Don't Spoil the Sport
Don’t Spoil The Sport
As I sit and watch the baseball games of the New York Yankees, my favorite baseball team, I notice that Alex Rodriguez is hitting homeruns left and right, which is unusual for a guy of his age. Not only did this bring suspicion to me, but also the MLB, which is why he was suspended 211 games for violations of its Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The reason professional leagues were created were for entertainment purposes, and to measure elite player’s talents, but in today’s society some players just undermine the credibility of the sport, because a sport is about the raw ability and talent of each player. It is up to the MLB and us as fans to put an end to the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) in major league baseball, because it ruins the sport and it is harmful to the players and others.
In the last couple of years, many athletes in different sports have been caught using PED’s. When an athlete tests positive for PED’s, the athlete is usually well known. Also, there have been many instances never reported. It has come to a point where when an athlete is doing really well in his sport, speculations on the use of steroids or other PED’s arise. But the bothersome thing about sports today is that the speculations may very well be true. The use of steroids, and other illegal drugs are dangerous. Although it has enhanced the entertainment value of sports, it also has diminished the value of sportsmanship.
Athletes have the freedom of doing anything with their bodies, however they should also take into consideration the future consequences and side effects of the drugs. It is a form of cheating, because they are not competing with their own skills, instead they participate with an "assistance" in order to maximize what they already have.
Figure 1: Mark McGwire political cartoon
In the figure depicted above, it shows baseball star Mark McGwire trying to get into the Hall of Fame, but his enlarged muscles from steroid
As I sit and watch the baseball games of the New York Yankees, my favorite baseball team, I notice that Alex Rodriguez is hitting homeruns left and right, which is unusual for a guy of his age. Not only did this bring suspicion to me, but also the MLB, which is why he was suspended 211 games for violations of its Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The reason professional leagues were created were for entertainment purposes, and to measure elite player’s talents, but in today’s society some players just undermine the credibility of the sport, because a sport is about the raw ability and talent of each player. It is up to the MLB and us as fans to put an end to the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) in major league baseball, because it ruins the sport and it is harmful to the players and others.
In the last couple of years, many athletes in different sports have been caught using PED’s. When an athlete tests positive for PED’s, the athlete is usually well known. Also, there have been many instances never reported. It has come to a point where when an athlete is doing really well in his sport, speculations on the use of steroids or other PED’s arise. But the bothersome thing about sports today is that the speculations may very well be true. The use of steroids, and other illegal drugs are dangerous. Although it has enhanced the entertainment value of sports, it also has diminished the value of sportsmanship.
Athletes have the freedom of doing anything with their bodies, however they should also take into consideration the future consequences and side effects of the drugs. It is a form of cheating, because they are not competing with their own skills, instead they participate with an "assistance" in order to maximize what they already have.
Figure 1: Mark McGwire political cartoon
In the figure depicted above, it shows baseball star Mark McGwire trying to get into the Hall of Fame, but his enlarged muscles from steroid