Fairness and Purity: Why American Baseball Players Should Know Better

Speaker Credibility: Steroids are not only used by bodybuilders, other athletes and sometimes regular people have access to it and use it. There some misconceptions of steroids and a lot that people don’t know about in detail, that’s

Baseball traditionalists got wind of this after a while though and charged the mound in essence to prove doping was wrong. That doing steroids undercuts baseball as a whole and its records left behind by legends. The medical community as a whole would later back this up and told of the serious side effects that ranged from male breast development to mood swings that would be later known as ‘roid rage. This would not be good for the public because the fans emulate what their idols do and if that’s what they believe needed to be done to be more like them they would. Eventually in almost every high school in the country, young athletes are told about these health risks associated with using Performance-enhancing drugs.

“Going, Going, Gone, Home Run!” everyone knows what this means when an announcer says it. The game of baseball is a different sport, unlike basketball and football; you do not necessarily need strength to be dominant. So, why are steroids a big issue in baseball? Steroids, in particular, anabolic steroids, build up cellular tissue or muscle. However, they do not give you the necessary skills to play the game. I am almost certain the world’s strongest man could not hit a home run on a major league field, so why punish those who have used steroids? Steroids are not like magic and transform and average man

In “We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals,” William Moller strongly criticizes the “. . . self-righteous media types who make a living by drumming up indignation from the masses” (Moller 548). In addition to criticizing the media, Moller also condemns the general public for demonizing professional athletes because “. . . the reason [insert name of professional athlete] did [or does] steroids is you and me” (Moller 547). In other words, he claims that society is to blame for athletes’ usage of performance enhancing drugs because “[w]e, the public, place the best athletes on pedestals, gods on high” (Moller 547-48). Therefore, Moller argues that you and I are hypocrites because at some point in our lives, we all cheat and do wrong, yet we expect athletes to be superhuman without the aid of banned substances. While I agree with Moller’s assertions, his explanations as to why athletes use PED’s are limited, thus lacking the oomph necessary to propel his argument to a new dimension. Ultimately, fame and fortune, pressure from fans, and the human nature to perform as best you can are all factors that cause athletes to use illegal stimulants.

The Intelligence Square U.S. held a debate about whether or not the government’s rules on performance enhancing drugs should be ban in professional sports. For the debate they had Radley Balko, Investigative Journalist, Norman Fost, Professor of Pediatrics and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, and Julian Savulescu, Uehiro Professor of Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford argue for the motion. They argue the fact that the medicines we take on a daily basis from the pharmacy are also performance enhancers. This goes back all the way to the Romans who once used herbs to improve themselves for battle, making them believe that the only exception that separates this from steroids is that it is illegal. On the other hand, you have

Many of these individuals, also face the challenges of these pointless standards. Lorber states, “These differences are socially meaningless until social practices transform them into social facts.” Lorber is talking mostly about the standards set on gender in today’s society. Any gendered person is as equal as another, until society decides that they are not. Humans, especially weightlifters, are always trying to fit in with society's standards. Weightlifting men ”grew up idolizing Arnold [Schwarzenegger, former body champion and Governor of California]” Arnold set the standards to many of these modern day steroid users. These social standards, seem to be a major factor in the steroid use by middle aged men. These steroid users, are abusing their bodies to get a feeling of self accomplishment by society’s

Steroids have taken over the game of baseball and more players are starting to get involved with them. Steroids are a big part of the Major League today in 2014, yet they entered the game of baseball through trainer Curtis Wenzlaff in 1992. Players and the game’s images are ravaged when they become caught up in steroids. Some of the best players to ever play the game of baseball have been caught up in steroids, including Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire. Players with this level of skill are supposed to be role models for younger kids, yet younger kids see that they used steroids and are tempted to use them. When their young, impressionable minds witness steroids use, naturally kids attempt to imitate their idols. More

Because steroids were not deemed illegal in baseball until 2005, players like Clemens and Bonds felt like they were not breaking any rules or regulations. Although they may not have broken MLB rules, they broke the spirits of baseball fans all over the country. Over the past fifteen years, the players have thrown their morals away at the first sight of a $. Without thinking about the kids who one day want to slug seventy homers in a season, major league players have set an example by saying “Well, I guess it’s ok to cheat to be rich and famous.” Millions of little leaguers all over the world look up to these athletes. Look at the message that is being sent to the kids when their role model is injecting steroids just to be good at a game, how far must it go? Steroids are not only unfair to the fans of the game, but also the other players in the league. It is not fair to the players who play the game fair currently or to the retired players whose reputations are comparable to those of the players who took shortcuts to succeed. The fair players should not be referred to as “Pretty good for not taking steroids” to label their caliber. Steroids have ruined the credibility of many great talents in the game of baseball and need to be eliminated.

Athletics play such an important role in our society, but, unfortunately, some in professional sports are not setting much of an example. The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message -- that there are shortcuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now.”

The documentary called Bigger, Stronger, Faster by Chris Bell demonstrates Americas want to be the best vs. their desire to be moral. Throughout the movie Bell uses multiple examples on how steroids affect us both physically and mentally as well as their potential dangers. There are several things that make us American but Bell chooses this particular subject because of his own personally experiences with it as well as his families. As the audience we are taken into a glimpse of the Bell family’s everyday struggle with this emanate problem. Similar to what many of us have to face in society today.

“…medical researchers believe that between 1 and 3 million youths and adults have taken anabolic steroids in one form or another specifically to enhance their looks or athletic performances,” stated Nuwer (Nuwer, 61). As astounding as these figures are, the number of performance drug users is steadily increasing. With this progressively increasing numbers, it is projected that millions more will use steroids in the immediate future (Newer, 61). Athletes have always sought an advantage in competition even if ignoring the law and their health if necessary. Using drugs of any sort to facilitate an athlete’s athletic ability should be illegal. The use of performance enhancing drugs is not only detrimental to the user but it also creates an

In the documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster it covers the choice to use, or not use steroids in the lives of three brothers. The middle brother Chris describes his personal choices not to use steroids, while his younger brother, Smelly, does use, and so does his old brother, Mad Dog. Both of Chris’s brothers are breaking the norm, and participating in both formal, and informal deviance. Even though deviance occurs of both side of normality, his brothers are overconforming.

The abuse of steroids is an issue of serious concern in today’s athletic world. There are many causes of this problem, and each one results in serious effects upon people who abuse steroids, their families, friends, and society. What professional sports organizations and government agencies decide to do about providing the solution to this problem continues to be a topic of debate.

In the Judith Lorber's article, “From Believing Is Seeing: Biology as Ideology”, Lorber writes about the effects of fake biological beliefs that society makes everyone believe, such as gender roles, binary genders and most of all, gender based capabilities, such as muscular prowess. All of this shown by the quote that, “...people do not emerge from physiology or hormones but from the exigencies of the social order”(Lorber 732). In Matthew Petrocelli, Trish Oberweis, and Joseph Petrocelli’s article, “Getting Huge, Getting Ripped: A Qualitative Exploration of Recreational Steroid Use”, they address the culture of recreational steroid users and their motives, most clearly shown between the statements, “...frustration seemed to be a primary motivator…” and, “They believed what they read and thought that a good diet and hard workouts would get them the ‘magazine look’

In a nutshell, society indoctrinates its members so that they can comply and live up to standards that are vital for its existence. In the same way, currently, in society, the use of performance enhancement drugs has gained enormous popularity. Many Americans and others around the world believe that the popularization of such performance enhancement drugs as steroids is just an institution created to further certain people/groups’ interests in society. Based on Kipnis' argument on social contradictions, the purpose of this treatise is critically to assess the existence of performance enhancing drugs in society. The paper shows how different interest groups argue for or against what they believe about the