far as muscles go, but it’s not worth it when you think about the risk those people take with their bodies.” Former baseball all-star, Jose Canseco had a book published, call “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big.” This book pointed the finger at several players accusing them of steroid abuse. Miguel Tejada was among the p...

... middle of paper ...

...kle, that maybe we would have won a game or two, but never did I think about using steroids for the “extra edge” that I thought I needed. I just used other methods of cheating, like tripping players, or holding players, or when there was a fumble, I would get under the pile and kick, and punch, and twist limbs. I cheated legally and we still did not win many games. I can not say that none of my teammates thought about using, but I do not think so, and from a personal locker room relationship with them, I do not think any of them used steroids while I was on the team. We lost our games honestly, “well sort of.”

Steroids are “eating up” the sports world as we know it. Whether it is giving players who are already good, unfair advantages, or killing and or crippling steroid abusers for life. All major sports, from baseball to track and field are cracking down on the usage of steroids. There is not yet a way to completely stop it, but random testing, and psychological profiles can help contain the problem. Also the media should use discretion when reporting these problems on the news or in the newspapers, as they would when talking about other substances.

Show More
Related

  • Should Baseball Players who Used Steroids be Allowed in The Hall of Fame?

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... middle of paper ... ... Major league baseball players have a huge influence on many children and teenagers and should think more responsibly before taking steroids and becoming a bad influence. When children notice that a major league baseball player goes from being good to being great, children begin to like them more and more and start to try and be more like them.

    Read More

  • Steroids in Baseball

    2573 Words  | 6 Pages

    The issue of performance enhancing substances in baseball has been mostly present over the past ten years. The reason for players taking steroids is simple, by taking steroids, hitters like Barry Bonds gained more strength to hit better averages and more home runs, while pitchers like Roger Clemens gained better stam...

    Read More

  • Steroids Effects on baseball and the Players

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    Steroids have become prevalent in baseball, with more players getting involved with them. Although they entered the game through trainer Curtis Wenzlaff in 1992, they have become a big part of the Major League today in 2014. However, players and the game's image suffer when they become caught up in steroids. Some of the best players to ever play the game, including Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire, have been caught up in steroids. These players are supposed to be role models for younger kids, yet when they see their idols using steroids, they are tempted to use them as well.

    Read More

  • Steroids in Baseball

    1986 Words  | 4 Pages

    Steroids have become an athletic advantage to those becoming the best. Steroids first used in the early 1990’s were used by players as an everyday supplement, providing a boost in their game. This has evolved into a daily habit for players and teen accessing a life destroying choices just to be the best for once. For steroids have developments in the scandal with “13 Major League Baseball players, including Alex Rodriguez- the highest paid player in professional baseball” (Woerner). Showing PED’s will destroy the things you love the most, but only “effective in the short term” (Woerner). Meaning that the little amount you took won’t last you a lifetime.

    Read More

  • Steroids are Ruining Sports in the United States

    1556 Words  | 4 Pages

    Steroids are ruining sports in the United States, and they are also going to ruin future athletes if the United States does not put a stop to it. Many young athletes in the United States are taking performance enhancing drugs because they see that professional athletes are doing it and getting results. These teenagers are using steroids because they want to look muscular and fit, but they are not aware of the negative effects steroids have on their bodies. Young athletes do not know that they are not only risking their careers but also their bodies. Steroids may make a person look muscular and fit, but at the same time, it is ruining their heart. Steroids also cause people to act differently and do foolish things like using other drugs. Parents can prevent steroid use by teaching their children about it at a young age and staying involved in their children’s sport lives. Steroids have ruined professional careers. They ruined Lance Armstrong, Marion Jones, and Barry Bonds’ careers and almost ruined Alex Rodriguez’s career. Professional athletes use steroids to improve their performance which is cheating. The game is not fair if someone is performing better by using drugs, and everybody should be performing with what they got. There are many different ways to achieve what they want in fair and healthier way. Many high school athletes are using steroids in the United States. They are not doing it under a doctor’s supervision; therefore, they are ruining their bodies without them knowing. Many of these athletes are looking at the outcome only and not what there are doing to their bodies in addition to getting stronger, muscular, and fit. All governing sport bodies in the United States need to take steroid testing seriously and give at...

    Read More

  • Drugs, Cheating, and the Purity of America's Pastime

    2872 Words  | 6 Pages

    Most children who have grown up in an American household have at one point in their lives looked up to sports figures as heroes. Whether it was your grandfather telling his stories of watching Babe Ruth become a legend, your father’s stories of Mickey Mantle and the legendary Yankee teams of the 1950’s and 1960’s, or your own memory of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chasing the home run record, the feeling of wholesomeness that baseball provides has always found its way into many people’s hearts. Steroids have tarnished these sacred memories, cast doubts in the minds of many on the legitimacy of records and statistics and finally affected the way younger players play the game.

    Read More

  • Steroids Impact on Major League Baseball

    1617 Words  | 4 Pages

    Since at least the 1980’s performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) have been a major challenge in the world of Major League Baseball, and past trends indicate they will continue to pose an ongoing problem. A number of the most prominent and accomplished professional baseball players, such as Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Roger Clemens, are also the most famous examples of baseball players who have broken longstanding records, attracted countless numbers of fans, and allegedly have taken performance-enhancing drugs. Athletes who have been caught using steroids in order to increase and better their performance rates have been suspended, fined and traded from the teams on which they once played. Despite the punitive actions taken against them by the League and lawmakers, players continue to use performance-enhancing drugs and likely will continue to do so, because the associated athletic effects will draw more fans and bring more money to the individual player and franchise.

    Read More

  • The Steroid Era

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    The era in sports from the late 90s and into the 2000s has often been nicknamed “The Steroid Age” due to the raging use of anabolic steroids and other PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) by professional athletes. The usage of drugs in sports has never been more prevalent during this time, and many people are making it their goal to put an end to the abuse. Influential athletes such as Lance Armstrong, Alex Rodriguez, and Roger Clemens, who were once held as the highest role models to the American people, now watch as their legacies are tarnished by accusations of drug use. The American population, and lovers of sports everywhere, have followed in astonishment through recent years as many beloved athletes reveal their dark secrets. As organizations such as the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) and BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative) attempt to halt the use of PEDs, both the drug users and their high-end suppliers work diligently to avoid detection. The use of performance enhancing drugs in recent years has proven to be cancerous to the honesty and competition of modern sports. Although some strides have been made over the past few decades, the use of steroids is in full swing in Major League Baseball, The dangerous side effects of the drugs are often overlooked and many do not realize the message this sends to the youth. The support for halting the usage of PEDs is in need of attention or professional sports will face the loss of all progress made through the past two decades in its war on steroids.

    Read More

  • Anabolic Steroid Use by Athletes

    3175 Words  | 7 Pages

    Steroids are used as much in sports now as they have ever been in the past, even with stricter testing and knowledge of the harmful side effects. Olympians are especially prone to use these drugs because of the great pressure put on these athletes, but it is becoming wide spread through all sports. For the most part, the athletes get away with steroid use because of new technologies and using patterns which make the steroids undetectable to the tests.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Steroids

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    Imagine a world of sports without the worry of steroids. Now picture one where everyone is on them. Which is the better way? Thousands of years ago Olympic athletes saw the greatest achievement was simply taking part in such a special event. A lot of people argue that the use of steroids is sports is cheating. It is giving an unfair advantage to athletes over those who aren't using. But a counter argument says that a wealthy athlete has an advantage anyway. These individuals have the ability to buy the best trainers and virtually have no worries. This can be considered an unfair advantage but is still allowed by all perfesional sports. For good or for bad what is steriods doing to our world class athletes and entertainment around the world?

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech: Steroid Use Among Athletes

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    My issue over the concern of athletes have been struggling with the usage of steroids has widely spread among athletes and others; not only do steroids give an athlete a hard times but it’s also an unfair advantage to the other athletes and what they’ve accomplish. “Besides making muscles bigger, anabolic steroids may help athletes recover from a hard workout more quickly by reducing the amount of muscle damage during the session” (“Steroids in Sports”,2005). Now a days steroids are everywhere as an athlete. Many males and female young athletes preferably take it because they want to look and feel good when it comes to impressing someone and trying to become someone they look forward too. Young teens and adults try to cheat themselves in the career of their dreams. When it comes to a sport, teen athletes are not aware of what type of consequences may happen to them at the time. It may come to the time where it’s too late to take care of. In other cases, some athletes may like feeling the aggressive they get when they take drugs such as steroids. Athletes shouldn’t take steroids as the harmful health effects of the anabolic steroid in population wise. Many people have had their lives ruined by the use of illegal steroids and yet the desired effects are overwhelming that people tend to forget about the results and consequences that may effect. Athletes on steroids believe taking steroids will enhance their performance, strength, and size without having to put necessary work. These benefits, however, are associated with much short-term and long term risk.

    Read More

  • Steroids Essay

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    Steroids are being used more commonly today in normal people's lives. They are also being used so athletes can become stronger, but they have many consequences that follow the advantages. Most people believe that steroids are a false measurement of an athletes ability, and others believe that steroids are good because athletes can become stronger and make their sports more exciting to watch. This is a very important issue today because athletes today are using steroids to gain an unfair advantage over the other athletes.

    Read More

  • Steroids Should be Banned in Sports

    2666 Words  | 6 Pages

    Currently it is an estimated that at least 6.67 percent of high school seniors in the United States have tried steroids, which is 500,000 males between the ages of 17 and 18 (Anabolic Steroids). The pressure of steroids on teenagers is constantly drilled into their heads because they associate increased strength with perfection. Teenagers are under immense pressure to be perfect. Kids are pressured to do well in school, sports, and any other activities that they are participating in. Anything other than the best is unacceptable and failure which strikes and leads to disrespect. Failure has the sole purpose of tearing people from their self confidence and lending them to be insecure, questioning their abilities and themselves. It does not help that kids have role models that choose the easy way to accomplish their goals. It also sends a message to those who admire them that taking certain sacrifices to reach self-goals and standards are very much acceptable. Hard work and determination has become something of the past when it is possible to do the same amount of work and receive results faster if you just take a couple risks. Steroids should not only be banned from sports, but athletes who are found to have used steroids should receive a more distinct and severe punishment. No matter how it is said or defended steroids truly are cheating. Steroids are becoming a substitute for hard work and determination.

    Read More

  • Should Performance-Enhancing Drugs Be Banned?

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many athletes are pressured into using PEDs by coaches or managers and are not thoroughly educated about the harmful health issues that can come along with taking performance-enhancing drugs. A rising issue is whether performance-enhancing drugs should be allowed in professional sports. I believe that in any professional sport, the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes should continue to be banned because this rule will help to keep athletes from abusing these harmful drugs. Steroids can seem harmless to the uninformed user, but they actually have harmful side effects. According to the article “News examines relationship between steroids and heart-related deaths,” published by New York Daily News, “The study (presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago on Nov. 12, 2006) shows that deaths jumped from 476 from in 1980-1992 to 987 from in 1993-2005.

    Read More

  • Steroid Use By Athletes Should be Banned

    2039 Words  | 5 Pages

    Steroids became an option to athletes in the Olympics and other major sporting events during the 1950’s. But this use of steroids among athletes only became widely apparent when Canadian sprint runner Ben Johnson tested positive for steroid use after winning the gold medal for the one hundred-meter dash during the 1988 Olympics (Francis, 45). Now a skinny fifteen-year-old can just walk down to the local gym and find people who either sell or know how to get in contact with those who sell the drug that will make him envious of his friends. Steroids are an attractive drug. While steroids seem harmless to the unaware user, they can have a risky effect. Most of the time whether the users are new or experienced, they do not know the dangerous consequences steroids can have on their bodies and their minds. Though steroids cause a relatively insignificant number of deaths in our society, the banning of steroids is justified because steroids have a lot of side effects not known to the uninformed user.

    Read More

More about Steriods in sports

Open Document