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Joshua Townsend
Jamie McBeth-Smith
English 1010
Annotated Bibliography
Steroids and Sports
Does the use of PEDs make sports more appealing to its fan base?
Sports have been in existence since approximately 776 BC. Beginning in Greece and now
part of our American culture, sports have always demanded a high excellence. Excellence
meaning that you excel to your potential in muscular endurance, muscle strength, speed,
agility, skill, technique and reaction time just to name a few. With this high demand for
excellence, many pro athletes go to great lengths to reach their full potential, whether it is
doing it in a ‘natural’ or ‘unnatural’ manner.
Anabolic Steroids, also known as PED’s (Performance Enhancing Drugs) have been a
problem in professional sports for many years and are debated on a regular basis whether or
not steroids should be kept illegal or be legalized. There are many opinions regarding this issue.
It is controversial and often discussed on popular sport news television, websites and amongst
athletes in general. There are many fans, sport spectators, and athletes that believe that the
use of PED’s are used for cheating and it’s a way to make oneself a better athlete in an
unethical way. While some believe it should be acceptable because they think it makes the
game more competitive and exciting. Now with all of these viewpoints, if Anabolic steroids
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were legalized, would it change the game for the better, and if so, what would make the sport
more appealing? In my essay I want to answer the question, ‘Does the use of PED’s make sports
more appealing to its fan base?’ I chose to write about this issue because I found it interesting
what society’s viewpoint is regarding bodybuilding or any kind of sport.
Services, ESPN.com News. "John Rocker Touts MLB 'steroid era'" ESPN. ESPN Internet
Ventures, 10 July 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9467333/john-rocker-says-steroids-peds-made%20better-game>.
ESPN quoted an interview given by Cleveland’s 92.3 radio station with the
former Atlanta Braves baseball player John Rocker. In this article, we learn that Rocker is
pro Anabolic Steroid use in sports. Rocker was tested positive for illegal steroid use
several times during his MLB career because he believed that the use of PED’s in Major
League Baseball helped transform it into a more appealing sport: giving the people what
they wanted. "At the end of the day when people are paying their $80, $120, whatever
it may be, to buy their ticket and come watch that game, it’s almost like the circus is in
town…They want to see some clown throw a fast ball 101 mph and some other guy hit it
500 feet. That’s entertainment. You’re paying to be entertained" Rocker explained. To
make his point, Rocker talks about the homerun chase competition during the ‘steroid
era’ held in 1998 between baseball players Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire to see who
could beat the record of 61 homeruns. Both players were on PED’s but still people
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wanted to see a record broken no matter how it was accomplished. "Was there
anything more entertaining?" asks Rocker.
I find the ESPN article to be credible for two reasons: One, ESPN is one of the largest,
most credible sport news sources there are. Secondly, the primary source that was
interviewed was a former MLB player who experienced firsthand the benefits of PEDs
and how they made the game more satisfying for the players and the fans. In my
opinion, this is convincing evidence but only to a certain degree. In the article, they fail
to mention Rockers personal experiences. Sure he mentions the competition between
Sosa and McGwire back in ’98 and how that was exciting for the fan base, but telling of
his personal experiences would have made a better argument because then he would
have been able to explain exactly how PED’s make the game more appealing.
So far, this source hasn’t been able to persuade me though it does make some good
points. Sports fans do deserve to be entertained, they pay a lot of money for exactly
that, but to me, the real entertainment comes from those that don’t need to take PED’s
to be able to break records and entertain their fans. Athletes that break records without
having to use any kind of illegal drug shows the skills they possess. There is no need for
them to cheat their way to the top. Though, not everyone see’s the use of PED’s as a
way of cheating, but as a way to get better than their competitor. This is how sport
competitors have always been: try everything possible to get better than your
competitor. Several of the points made in ESPN’s article ‘John Rocker touts MLB ‘steroid
era’ are mentioned in my other sources. Some agree that they make the sport more
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exciting and should be legalized, while some are in complete disagreement saying it is
against the ‘spirit of the game’ and there is also a major health issue.
Livingston, Bill."Performance-enhancing Drugs Should Be Legalized in Pro Sports, Olympics Says
CWRU Professor: Bill Livingston." Cleveland.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2013/07/case_western_reserve_law_
profe.html>.
Bill Livingston, author of the article ‘Performance Enhancing Drugs should be
legalized in pro sports, Olympics says CWRU professor’ writes about how bioethics/ law
professor at Case Western Reserve University, Max Mehlman, bases his arguments on
the legalization of PED’s on two provisions: “A doctor would be supervising the drug
regimen and informed athletes would have a choice to use them.” In this article,
Mehlman focuses more on the supervision aspects more than the entertainment but
doesn’t fail to mention that seeing a human lift 600 pounds regardless of the kind of
diet, extra training, or steroids used, would be quite the sight. Mehlman points out that
many pro athletes take certain legal substances that are doctor prescribed and
supervised to help them heal faster. Why then are athletes prohibited from taking PEDs
when they too can help? “There is nothing fundamentally wrong or ethically
objectionable to PEDs…steroids can prevent muscle tears and prevent the muscle
sheath from shredding” Mehlman argued. While defending his point, Mehlman also
recognizes the affect it would have on adolescents if PEDs were legalized. He
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acknowledges that they can interfere with their physical development and “that it
would be impossible to keep them out of the hands of young players trying to emulate
those they see on television.”
I find this source to be credible because the author, Bill Livingston, is a well known
sports columnist. He does a good job with portraying Mehlmans views on the issue. He
is articulate at convincing his audience to believe that steroids are good for the medical
reasons and under the correct supervision. What was even more convincing was how he
explained how PEDs can prevent muscle injury.
The article has affected my thinking towards my question a little bit. I can see if an
athlete is injured and recovers more quickly because of the use of PEDs. This can be
appealing because then your favorite team is able to perform at its fullest which brings
more excitement. The article does support other sources of how the use of PEDs is a bad
example for adolescents, but also the harm they cause to the body in general. Those are
two huge arguments people have over this issue. Yet even with those problems, people
still believe it’s worth the entertainment and the story line.
Tim."TicketNetwork Blog." Unpopular Opinion Alert: Steroids and Other Performance-Enhancing
Drugs Make Sports More Entertaining. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.ticketnetwork.com/blog/post/2013/08/21/unpopular-opinion-alertsteroids-and-other-performance-enhancing-drugs-make-sports-moreentertaining.aspx>.
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“Sports, not unlike a television show or movie is infinitely more entertaining
when there is a great story line” says Tim from his blog entry on the Ticketnetwork titled
‘Unpopular Opinion Alert: Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Drugs Make Sports
More Entertaining’. In this blog post, Tim argues that sports are more entertaining
when they involve PEDs because they provide a controversial topic for sports fans. “You
need a controversy to keep people’s interest…people love to argue about sports. That’s
part of what makes being a sports fan so fun.” Tim claims that people love to see a
superstar fall from grace because that is what is going to get a good story line with high
ratings. He mentions the instances regarding Alex Rodriguez or Lance Armstrong to
prove his point.
I find this source to be credible because throughout this entry, Tim mentions what his
views are regarding the issue which helps us understand what people are saying or
thinking towards PEDs in sports. He uses popular examples to prove his point that PEDs
get higher ratings by mentioning athletes like Lance Armstrong and Alex Rodriguez who
were either suspended or banned from the sport for participating in PEDs.
In this particular source, Tim’s thoughts and views did affect my own because he made a
good argument that if an athlete is suspended for some time because of the use of
PEDs, sports fans are going to be reading, watching or listening to whatever source of
media they can to see when this athlete will be able to play again. This is another way of
entertainment because it gives people something to talk about amongst other sports
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fans. Now even with having something to talk about and the ratings being higher, PEDs
can most certainly have a negative effect on the other athletes and children.
Yesalis, Charles E. "Steroid Use Is Not Just an Adult Problem." The New York Times. The New
York Times, 03 Dec. 1988. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/04/sports/views-of-sport-steroid-use-is-not-just-an-adultproblem.html??version=meter%20at%205®ion=FixedCenter&pgtype=Article&priority=true&mo
dule=RegiWall-Regi&action=click&pagewanted=2>.
Charles E. Yesalis author of The New York Times article ‘Views of Sports; Steroid
Use Is Not Just an Adult Problem’ argues that because of the use of PEDs in professional
sports, adolescents are now using anabolic steroids to a significant extent. He explains
how young teenagers learn about PEDs from their friends and the athletes they look up
to. He believes that the use of PEDs needs to be monitored more strictly in professional
and high school sports to prevent the health problems PEDs users will face the more
they take them.
I think this article is credible because Charles E. Yesalis is an expert when it comes to
dealing with Anabolic Steroids. He has studied the use of PEDs for over 30 years and has
worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the NFL Players Association and the
U.S. Olympic Committee. Also, it was published in The New York Times newspaper
which is a reliable source. The points Yesalis make are convincing because he explains
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the affect PEDs can have on adolescents. He explains how these drugs are becoming
easier to possess and that it’s a big health problem.
This source has made me think more in depth of why Anabolic Steroids do not make
sports more appealing because it goes so much more into depth than what happens on
the field. It affects kids at such a young age that they can damage their body and can
ruin future opportunities. What is appealing about that? Yesalis article also relates to
another New York Times newspaper article that talks about the negative affect it can
have on professional athletes. Such an affect it can make well known athletes retire
much earlier than planned.
Moses, Edwin. "Liberate Track and Field From Steroids." The New York Times. The New York
Times, 10 June 1989. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/11/sports/views-of-sport-liberate-track-and-fieldfrom-steroids.html>.
Edwin Moses wrote the article ‘Views of Sports: Liberate Track and Field from
Steroids’ in The New York Times newspaper talking about how sports need to be
respected, competitive, and clean. Moses, being a gold medalist from the 1976 Olympics
believes that PEDs are unsportsmanlike and unethical. In his article, he shares quotes
from interviews he had with two former professional athletes who retired at an early
stage in their career because they weren’t able to compete at the same level with
athletes who were using PEDs. Moses relates to them by saying how it was hard for him
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to put himself on the line without using drugs because it became more and more
frustrating to compete that way and do well.
This is my favorite source out of the five. It is credible because it was published in The
New York Times newspaper, and it was written by an Olympic gold medalist who is a
member of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission. I found the
article to be very convincing because not only does he talk about how harmful PEDs are
to athletes and adolescents, he mentions how the testing systems are going to be
perfected by having more annual random drug tests. I also like how he mentions the
negative affects drugs are having on athletes to the point that they retire from the
game. What’s appealing seeing your favorite athlete retire because they can’t compete
with people who are on drugs?
This source enabled me to see more reasons why PEDs aren’t appealing in the slightest
degree. I learned more about the negative affect it has on professional athletes. Before
researching this topic, I knew PEDs were a problem in sports but never realized that
athletes would actually retire rather than compete against athletes who take PED’s.
Sadly these athletes cannot be competitive against the athletes that use them. It is
something that needs to be stopped completely.
While researching this topic, I found it hard to see why exactly sports fans believe PEDs
make sports more appealing. I think that those who do find them to be appealing
haven’t thought about the issue (outcome) in it’s entirely. I think they just look for world
breaking records, a brief moment of excitement and probably the financial benefit, but
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fail to see the affect it has on other sports fans, players, and adolescents. Sadly, I think
the debate on Anabolic Steroids will go on for a long time until they are completely
eliminated from sports “and only then will the winner be the best athlete and not the
athlete with the best druggist” (Moses).
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Works Cited
Services, ESPN.com News. "John Rocker Touts MLB 'steroid era'" ESPN. ESPN Internet
Ventures, 10 July 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9467333/john-rocker-says-steroids-peds-made%20better-game>.
Livingston, Bill."Performance-enhancing Drugs Should Be Legalized in Pro Sports, Olympics Says
CWRU Professor: Bill Livingston." Cleveland.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.cleveland.com/livingston/index.ssf/2013/07/case_western_reserve_law_
profe.html>.
Tim."TicketNetwork Blog." Unpopular Opinion Alert: Steroids and Other Performance-Enhancing
Drugs Make Sports More Entertaining. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.ticketnetwork.com/blog/post/2013/08/21/unpopular-opinion-alertsteroids-and-other-performance-enhancing-drugs-make-sports-moreentertaining.aspx>.
Yesalis, Charles E. "Steroid Use Is Not Just an Adult Problem." The New York Times. The New
York Times, 03 Dec. 1988. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/04/sports/views-of-sport-steroid-use-is-not-just-an-adultproblem.html??version=meter%20at%205®ion=FixedCenter&pgtype=Article&priority=true&mo
dule=RegiWall-Regi&action=click&pagewanted=2>.
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Moses, Edwin. "Liberate Track and Field From Steroids." The New York Times. The New York
Times, 10 June 1989. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/11/sports/views-of-sport-liberate-track-and-fieldfrom-steroids.html>.