Mark Mgwire Research Paper

A prime example of steroid controversy on the Hall of Fame ballot is Mark McGwire. McGwire (pictured left) hit 583 home runs, including what was once a record of 70 in the 1998 season for the St. Louis Cardinals. McGwire’s career was tainted when he was caught with Androstenedione in his locker during the 1998 season. Androstenedione better known as Andro, is a steroid precursor which is banned from baseball. When McGwire was questioned about steroid use at a Congressional hearing on March 17, 2005, he repeatedly said, “I’m not here to discuss the past” (qtd. in McGwire Unlikely). This damaged McGwire’s candidacy for the Hall of Fame ballot by raising the suspicion of drug use, influencing BBWAA writers not to vote for him. McGwire has received close to a 25 percent vote on the ballot the three-years running up to 2012. Not nearly the 75 percent needed for induction. Several BBWAA writers discussed their stance on McGwire’s silence at the Congressional hearing; that it was a tacit admission that he used steroids while playing. McGwire needs to clarify his past and explain whether or not he used steroids, in order to maintain his integrity and character. When evaluating McGwire’s 16 year

“Why it’s time to legalize steroids in professional sports” written by Chris Smith of Forbes Magazine argues that to level the playing field of professional sports it would be beneficial to legalize the use of performance enhancing drugs. Mr. Smith’s ideals that professional sports would be a fairer, more entertaining version of itself if performance enhancing drugs were legal, is an incredibly irresponsible and impudent declaration.

Imagine being able to take a drug that enhances your performance at work so much that you are rewarded with a raise. A drug that could land you the job of your dreams and give you the competitive edge needed to beat out the rest of the competition. Drugs in baseball have been around since the early days of the game. From steroids to stimulates, baseball players have been willing to put anything in their bodies if it’ll help them stay in the show for a few years longer and keep those paychecks coming in. Now, the question is, do these performance-enhancing drugs ruin the integrity and sportsmanship in the game of baseball? How many good baseball players didn’t get a job on a Major League team because their competition accelerated their abilities

The issue over steroids and other performance enhancer drugs has been a recent topic in the sports world. The debate over whether or not to punish those who have been caught using has been a major topic recently, as well as the legalization of these drugs. When arising the question of whether or not to legalize steroids, many positive and negative factors are brought to the table, and in effect could change various aspects of our normal day lives.

Nobody would argue that the quality of sports is basically dependent upon the level of skill of its players. As the skills of the players improve, so too does the quality of the game. So why are substances that would further athletes’ skills beyond human levels so ostracized? Doping is the practice of using steroids and other illegal substances to boost performance in sports and athletics. The debate of the morality of such substances has been going on for decades and continues to affect the world of sports in many ways. At the moment, steroids and all other performance-enhancing drugs are banned in their entirety from nearly all sports in most countries of the world. Scandalous lawsuits involving athletes abusing substances are constantly popping up, usually involving players and athletes that were considered fan-favorites or even heroes. Performance-enhancing drugs should be allowed in sports because it would make it easier to control them, allow athletes to perform better, and widespread use of steroids would allow more solid research and advancements in the pharmaceutical field.

Athletes must become educated in regards to the dangers of the drugs--both physically and mentally. Coaches and parents should stay alert for symptoms while taking performance-enhancing drugs. If one notices an athlete taking performance-enhancing drugs, one should seek a treatment option to prevent further use. Sports need to equal the playing field by everyone using their natural ability, but this could never happen if performance-enhancing drugs continues as a

Image winning at the highest level of competition: the fame, successes, all the characteristics of being a champion, and to have it all seized away because you had used performance enhancing drugs. Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) have been used in sports for many years, and there use is one of the most important issues among professional athletes. These drugs are detrimental to the human body physically and mentally. These athletes also serve as role models, influencing the younger generation by presenting that’s it acceptable to cheat no matter the consequences. So with all to consider and the evidence that is available, performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) should not be legalized.

The use of performance enhancing drugs like anabolic steroids has been a debatable topic in the United States as early as the 1950’s. Former U. S. Representative Howard Berman expresses that “Steroids can seem necessary to compete at the highest level, and the quick rewards may seem to outweigh the long term consequences to users.” The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states that countless athletes, both young and old, face life threatening illnesses due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs, some of which will cause lifelong problems. The use of the illegal performance-enhancing drugs also poses an unfair advantage among athletes seeing as how not all players take part in the risky benefits steroids offer. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the use of anabolic steroids in the United States is illegal without the consent of a medical professional, while the possession and the distribution of anabolic steroids is a felony offense. By analyzing the historical past and the facts about steroids in sports one would conclude that anabolic steroids should be banned, especially since they are already illegal. Nevertheless, will banning performance enhancing stop athletes from subjecting themselves to drug dependency and a wide range of side effects that in some cases can be fatal?

Besides the long list of negative side effects that steroids bring, they also ruin the integrity of sports. Sports are all about working hard and striving through adversity in order to reach a goal. Steroids only give athletes a shortcut that is an easy way out to reaching that goal. Before performance enhancing drugs became a world wide phenomenon athletes were forced to use their only option of working out naturally and pushing themselves beyond their limits in order to be the best that they can be. Now a day’s, many athletes do not have the same dedication and work ethic to earn their results the old fashion and natural way. Whether or not the use of performance enhancing drugs should be allowed in sports should depend on the purpose and intentions of their use.

They argue that performance enhancing drugs remove the morality and dignity within sport as the element of raw talent and skill disappears. Antidoping laws generally exist in order to provide a safe and fair environment for participation in sport (Allhoff 2009). These laws should prevent and protect athletes from subjecting themselves to health risks through the use of performance enhancing drugs. It is believed that performance enhancing drugs have the power to overcome differences in natural talents and the willingness to sacrifice and persevere in the quest to perfect those talents. These drugs are dangerous and although certain drugs have the potential to increase athletic performance, they carry the risk of side effects, which may include death and life-long morbidity. Sports that hold historical records and comparisons with them would become irrelevant by drug-aided athletes who would completely obliterate the old standards (Orchard 2006). A cycle would begin where athletes would be encouraged to take more and more drugs in other to keep up with the rapidly growing standard that comes with performance enhancement. It would create pressure for more athletes to ‘cheat’, undermining the basis for the competitions at stake and exacerbating the gap between those who can afford enhancements and those who cannot (Juengst 2015). Ethically, the sense of fair competition would be lost if performance enhancement was decriminalised as there would be no ceiling as to how far one could go to enhance themselves chemically for their chosen sport. Sport without antidoping laws would also disadvantage further those athletes who wanted to compete at an elite level without risking their health. Performance enhancement has the potential to create a public health catastrophe, whilst we would

Performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) are known to be used widely throughout sports, and they have aided many famous players in their success. An example of this is at the time of the “steroid era” (1980s-2000s) in baseball, when well-known players like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and many others used PEDs to hit a crazy amount of home runs that broke records (“The Steroid Era”). Some players feel as if they need to use PEDs in order to earn a spot on the team because of how much an advantage is gained by using them (Rosenberg). What I think about the controversial topic of whether PEDs should be legal is that the health risks, the bad example it shows, and it making sports unchallenging is enough to show that it should stay illegal.

It's that time of season again, leaves are changing, temperature is dropping, and stadium lights are turning back on. Cavs have won their first Championship, and the Indians were on their way to winning the World Series. Many decades a number of professional athletes have cheated their way to the top, and by legalizing the use of performance enhancing drugs in competitive sports it would even out the playing field to all athletes. Allowing the athletes to take them at their own risk, and one would not have to worry about someone being on drugs anymore.

Although many people would say that using steroids was used in order to get: bigger, faster, stronger, and also recover faster from a workout. So this would be very beneficial for a professional athletes that is looking to get stronger, or even to recover from a hard workout in the gym. Even though this might be very exciting to tell a person that would like all of these benefits, but also standard people shouldn’t be able to use performance enhancing drugs. On the contrary, if the person is getting paid millions of dollars then they should be able to use performance enhancing drugs. Likewise, performance enhancing drugs should be illegal for anyone that isn’t a professional athlete. Although a lot of people would say “ using steroids

If Performance enhancing drugs were legalised in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, the gameplay would be more entertaining for the audience to watch. If PED's (performance enhancing drugs) were legalised, athletes would be able to use them to make themselves bigger, faster, and stronger [Lyaden.T. and Feldman.J. 2017]. Studies have shown that while professional bodybuilding does not test its competitors for PED's, their athletes have grown larger, stronger, and more impressive each season[Lyaden.T. and Feldman.J. 2017]. Dr. Charles Yesalis, an expert in the field or steroid use and an emeritus professor of science and public health, states that "[performance enhancing] Drugs will take your body places you can't get without them."[Lyaden.T.

Athletes use drugs for a variety of reasons, such as coping with stress or to enhance their quality of performance, and the effects of using performance enhancing drugs can have long term effects on an individual’s life.