Steroids in Professional Sports
Sports is one of the most popular forms of entertainment we have today. Whether it’s football, basketball, soccer, baseball, etc., fans are willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money in order to watch sports. There are few issues in the world of sports. But there is one issue that stands out, steroids. Although steroids may increase strength, stamina and athleticism, they are incredibly harmful to your body and should never be used. Still, some athletes persist in taking them, knowing that these substances provide a physical advantage. Although this is true, steroids can cause serious physical and psychological side effects.
Steroids are simply a derivative of the naturally occurring male anabolic hormone testosterone (“Anabolic“). Testosterone naturally triggers the maturing of the male reproductive system in puberty, which includes growth of body hair and the deepening of the voice. The hormone helps the body retain proteins, which aids in the development of muscles (“Anabolic“). "Although there are many types of steroids with varying degrees of anabolic and androgenic properties, it's the anabolic property of steroids that lures athletes," says Dr. Wadler. "They take them to primarily increase muscle mass and strength"(“Anabolic”). Basically, a steroid just makes the muscles grow bigger faster than conventional training does.
So if steroids are so harmful to the body, why do athletes insist on taking them? In a world where athletes are growing bigger, stronger and faster, there is constant competition for roster spots in programs. Although some athletes still compete for the “love of the game,” the main motivation in professional sports is money. On an NFL roster, the minimum yearly salary ...
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Hall of Shame Baseball has always been known as “America’s Favorite Pastime”. Over the past decade, the game America knows and loves has been exposed as a game full of cheaters. Major League Baseball (MLB) has had over one hundred players test positive for performance-enhancing substances over the past fifteen years. Performance-enhancing substances increase a player’s ability to produce better stats to help his salary.
People frown upon steroids in baseball because they say they are an unfair advantage even though they can be used as big advantage. Steroids have always been looked down on because people say that they are unfair and unsafe to use. So far players that have used steroids in Major League baseball have been healthy and the only side effects of them have been success. Steroids have become a huge part of baseball since the 1990’s. players feel like they need to use them to stay competitive. Steroids help increase muscle mass and help athletes train harder and faster. This results in better play on the field. Most steroid users in the MLB (Major League Baseball) are pitchers and homerun hitters. Steroids need to be legalized in Major League Baseball to bring more excitement into the game so that more people will watch, it will level the playing field for all the players, it will keep athletes healthy during the long season, and it will be more efficient since the consequences for using the substance does not keep players from using them.
The world around us involves cheating to get or look good. Athletes and teens are doing the same thing, injecting and swallowing a drug that is part of their everyday lifestyle. Lost in a world of drugs that won't put them in the Hall of Fame but in the Hall of Shame. Influence by pressure and appearance to do well is a way described as putting your reality upside down.
In the world we live in today, some college athletes take certain substances to boost their physical body in hopes of taking their game to the next level. These substances are labeled as PED’s. PED’s is an acronym for performance enhancing drugs which to this day are illegal for not only college athletes but professional athletes as well. An athletes’ usage of performance enhancing drugs can affect many people. For example, we know that enhancing drugs will affect the athlete using them but the usage of PED’s can also effect the athlete’s teammates as well as the coaching staff. Failing a drug test due to performance enhancing drugs can result in a loss of a full year of eligibility with the first offense (Disalvo). Failing a second time can
Steroids are unhealthy for baseball players and they are giving the game of baseball a bad reputation. Since steroids have become such a hot topic in Major League Baseball (MLB) fans have had nothing but bad things to say about the sport and its players. When sports illustrated asked some of its readers to give reaction to the steroid controversy in the MLB here is what baseball fan Howard Langsner from New York had to say 'Horrible, just horrible. We take Olympic medals away from athletes on steroids, but we're supposed to look the other way in MLB because a guy can make the ball go further? Drug testing is commonplace everywhere, and used in other sports, as the article mentioned. Baseball should be no different'. Matt Bookman of San Jose, California writes 'That's it. I'm done as a baseball fan until MLB has a comprehensive drug testing policy. I feel so naive. I really thought that the players had gotten bigger and stronger because they had learned the value of hitting the weight room and staying in shape during the off season. It breaks my heart that I won't be able to give my children the same experience I had growing up -- to go to the ballpark and feel good about your guys and cheer on your team.' The fans reaction speaks for itself but MLB should not sit back and let steroids take over a game that was at one time America?s pastime. In this paper research will be given on what exactly are anabolic steroids and how they can affect your body, testing policies, the effectiveness of steroids on players and major league baseball.
You’ve all seen them, the enormously large muscle-heads at the gym, the participates of the World’s Strongest Man Competition, the amazing offensive tackles, and the lightning fast runners. They were all unnaturally strong, and looked like gods. You tend to obsess over how beautiful their bodies are, how strong they are, or how fast they can run. All you can think about is reaching that level of athletic excellence, and nothing will hold you back. At times like these some people tend to take the quick fit to get closer to their idols, in the form of steroids. But what individuals tend not see is the horrible side effects that accompany the use of these anabolic steroids. These powerful drugs have both positive and negative results from their use. Along with increased strength and size, users of steroids suffer from a wide range of sicknesses such as cancer, shrinkage of testicles, bad acne, hair loss, damage organs, intense mood swings, and impotence.
Athletes often abuse this drug to help build muscle and improve athletic performance. This is illegal and dangerous to do to your body. Most athletes use steroids to gain an advantage on their opponent so they will become better than them. This may help them short term become better. However, in the long run, their body may pay for the abuse of steroids. Many people do not understand the dangers they could face while taking steroids. These dangers, along with the drug being illegal, could definitely lead to the wrong path for anyone. Players use steroids to get more muscles so they can hit the ball farther and get more home runs, run faster, or even have th...
Abstract: Since the beginning of sports competition, athletes have always looked for some kind of edge over their competitors. They will do whatever it takes to be one of the elite, and that includes injecting supplements into their bodies to make them bigger, stronger, and faster. Steroid use is probably one of the most common drug misuses in sports competition. Athletes found that with anabolic steroids, one could become a better athlete twice as fast. Not until 1975 was the drug first banned from Olympic competition because of the health risks it produced.
Anabolic steroids are drugs containing, or hormone-like substances, that are used to increase strength and promote muscle growth. They were first developed in the 1930s in Europe to treat undernourished patients and to promote healing after surgery. Competitive weightlifters began using steroids in the 1950s as a way to increase their athletic performance. Use gradually spread throughout the world among athletes in other has been estimated that at least one in 15 male high school seniors in the United States--more than a half-million boys--has used steroids. Some are athletes attempting to increase their strength and size; others are simply youths attempting to speed up their growth to keep pace with their peers. In some countries, anabolic steroids are available over the counter. In the United States, a doctor's prescription is necessary.
The intent of this essay is to show that steroids have many negative effects and that steroids, and other natural supplements, should be closely studied by the FDA. This essay will also support the claim that the professional sports industry needs to eliminate steroid use and set a good example for younger athletes.
Steroids have been in sports for the longest time. But the use of them has increased tremendously over time. Many athletes use them to bulk up and get more muscle. In the long run though, using steroid can seriously hurt an athlete. “The use of performance-enhancing drugs is not accidental; it is planned and deliberate with the sole objective of getting an unfair advantage.” (npr.org). This is what Richard Pound said during a debate over the use of steroids in baseball.The use of steroids by professional athletes is becoming more common, so it needs to be put to a halt to protect the wellbeing of athletes.
“[Thirty percent] of college and professional athletes have used or currently use steroids, as do 10-20% of high school athletes” (“Anabolic Steroids”). These numbers are alarming, but there are two main reasons why this is occuring: people tend to belief steroids will improve their appearances, and athletes believe their athletic abilities will increase. However, most are not aware of the effects steroid use has on the body. Steroid use has dramatic effects on the user’s body and mind in many different ways.
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.
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.
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.