Writing 3

. One of the biggest ways of cheating in the field of professional sports is to use steroids, a type of medicine that makes the body produce more muscles and less fat. Now even though steroids are just now making a big deal out of them because of the problems they have caused, that does not mean they are just now being developed. In the sports world like Track and Field, Baseball, and Football have also had athletes caught using steroids, and is one of the most talked about issue in the word today.

Now the history of steroids can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece. The Olympic athletics would be on meat diets and use plants and animal testicles as performance enhancers. Artificial performance enhancers did not come about until in the 1830’s when a group of swimmers in Amsterdam were charged with using drugs to speed up their times that. Humans have been natural competitors with each other since the beginning of time, and why not; because everybody wants to be the best. The use of steroids is one of the most talked about issues in the world of sports today.

In the 1950 Olympic weight lifting competition people would notice how huge the Soviets were, and would notice them taking pills and shots as they trained. The Soviets dominated the competition and the United States team and trainers came home wondering how they could compete with them. No matter how much they lifted, or how hard they trained, they could not match the strength of the soviets. This proved a huge problem for them, and it continued on through the decades. It wasn’t until the 1980s that people started looking at the use and effects that steroids had. It was a way to make more muscles and less fat and helped people perform better. Not only for athletes to be able to perform better, but it was also created to serve as a health provider. When scientists were looking for a way to help people with bone growth, appetite, and even puberty they went back to using antibiotic steroids. This was helping children who had problems devolving from one stage of their life to another.

One of the biggest sports affected by the use of steroids is the sport of Track and Field. In 1988 sprinter Ben Johnson was investigated on for the use of steroids after he ran the 100 meter dash in 9.95 seconds. This was so because of his previous four losses coming into the meet. He was founded guilty in 1989 after admitting that he used steroids, and had been since 1981. He was banned from the sport of track and field. Recently, world class sprinter Marion Jones denied the use of steroids but eventually came forth and confessed that she “had been dishonest” and was also banned from the sport of track and field. She was required to return all her medals and awards she had won previous to the incident. Also she was arrested on perjury and fraud charges stemming form the incident.
Also in recent years the use of steroids has been well talked about in the sport of Baseball. People like Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens. All have been brought up before congress, but it wasn’t until recently that Barry Bonds was found guilty that no one had been found guilty of the use of steroids. While there are many people making accusations against them only Barry Bonds has ever tested positive. Roger Clemens is still undergoing questions from congress and so is Barry Bonds on account of him being the Major League Base Ball’s all time home run leader.

People in the National Football League have also tested positive for them. Shawn Merriman of the San Diego Chargers tested positive in 2006, and was suspended for 2 games. Although he did return and make the Pro Bowl that year he is under a severe drug watch testing program from the league. Several years earlier Lawrence Taylor had also tested positive, but because the league had weak policies against the use of steroids, he didn’t get into to much trouble. This in some ways confuses me. Because a player can have an off the field problem and get suspended for an entire season , but if he is caught cheating he only gets two games and still makes the pro-bowl selection. They have their policies mixed up in my mind.

While the use of steroids is illegal, they are very easy to get a hold of. The Internet and through some doctors for an extremely large amount of money will supply you with what ever you need.. Anyone who uses steroids to do anything besides what they were designed for, are what I call cheaters of life. They use a drug that helps them beat out all the other people who work hard and do it the right way. They are misleading people into thinking that they are doing it the right way when they’re really not. While they may help the athlete’s body look good on the outside it destroys you on the inside. Things such as liver tumors and high blood pressure are just a few of the many possible health hazards that can be caused by the use of steroids. There have been many cases of men beating their wives in fits of rage because it causes them user to have aggression problems and mood swings. Just in the past year a professional wrestler killed himself, his wife, and their young child out of an angry steroid rage. The side effects of steroids can be good but they can also be extremely dangerous.

Now I ask where do we go from here. In the world of professional sports it is true that you have to be a great athlete to make the big bucks, but at what cost. Some people are willing to put their body through extreme pain of the after effect just to have the immediate results. Kids who idolize their favorite athlete to think that if he did it and was successful then if I take it them I will be. The sports of Baseball, Football, and Track and Field have been under continuous attacks from the media because of a few people who wanted to ‘CHEAT” their way into greatness. The heads of all these major organizations should do something fast before the entire sports world as we know comes to a crashing end.