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Devin McCleskey
Mrs. Chambers
British Literature
November 1, 2013
Senior Project Research Paper
The homerun is the most exciting offensive play in baseball. The big hit is the most
exciting in football, but how do these superstar athletes hit homeruns and make the big tackles?
Babe Ruth did it on hot dogs. Hank Aaron did it with class. Tedy Bruschi worked harder than
anyone on the gridiron. How did Barry Bonds do it? What about Mark McGwire and Von
Miller? It has been proven that certain individuals have shown their greatness by cheating with
the use of anabolic steroids. Steroid use has been a controversy for many years in professional
sports, but the rule is not enforced enough. The argument of legalizing steroids is backed up by
saying “it will make the games more exciting” and “it would make life easier from professional
sports organizations.” Steroid use should be banned from professional sports for good due to the
health issues caused, the influence on young athletes, and the affect it has on the respected sport
and its fans.
Anabolic steroids can cause various medical problems throughout an abusers entire life.
“Anabolic steroids can cause serious physical and psychological side effects” (Anabolic). The
ESPN Special Section did a research on the side effects of anabolic steroids. The most common
physical side effects for males are reduced sperm count, development of breasts, pain while
urinating, and the shrinking of the testicles. The most common mental side effects are depression
and “roid rage” which is outburst of serious aggression. For females, the most common side
effects are deepening of the voice, facial hair growth, breast reduction, and menstrual cycle
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changes. The study also found that there are also very serious, long-term effects. These include
clotting disorders, liver damage, weakened tendons, and premature heart attacks and strokes. The
major professional sports organizations need to ban steroids from their games to prevent athletes
from abusing them. Obviously athletes will continue to try and hide it, you can’t monitor the
athletes every second of the day, but those who continue to abuse the drugs should be banned
from the game for their own safety. No record is as important as the player’s life.
Because athletes are such role models, kids who are under pressure to play sports in
college or going into the professional level are influenced negatively into using steroids. Every
young athlete looks up to a professional. Alex Rodriguez is one of the most looked upon baseball
players by young athletes. He plays the ideal dream of any baseball player, to play third base for
the great New York Yankees. He is also one of the players being investigated by the biogenesis
program, as anyone who watches Sports Center would know. He has already admitted to using
steroids earlier in his career as a member of the Texas Rangers when he won the MVP award for
the American League. Many young athletes saw his success with the Rangers, and after finding
out that steroids were a factor in his success, they decided that they should try and mimic ARod's actions. "The intense media coverage and congressional hearings about the use of steroids
by professional baseball players have caused high school administrators and coaches to consider
the prevalence performance- enhancing drugs among their own athletes" (Nevius). Forty percent
of high school athletes said that steroids were "fairly easy" to acquire (Nevius). Also, 4.8% of
athletes in high school admitted to using steroids without a doctor's permission (Nevius). “Many
pressures drive young athletes to experiment with steroids. Although most athletes exercise hard,
eat properly, and take care of their bodies to maintain optimal fitness and performance levels,
athletic competition and the desire to look physically toned and fit can be fierce.” () The MLB
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and other professional sports need to take action with their athletes so that the high school
athletes aren't driven to try them. High school coaches and administrators can't afford to check if
their athletes are doing steroids. Each test can cost up to $200, so it isn't cheap at all. If the young
athletes see the professionals getting punished, they will be less likely to follow in their
footsteps.
Baseball is and always will be America’s past time and it deserves to be
respected, along with all other professional sports that the fans show so much honor to. The St.
Louis Cardinals franchise face was once Mark McGwire. One of the game’s most celebrated
sluggers. He is now the face of the steroid scandal. “He has been reduced to a shrunken, lonely,
evasive figure whose testimony brought him to the verge of tears” (Preface). The MLB’s current
policy calls for a ten day suspension for first offenses. This is unacceptable. The first offense
should be at least a fifty game suspension and a fine. After that, the issue is out of control and the
player should be cut loose. The Olympics first offense policy is a two year suspension, which
makes Major League Baseball look like a joke. Senator Jim Bunning, a republican from
Kentucky, is a hall of fame pitcher who played in the golden age of baseball, the 1950’s and
1960’s. “When I played with Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, and Ted Williams, they didn’t put on
40 pounds … and they didn’t hit more homeruns in their late thirties than they did in their late
twenties. What’s happening in baseball is not natural, and it’s not right.” Bunning went on to say
that the records of steroid users should be marked with an asterisk, arguing that the records
should be thrown out of the book. “Wipe all their records out. Take them away. They don’t
deserve them.” This is coming from a true hall of fame pitcher who did it the right way.
In the NFL, the game isn’t affected as much as it is in baseball, because all of the players
are naturally very large and it can be difficult to tell who is juicing and who is not. Drug tests for
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the teams in the NFL have caught many people. Since the most recent Super Bowl, twenty
players have been suspended for violating the substance abuse policy, including Von Miller and
Texans linebacker Brian Cushing. Both of these players earned lengthy contracts that pay a large
amount of money, but it is all going to waste with these players sitting on the bench. However,
even though there are suspensions being given in the NFL, no one is called a fraud or a cheater in
the NFL for taking PED’s. In fact, some players get a big contract if it is learned that he takes
PED’s. Football and baseball couldn’t be further apart on the subject. Alex Rodriguez will never
be thought of as a “clean” player and he has actually never failed a drug test, but Von Miller is
thought to be one of the most dominant pass rushers in the game. The argument made by people
to legalize steroids is said to make life easier on the organizations like the MLB and NFL. They
wouldn’t have to deal with suspensions, but ten to fifteen years down the road, when a retired
player dies due to the side effects of steroids, the organizations will have law suits put in front of
them. That is not what the games are about. Bringing legal issues into sports takes the fun out of
them. Debating on who the better hitter between Barry Bonds and Satchel Paige is forever
ruined. The fun of analyzing these sports will forever be ruined due to the effects of steroid use.
Steroid use is a disgrace to all of professional sports. Titles have been ripped away,
records shattered, and names tainted with shame, all because athletes are accused of using
steroids. Lance Armstrong was stripped of seven Tour De France victories. Countless baseball
players such as Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, and Mark McGwire will never be aloud in the
Hall Of Fame because of steroids. Sammy Sosa is having medical problems to this day that are
likely the effect of steroid use. Yong athletes are juicing to perform better in high school so that
they can play in college or professionally. The major effects of steroids are looked through a lot
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of times, but the effects on health, young athletes, and the purity of the game are more than
enough reasons to get them out of sports for good.