In my opinion, the initial reason a person starts to play any sport is to either to have fun or mainly to emulate their favorite sports figures. So many kids want to swing a bat like Barry Bonds, or rush the football like Jamal Lewis, or play soccer like Pelle’. When I was younger, I wanted to tackle like Lawrence Taylor. Since these children like to do what they see their role models do, what happens if they find out that their favorite person boosts his skills by using illegal substances? Since there are a lot of impressionable minds out there, some of those little fans may be swayed to do the same when they get the chance to.
Steroids are addictive, just like marijuana or other illegal substances, and there are some well known athletes abusing them to get a quick “power up” instead of actually working hard to achieve muscle tone, or that extra intensity; that extra strength that they think they need. Steroids are seemingly displacing hard work in today’s sports world. I asked coach Wilson, my hometown football coach, about his opinion on steroids. “I’ve caught some boys taking steroids personally, and I think the main reason that it’s taken is competition.
They usually do not know how to lose, and they will do almost anything to win. ” When I asked him what could be done to improve on this problem, ” Well the only thing that I can think of to sort of contain this problem is random testing for athletes. ” “There is now a cream out that players do not have to inject into their blood stream, they just have to rub it on their skin, and it won’t show up in a blood test. ” He went on to state that “In Highschool it’s pretty easy to point out most of the kids using. ” “You can mainly tell by their attitude, and their size for a highschool student.
Also, he stated that “steroids don’t really make you better, I mean they don’t really increase your speed or agility, they just increase your intensity level, and make you bigger as far as muscles go, but it’s not worth it when you think about the risk those people take with their bodies. ” Former baseball all-star, Jose Canseco had a book published, call “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. ” This book pointed the finger at several players accusing them of steroid abuse. Miguel Tejada was among the players accused.
He denied any allegations that he abused steroids, and went on to state that he barely knew Canseco, so he feels that a discussion about steroids between him and Canseco is ridiculous. He also blamed star Jason Giambi, who also denied his claims. Future Hall of Famers Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds are currently being accused, and are having to attend congressional hearings. Sammy Sosa is also being accused, but not yet taken to trial. Also thirty-eight minor league baseball players have been suspended for steroid abuse, just recently. (www. espn. com)
The same congressional committee that did the steroid investigations in baseball, and also conducted congressional hearings, is also interested in the policies of the National Football League. The problem is not as big in the NFL as it is in the MLB, but it is still a problem. David Boston, a wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins, tested positive for the usage of steroids. He was suspended for four games. He stands to lose $1. 34 million, and in a statement issued, he denied the usage of steroids. Also Broncos receiver, Adrian Madise was suspended for four games for using anabolic steroids.
Former Football player, Jim Haslet has admitted to steroid use, and also talked about the fact that it was easy for everyone to do, because at that time the National Football League had no policy regarding steroid use, mainly because it was not illegal at that time. The NFL has sense then, implemented testing for all of its players. The NFL has had random testing for its players for the past fifteen years and a total for forty-four players so far have been suspended for performance enhancing drugs. The NFL is now looking to upgrade its steroid testing program.
The National Hockey League, and Major League soccer also have random test for steroids. (www. nfl. com) Most athletes use anabolic androgenic steroids, which are man-made substances, related to the male sex hormones”Anabolic” refers to muscle-building, and “androgenic” refers to increased masculine characteristics. “Steroids” refers to the class of drugs. This drug is used to improve on performance, or physical appearance, which can be injected or taken orally. Tumors, Cancer, and Jaundice, are some major health hazzards. As well as fluid retention, high blood pressure, severe acne, and kidney tumors.
As far as highschool goes, at least 3. 4% of all 12th grade students ever in the United States have abused steroids. Government health officials say steroid use among high school students is on the rise, also with all of the publicity that the baseball congressional hearings are bringing, some fear that the problem with steroids will get worse. The centers for disease control and prevention have reported that steroid use among highschool students have doubled from the year 1991 to the year 2003, and the media exposure that major league baseball is getting may be the main reason why.
Nation Institute on drug abuse) I asked Coach Wilson what he thought about the substance abuse problem in most of the United States major sports, and he stated that “it don’t make no sense for someone to call himself an athlete, and then go and buy drugs and creams that enhance their athletic abilities. I don’t know who is performing and who is using a needle to get an edge over the other hard working players in the league. I feel like they are mostly to blame for the highschool kids doing it to stand out, and get scholarships for college, from there they would do anything to get into the League.
I played football for about seven or eight years of my life. I know all about winning and losing, mostly about losing. My highschool once went 0-11 for the season. I thought about quitting, I thought that if I worked harder that maybe we would have a better chance of winning, I thought that if I got that extra sack or tackle, that maybe we would have won a game or two, but never did I think about using steroids for the “extra edge” that I thought I needed.
I just used other methods of cheating, like tripping players, or holding players, or when there was a fumble, I would get under the pile and kick, and punch, and twist limbs. I cheated legally and we still did not win many games. I can not say that none of my teammates thought about using, but I do not think so, and from a personal locker room relationship with them, I do not think any of them used steroids while I was on the team. We lost our games honestly, “well sort of. ” Steroids are “eating up” the sports world as we know it.
Whether it is giving players who are already good, unfair advantages, or killing and or crippling steroid abusers for life. All major sports, from baseball to track and field are cracking down on the usage of steroids. There is not yet a way to completely stop it, but random testing, and psychological profiles can help contain the problem. Also the media should use discretion when reporting these problems on the news or in the newspapers, as they would when talking about other substances.