The Double Life of Athletes Using Steroids Some Athletes in society today are considered heroes despite their double lives. Their drug use and violence are brushed aside while leading their teams to victory. Who is your hero? If that question was asked to a group of people, some might think of loved ones or family, and some may talk about doctors, firemen, or even a teacher. However, most would probably say their hero was some celebrity or star athlete. While some celebrities and athletes can justifiably be labeled "heroes", there are some people who may appear to be heroic, but lead a completely different life off the field. Even movies in Hollywood mirror this double lifestyle. After watching Any Given Sunday in class I was appalled by the casual drug use in the film by two particular football players. During the day these two men made tremendous strides for their team (the Sharks), but at night these men were completely different. They were snorting cocaine and other illegal drugs while they appeared to be entertained by prostitutes. Even though this movie was not based on a true story, it can very well resemble the truth in athletics today. There are several athletes who have been arrested and convicted of crimes, however three men have been the center of attention for the past few years. Players such as Daryl Strawberry, Michael Irvin, and Ray Lewis have proved to be heroes for their team and even the sports they play for, but their lives are far less than heroic. Drug use, sexual assault, and murder are the charges brought upon some of these men. Daryl Strawberry had always seemed like a natural when it came to baseball. He was a starting player for the Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, an... ... middle of paper ... ...ouldn't do work cited because I didn't know enough information on where it was from or when exactly it was written). -Stats, Inc. Career Statistics - Primary. 1999. http://espn.go.com/nfl/profiles/ stats/primary/0232.html. -Baro, Madeline. Williams, Irvin investigated on sex assault charges. 31 Dec. 1996. http://amarillonet.com/stories/123196/williams.html. -Scott, Steve. Pretrial testimony begins in Irvin case. 12 June 1996. http://texnews.com/ cowboys/pretrial061296.html. -Court TV.com. Baseball Star Daryl Strawberry arrested again, jailed. 25 Oct. 2000. http://courttv.com/people/2000/1025/strawberry_ap.html. -Sporting News. Drugs found in Irvin apartment. 14 June 2000. http://tsn.sportingnews. com/nfl/20000811/252158.html. -Baseball Reference. Statistics for Strawberry. http://www.baseball-reference.com/ s/strawda01.shtml.
Athletes do not always get in trouble, but when they do some athletes tend to have favoritism shown to them by the law enforcement. When it comes to athletes that break the law, one major viewpoint is that some athletes tend to get special treatment when they commit crimes because they are famous, but with harsher consequences. Athletes are supposed to be role models for younger kids who look up to them, but they are getting in trouble and causing controversy for all the wrong reasons and it is affecting their careers, the athletes might not think that it is because of the favoritism that law enforcement shows them, but it is. When athletes do commit crimes law enforcement tends to be bias toward them because they are known around the world (Withers). Therefore, this causes a lot of controversy surrounding the athlete because many people believe that they do not get disciplined like they should.
Taylor, Hopkins. Substance abuse issues to Offending Athletes. Miami: Beachwood Press, pages 35-37. 2009. Print.
This research paper will determine whether professional athletes deserve a second chance to play in professional sports after inappropriate behaviors. Professional athletes are considered idols and are often held to higher standards. Society has become concerned with so many of today’s athletes making the evening news for their unsuitable behaviors.
Athletes are national heroes who are held in high regard. When their reputation gets very high and they fail to realize that they are still accountable for their actions regardless of the position they hold in their societies, athletes can turn into violent activities. They become egocentric and selfish-centered, forgetting that their moral conduct should be put at check just as any other citizen.
Professional athletes have been taking steroids for decades, it is proven. Athletes get stripped of gold medals they’ve won in the Olympics because of steroid use. Many sports have been now increasing the amount of steroid testing because they feel it is an unfair advantage. People who take steroids clearly are more super...
These athletes will be our future leaders. It is imperative that we teach these athletes the importance of being conscientious and clean. Everyone does it is not a justified reason to why you should have unnatural abilities over others. Hard work, dedication and good practice is how you enhance your physical abilities and not through drugs.
There are numbers of cases where athletes have revealed what is being called ‘“bad boy” behavior’, as they manifest these “negative morals” says Janet Reitman in her article ‘Be Like Mike?’. (Be Like Mike?) In this article, it explains the way children still look up to these professionals as heros and role models, when they are living lives far from these magnificent roles. The director of Kenan Ethics Program at Duke University, Elizabeth Kiss, was quoted in Janet Reitman's article, saying fans of today are mixing very different values, athlete values and moral values. Athlete values would consist of, “Speed, strength, and endurance…” while moral values are composed of, “...goodness or rightness of persons.”(Be Like Mike?) The number of cases are rising to the surface consisting of professional athletes, and their unbelievable or outrageous. behaviors
Until 2012, Lance Armstrong was believed to be the best road cyclist in the world, winning seven consecutive Tour de France races, but this title and his reputation were stripped away when his cheating was proven. Unfortunately, Mr. Armstrong is just one athlete among many who have been found to tip the scales in their favor. Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire stained the reputation of baseball by using performance- enhancing drugs to shatter home run records set by honest players while Mike Tyson’s infamous nibble is joked about in sports and entertainment media. Some of these men would argue that their cheating was justified by the dishonesty of others but are they right?
In a moral context, it is important to understand the extension of unethical conduct on the field to the inevitable corruption of personal life that becomes part of societal interaction. This type of behavior can extend to sexual misconduct (rape, marital infidelity, etc.), violence, and criminal activity. In modern sporting culture, the popularity and great success of athletes tends to tempt tem into thinking that the game they play is also being played in their personal lives. This form of public personae affects the way they view lawful conduct and morality as a means to achieve success in family life, personal choices, and the management of their daily activities off the field. The public image dictates the way they interact with other people outside of their professional careers. More so, the promotion of immoral and unethical behaviors in sporting institutions set another precedent in which athletes are encouraged to behave through a gamesmanship model. The enculturation of corrupt business practices tend to create a culture of winning as the primary goal of attaining greater wealth and financial prosperity over the sportsmanship qualities that can increase the ethical and moral culture of athletic performance. These moral aspects of off-field behavior define the underlying extension of gamesmanship as a part of immoral behavior by professional athletes:
When you hear the names: Barry Bonds, Lance Armstrong, Alex Rodriguez and Jose Canseco what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Those are the names of some of the most famous athletes in the world. They were all at the top of their game and considered the best players in their sports, but they all had one problem. They all used performance enhancing drugs such as steroids to get the upper hand. Their decisions to do performance enhancing drugs doesn’t only affect their careers it affects society in a lot of ways. It became a social phenomenon.
Doctors, lawyers, and politicians can be considered everyday heroes, but we the people tend to hold a more trivial profession higher then all of those, Athletes are held the highest. While athletes present us with great feats of ability, we hold these individuals higher then they deserve credit. We place athletes on a pedestaled and we force them to do whatever it takes to preform at there greatest.
...he day, professional sport players are adults before anything. The lessons of right and wrong are already learned. It should not take all the wrong doing of guilt for a person to do the right thing. Guilt is not a good way to live life for simple decisions of not taking enhancement drugs and destroys the character of an athlete.
Many people believe that drug use in professional athletics is not a serious problem, however it is more widespread and serious than people think. In professional athletics the use of drugs is looked upon as somewhat of a serious problem, but is also very discrete and low key. Every once in a while one might see a prominent figure in a certain sport being reprimanded for the use of some outlawed drug, however this is just one of the many who happened to get caught. Athletes today seem to find no moral problem with using performance-enhancing drugs, or in other words cheating. Also many of them feel that because they are "stars" there should be no repercussions for their illegal activity.
When asked who their hero is, most people respond with the name of an athlete or an actress/actor. When asked who my hero is I would have to respond with a simple three letter word: mom. My mother has been the greatest inspiration in my life and is the main reason that I am where I am and who I am today.
In conclusion, performance enhancing drugs have a harmful effect on the body and I can’t see why with all the recent news of disallowed 1st place wins, deaths rooted from undetected performance enhancing drugs uses in the past, people focused and determined over years, going into a competition and coming out a winner is more respected in my view than an athlete performing well on the day and later being found out to have cheated. That is just amplifying the injustice not setting an example for young athletes possibly breeding a new race of deceitful people in the world of sport