Analysis by Chris Huffman in SRM 334 (section 2)
For our current event we decided to talk about athletes using steroids; mostly about baseball players using them. Steroids have been a highly talked about subject in the MLB because of various reasons. Players feel that they are too small or do not have the natural athletic ability to compete with the top players in baseball today.
Two of the most recent baseball players that have been caught using steroids are Yankees third basemen, Alex Rodriguez, and the Brewers leftfielder, Ryan Braun. Both started out denying they had ever used steroids or any illegal substances that are banned by the MLB. Later both of them were found guilty and faced suspensions during the season this year.
I believe that our media portrays both of them as lying and cheating the game of baseball because they both denied using illegal substances by the MLB and were later found guilty. I think that if they would have came clean at the beginning then it would not have blown up like it did. People would have been more forgiving about the mistakes they both have made and might of gotten off with a lighter suspension as well.
This article is relevant to the course because of how it was all over sports center as well as twitter too. Many people voiced their opinions about the suspensions and about how they felt about them taking banned substances. In the video on youtube the woman reporter talks about how parents are tired of worrying about their kids being introduced to things like this. They believe that their children are going to start thinking they have to take substances in order to receive a college scholarship or in order to make it professionally in sports, which scares the parents because of the harm it can do to their children’s body.I believe if the MLB and all leagues around the world made a stricter policy, for example, instead of giving athletes three chances, they should only give them one or two at the most. I believe this because it is taking away the integrity of the game and eventually people are going to get so tired of it they will stop watching sports because they will believe it has become a scam.
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Analysis by Titus Till in SRM 334 (section 2)
Steroid use by professional athletes has been an issue within professional sports leagues such as the MLB and NFL. This problem has tarnished the names of some of the most decorated athletes in recent years. Particularly, one of the most recent cases is the scandal that the New York Yankees all-star, Alex Rodriguez, is involved in. A-rod is currently in the process of appealing his 211-game suspension that resulted from his alleged involvement with the anti-aging clinic Biogenesis. Another similar case involves the Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun who recently was suspended for the remainder of the season without pay. The suspension will withhold Braun from 65 games and it is estimated that he will lose $3.25 million as a result.
The use of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs within professional baseball may have been a life saver for the MLB. Before the steroids era, baseball was losing fans at a rapid pace and the league was close to being extinct. When big names such as Mark Mcwire and Sammy Sosa came along and began to put up outstanding numbers and perform above and beyond the expectations of a professional athletes fans began to come back to baseball and sell out stadiums to watch these amazing athletes to perform. After many years of excelling in hitting home-runs, these players were found to be guilty of using steroids. This brought so much media attention to this problem and since then, reporters cannot wait to get their hands on a juicy story such as the Alex Rodriquez or Ryan Braun situation.
In the NFL, there are not as many cases around the league where you will find players using performance enhancing drugs or steroids but that does not mean they aren’t out there. The NFL has a policy that gives a 30 day suspension for the first offense of banned substances and a 1-year suspension for the second offense. The third offense is unknown due to the fact that no one has ever failed 3 drug test in the NFL. This is an issue that is relevant to this course because it is a very scandalous and news-worthy story when a professional athlete caught using performance enhancing drugs. The media has used this issue to bring the MLB back to life after almost going into extinction. Athletes that have used steroids in the past were able to do things unfathomable to the rest of the world and they may not have been able to do it without steroids.
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