We The Public Place The Best Athletes On Pedestals Summary

In his article “We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals,” William Moller, a frequent writer for sports blogs, claims that fans are to blame for the use of steroids in sports, namely baseball. He argues that professional athletes face pressure to constantly be the best while also aspiring for fame and money and the only way for them to be able to achieve this is to please the fans. In his eyes, the better a player is, the more fans will take notice and come to their games. Since fans must purchase tickets, the most popular teams make the most money. According to Moller, if a particular player is drawing in a large crowd, it is likely that this player receives a large portion of the profit. Therefore, Moller asserts that the players

cannot be faulted for using steroids as it is the fans that create the insurmountable stress placed upon them. On the other hand, using performance enhancing drugs such as steroids is still cheating and is never justified, and athletes must be held accountable for their actions rather than using fans as a scapegoat.
Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees is a perfect example of a popular and successful player who admitted to using banned substances, and according to Moller, “the reason Alex did steroids is you and me . . . at the deepest level, Alex Rodriguez wants, craves, fame” (Graff 547). In making this comment, Moller explains Rodriguez’s questionable decision to use
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steroids as a way to please fans and attain the highest fame. Rodriguez’s desire for this is evident throughout his career as he was not only a professional player for a well-known team, but he went even further to hold many records in the sport. These include being the youngest player to ever hit 500 home runs and having the most expensive contract in Major League Baseball at $275 million over ten years. Though Rodriguez is the most well-known athlete to use steroids, there are many others who have used for the same reasons. As Moller points out, “the vast majority of baseball players have used steroids . . . this game is all about getting an edge . . .” (549). What Moller is drawing attention to is that with top baseball players such as Rodriguez leading the way, it seems as though it is impossible to find success without performance-enhancing drugs and other players may feel compelled use them as well in order to gain the same acceptance from the fans.
By focusing on how the appeal of fame affects the players, Moller overlooks the fact that the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and cheating in general, is always immoral regardless of the circumstances.

I disagree with his view that the fans are to blame for this cheating because the only person to blame for drug use is the player himself. In blaming the fans, athletes are given a way to escape facing the consequences of their actions. Choosing to take drugs is personal and no one forces the players to do the drugs. When a player does make the choice to use steroids, then he must face the fact that he is cheating and making a dishonest

decision.
On the other hand, Moller argues that using steroids is the norm among many players and so athletes should not be judged for it. After all, as Moller suggests, cheating has always been a part of the game “whether it be . . . Sammy Sosa corking a bat, Johnny Damon using maple instead of ash bats, K-Rod putting resin on his baseball cap, Pete Rose mixing Adderall in with a cup of coffee, or Mark McGwire’s unabashed andro use” (549). Basically, Moller sees steroids as simply a new form of cheating that should not shock fans as much as they do. Since so many beloved and great baseball players cheated in some form, Moller firmly believes that players found to be using steroid should not incur the wrath of angry fans. He says that “when enough information comes out that we can no longer ignore that a player used, we demonize [him] relative to [his] “untainted” peers. . . . But don’t hate him because he’s a ‘cheater.’ In that sense, he’s just one of the gang” (551). From Moller’s perspective, it is hypocritical for fans to penalize steroid users when so many other great players have been cheating for years.
However, Moller’s argument that cheating in baseball has been around since the beginning of the game and is therefore okay is wrong because not every person uses steroids.

For example, Moller himself compares Alex Rodriguez’s pressure to use steroids with his own experiences using performance-enhancing drugs to succeed academically. However, Moller’s justification for his use of the drug involves a sweeping generalization that every person resorts to using drugs in order to obtain their goals. I know personally that this is untrue. I, too, have felt what seems like insurmountable pressure when faced with mounds of school work, and I relate to Moller’s account of back-to-back all-nighters full of cramming for day after day of exams and essays. The only difference between the two of us is that I never gave in to the pressure and broke the rules, and the law, just to get an “A.” Though it certainly would have been much easier to just take a drug to help me focus, I managed to do just fine academically without it. It took a lot more work and cost me a lot of time I would have spent elsewhere, but it was worth it. Moller seems to think that just because he and Alex Rodriguez used drugs in order to find success, then it means everyone else must, too. That is why he finds it hypocritical for fans to judge the players. However, just as I did not use any drugs to succeed in school, I would be willing to bet there are plenty of baseball players who also follow the straight and

narrow.
Those who support the players would argue that a common person such as myself could not possibly understand the pressures of professional baseball players. In their eyes, everything in a baseball player’s life revolves around their skills on the field. Fans only take interest in them if they are good and they only make money as long as people are paying to see them play. Meanwhile, new, younger players are constantly entering the playing field. According to the supporters, if fans lose interest in an older player in favor of a lithe new player with potential, the old player could lose their entire job. The players are under continuous scrutiny to maintain peak physical condition and strive to always be bigger and better, or their entire careers could potentially be over. Then, even if the player is the best, the team owners and coaches persistently pressure the players to draw in a bigger crowd. Therefore, the supporters claim that sometimes the pressure gets to be too much of a burden and steroids make it easier for the players to please everyone, including themselves.
While I agree that I cannot understand what it is like to be a professional baseball player or the pressures they go through, I would counter argue that it is not pressure at all that causes players to use steroids, but greed. The fans do obviously have an effect on the game because their support can make a player more famous and rich. It is this allure of fame and money that drives the players to use steroids far more than pleasing the crowd just for the sake of the game. Moller himself states, “Really, it was no question whether Alex would take steroids once they were offered. They promised wealth and fame above his wildest dreams” (548). In making this comment Moller basically points out the fact the Rodriguez took steroid for the selfish benefits, not for the fans. There is no mention of the love of the game or the pressure to succeed for the purpose of pleasing anybody. The pressure on athletes exists solely because the players fear losing their money and status. It is not the fans’ fault that the players are greedy and will do whatever it takes to rise to that status.
By blaming the fans for the use of steroid in professional sports, it is basically saying that the athletes are not wrong in their choices. Ultimately what is at stake here is the integrity of baseball, and the integrity of America in general. Steroid use takes away from those players who choose to do so honestly. Ball players who don’t use performance-enhancing drugs are left at a disadvantage. There is an unlevel playing field where the honest players struggle to keep up with the cheating ones who continue to be lauded by the public. As they remain in the public, they also remain as role models for children. If children see their favorite baseball players using steroids without being held accountable, they will think it is also okay for them to cheat. It teaches kids that something is okay, as long as you are under pressure. This is the exact opposite lesson that needs to be taught. Competition is everywhere, and if someone cheats, it leaves those who don’t at a disadvantage. Cheating of any sort hurts the others involved and devalues the competition itself. No matter what the pressures of the competition are, it is never okay to cheat or use performance-enhancing drugs, and if this does occur, the offender must be held accountable for his actions.