The Importance Of Fairness In Sports

A win is a win no matter what. However, it is how it is achieved that makes the difference. When it comes to sports, it is either hard working, making use of a special talent or a brilliant tactic that can win you a game, but is it really ethical for a win to be achieved with the aid of steroids? The article “Is Doping Wrong?” published in August 2007 by the Australian professor in ethics and the current Ira W. DeCamp of Bioethics at Princeton University, Peter Singer, discusses the debatable aspect of whether the use of drugs by professional athletes should be permitted or not. Despite his illogical arguments and fallacies at some points, Singer was able to portray his ideas in a coherent and organized way. Therefore, I would recommend this article to the Writing 101 students, as it would teach them how to display their ideas in a well-organized and consistent manner, in addition to learning how to avoid the use of some specific fallacies.

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.

Drugs in sports is becoming a problem everywhere. “Another 26-year old athlete died of liver cancer after taking a number of different types of steroids over a four year period ” (Drugs and…). This is significant because this shows how dangerous drugs can be. If we have drug testing in schools this student could still be alive and would have stopped drugs before it got bad. The evidence points to the fact that drugs are a major health risk that is very concerning. In some cases taking drugs can even lead to death. In addition, another situation took place that affected a college student named Bob. Bob tried everything to gain weight so he could play football, so he chose to try steroids like everyone else. Steroids got him to play professional football, but horrible things were happening to him. He was having serious health problems. Bob quit drugs and is lucky to be alive (Drugs and…). This connects to the fact that doing drugs is a major

These days it seems as society is constantly being faced with Ethical Dilemmas. Whether it is normal everyday citizens, actors, business executives, and even athletes. The way that every person deal with ethical dilemmas is by relying on their worldview. The world of professional sports is a very tough and competitive place. It is full of top level athletes that are masters in their respective sports and the struggle that they all face is to be better than everyone else. With all these athletes working hard and looking for new ways to better themselves, some take the easy way over the right way. In this paper, the ethical dilemma of performance enhancing drugs being used in sports will be addressed

“Commentators claim that performance-enhancing drugs are not right or wrong, simply another strategy to improve performance” (Introduction to Performance-Enhancing Drugs). There are two main problems wrong with the use of drugs being legal. Health of athletes would drop devastatingly, and the true competition would become who gets lucky. “Some mourn the loss of yesterday's baseball heroes, while others argue that sport figures who use performance-enhancing drugs expose flaws in American culture” (Introduction to Performance-Enhancing

By suggesting that it is alright for a twenty-five year old professional baseball player to use anabolic steroids, it is also being suggested that a fifteen high school baseball be afforded the same right of a superior drug induced athletic performance.

In all areas of sports, professional, college, and even high school, there is widespread illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs. It seems like you can’t go more than a week without hearing about somebody’s PED problems. Although there are many reasons for athletes to choose to use these drugs, the cost of such use, both to the athlete and to society can be extraordinarily high. The question that many people must answer to themselves is “is it worth the risk”. Therefore, it is important to understand why performance-enhancing drugs are used, the consequences of their use, and then apply that knowledge to how they are represented in the media.

Culture can arguable be the thing that is impacted the most from the use of performance-enhancing drugs. People in the everyday society look to the countries greatest pasttime for inspiration and an escape from their everyday life. “Few sports-related events have garnered as much interest and as much cynicism as the steroid scandal in baseball.” (Ringeret al 91) It’s damage crushed the spirit of many individuals, “[b]oth ardent fans and casual observers wonder why proffessional baseball players would choose to use such substances when their use is viewed as outside the bounds of fair play.” (Ringeret al 91) There may not be a true reasoning, unflawed, as to why PED’s were thought acceptable to players, but research shows that values and norms in the culture of competitive sports often differ from commonly held social norms about what is fair and what is not.

Knowing wrong from right seems to be a harder and harder concept for people to grasp. As the American culture wanders farther and farther from a Christian Worldview, so it seems America loses its grip on morals and ethics. In this paper, there will be an exploration of ethics in regards to performance enhancing drug use in athletes. Performance enhancing drugs should continue to be banned due to health risk factors, the element of cheating and abuse of the athlete 's body.

“…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

The most commonly discussed issue in sports of the 21st century is the use of performance enhancing drugs by professional athletes. Over the past four years, it has been nearly impossible to turn on the television without hearing something about athletes and these drugs. From former National League MVP Third Baseman Ken Caminiti's admission of steroid use in an issue of Sports Illustrated (Verducci, 2004) to 2006 Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis being stripped of title due to a failed doping test (Blue, 2006) virtually every sport is involved. Are performance enhancing drugs a substance that threatens the very existence of professional sports, or are they the future? Perhaps the issue

In Chapter 18 of Social Issues in Sport, Woods mentions how the first encounter with performance-enhancing drugs dates back to ancient times. This portrays how the usage of these drugs has become common within the sports world. Despite the fact that using performance-enhancing drugs is unfair in sport, I feel that it portrays the risk athletes are willing to take to win and be the best. This week we learned about the serious consequences that occur if an athlete is caught taking these medications. The consequences of taking these drugs range from getting their awards confiscated to legal action. There are similar consequences when it comes to situations involving the act of bribery. For example, during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the entire committee was replaced because of allegations that members were trying to influence voters through illegal means. Thus, when it comes to cheating in sport, it is not only athletes who engage in this deviant behavior, but also outside

This is a material world promoting material values, thus meaning that it should not be surprising to see individuals being willing to do everything in their power in order to make profits. Or should it? The sports community today is troubled by a series of athletes who have yielded to society's pressures and abandoned their principles with the purpose of taking performance enhancing drugs. It is difficult to determine if it would be normal for the masses to judge these individuals, concerning that they are actually one of the reasons for which these people have come to consider taking performance enhancing drugs in the first place. However, the only ones who can judge them are other hard-working sportspersons who have stood by their principles and who respect the idea of sport in general.

‘Olympic track star Marion Jones was sentenced in a federal court to six months in prison.’ (Kelly and Rao, 2008) The reason why Jones was guilty is because of the use of performance enhancing drugs since 1999. More and more famous athletes prove to have used banned drugs to enhance their performance. At the same time, the role that the anti-doping agency is more and more important in the world wide games, such as Olympic Game, Tour de France. Nowadays, whether the performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) should be legalized has sparked a heated debate. However, the use of PEDs is morally wrong and it should be banned in sports. This essay will demonstrate three main points which explain the

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.