Mitch+N.+-+POSITION+PAPER

__Essential Question:__

What impact has steroids had on baseball and other sports?

__ Thesis Statement: __

In the 1990s, widespread animosity towards steroid usage was on the rise. Many athletes began doping, and in return, records were becoming shattered and the integrity of sports was being lost. I believe that steroid usage has had a negative impact on sports, and that stricter punishments and regulations by making steroids illegal should be upheld to keep sports steroid free.

Anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs have completely revolutionized sports since the 1960s. Penn State University professor Charles Yesalis of health and human development said, “It’s human nature to obtain an edge, whether in combat, business, or in sports” (Sports and Drugs). Anabolic steroids, human growth hormones and other performance-enhancing drugs became that “edge” that athletes were in need of to get on top of their opponent and reach stardom. Steroids, in general, provide an undesirable attractiveness to athletes looking for something extra to excel them into the best athlete out there. The physical alterations and developments include “intensity and length of athletic training that muscles and bones can tolerate, (the enhancing of) male reproductive and secondary sexual characteristics (that include the) development of testicles, body hair growth, and thickening of the vocal cords” (Performance-enhancing drugs). Sports have changed drastically, some for the better and some for the worse, since the usage of steroids has become more popular.

 Steroids went virtually unnoticed in the MLB and other professional sports until the late 1990s and early 2000s. Skepticism of athletes using steroids didn’t arise much until the MLB’s single season home run record was broken twice in three years, when Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit 70 and 73 home runs respectively. More and more professional baseball players began "doping" or using steroids, and according to Senator George Mitchell’s published report, //The Mitchell Report// in December of 2007 “implicates several MLB players, including both Bonds and McGwire, as having taken steroids  or other PEDs” (Steroids in Baseball). Steroid use in baseball started to become widespread, which caused for a revolution, not only the MLB, but also in nearly every other sport from high school to professional sports to the Olympics. Anti-doping officials “insist that performance-enhancing drugs hurt not only the image of competitive sport but the athletes as well” (Sports and Drugs). In order to enforce the ethics and future image of sports, drug testing has become the major way to solve and punish the actions of doping athletes.

 Drug testing in almost every sport has become the reaction towards the widespread animosity of steroid usage and has almost become inevitable to have. Fines, suspensions, and even at the most extreme cases, bans, have been issued for athletes that have tested positive for using steroids. The NCAA, NFL, NBA, and MLB all have a variation of drug testing and their own form of punishment if a player is found positive. The NHL is the only major professional sports league that does not test nor punishes players for using steroids (Sports and Drugs). The variation in testing and punishment allows each sport to enforce the proper sanctions given how much they feel steroids affect their sport. The dangers of these drugs have become unsurpassable towards the athlete’s health as well. Drugs such as anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, and erythropoietin all have dangerous side effects. “Anabolic steroids, for example, which stimulate muscle growth, are linked to a number of cancers, premature heart disease, mood disorders including uncontrolled episodes of rage ("roid rage"), and more” (Doping is More). Drug testing has not only benefited the morality of sports, but also the health of many athletes who have steered away from the drugs due to the health factors.

 Ever since the 1800’s, athletes have been using drugs or other enhancements to improve physical or mental performance in sporting events. In the 19th century, drugs such as “strychnine, cocaine, nitroglycerine, as well as other medicinals, were used to sustain or improve an athlete's performance” (Steroids in Baseball). Even back to the times of ancient Greece, Olympic athletes tried to enhance their performance by consuming massive amounts of meat, alcohol, and sheep testicles. From the 19th to the mid 20th century, “athletes were experimenting with a variety of stimulants” (Sports and Drugs) and by the 1950s, “steroids and amphetamines began spreading into competitive sports” (Sports and Drugs). Some people credit the Soviets usage of steroids during the Cold War to “increase weight and power” (Sports and Drugs) as the reason why Americans started using steroids. In 1975, the International Olympic Committee put popular AASs (anabolic-androgenic steroid) under its list of banned substances. Unplanned drug tests were given to the athletes in the 1984 Olympic games, which showed that “about half the tested athletes had taken steroids” (Steroids). These statistics led to the stripping of an Olympic gold medal for Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson in the 1988 Olympic games in Seoul.

 Congress finally banned steroid usage soon after the 1988 Olympic games. “In 1990, Congress passed the Anabolic Steroid Act, which identifies anabolic steroids  as a controlled substance, and makes it illegal for anyone to possess and use the drug unless under the supervision of a licensed physician” (Steroids in Baseball). Even though it was illegal for athletes to use steroids, many athletes including baseball players like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmero, Roger Clemens, Jose Canseco, and Barry Bonds ignored the consequences. “Steroid use by professional baseball players went largely unnoticed before 1998” when Mark McGwire broke the single season home run record when he hit 70 home runs (Steroids in Baseball). Three years later, when Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in a single season to break McGwire’s record, talks about steroid use was unavoidable. In 2003, “Victor Conte, head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), was found guilty of distributing steroids and human growth hormones to MLB and NFL players as well as track and cycling stars” (Drugs and Athletes). BALCO’s client list revealed many star athletes who ultimately led to “a highly publicized 2005 federal investigation into steroid use in Major League Baseball” (Drugs and Athletes). The BALCO scandal finally cracked down on over 15 years of steroid use in baseball and enforced much stricter rules on doping. Today, steroid use is still very real. Yet, professional sports have imposed very serious consequences and almost every sport has a zero-tolerance policy.

 When I was a kid, I grew up watching baseball’s Steroid Era at its peak. I vividly remember the home run race between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, and also witnessing live Barry Bonds hitting his 70th home run during his record breaking year of 73 home runs in a single season. Baseball, which some would consider to be a rather uneventful and boring sport, became fun to watch with the offensive power house of players like McGwire, Sosa and Bonds. At first, I thought it was a shame that these players were being ridiculed for using performance-enhancing drugs because of how much more entertaining the game became. My opinion quickly changed once I started to play baseball more competitively and understanding the integrity of the sport. I had now become against any form of steroid use, finding it as cheating much more than I found it as entertaining.

 That led me to ask the question, “What impact has steroids had on sports.” Well, I have came to the conclusion that using steroids is wrong, therefore I believe it has had a negative impact on all sports, not only baseball. “Anti-doping advocates say the drugs hurt sports and risk players' health” (Sports and Drugs). I truly believe that risking the integrity of the sport, along with risking future health problems would be enough for a player to refrain from using steroids. It is evident that many players take steroids “believing that these substances provide a competitive advantage” (Anabolic Steroids). Tests have shown that steroids do, in fact, provide a competitive edge, though they do not outweigh the physical and psychological side effects. I have concluded that the only way too completely stop the usage of steroids in sports is to make them illegal and enforce steroid prohibition laws more heavily. Preliminary steps by professional sport organizations have already been taken towards enforcing steroid usage, which include mandatory drug testing, and fines or suspensions to anybody who tests positive. //The Mitchell Report// believes that the MLB’s beginning actions towards steroid use “was too slow and ineffective” (Steroids in Baseball) so the Report “recommends that Major League Baseball <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> must engage in a sustained effort to end steroid and PED use among players” (Steroids in Baseball). Now, the MLB has taken extra efforts to crack down on steroid users, and imposing much harder consequences.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> My position towards steroid use could be implemented in many different ways. However, I have come up with an idea to stop steroid use in all levels of sports. Ranging from high school to professional sports I would have mandatory drug testing and a zero-tolerance policy for those who are tested negative. This strategy would involve relatively no work for the athletes and “the only reason athletes would oppose <span class="hithighlite" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">drug testing <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> is if they were using drugs” (Bob Ford). Another part of my plan to reduce steroid use is to impose harsher penalties in not only the sport, but also with the law. Even though the US has criminal laws governing the use of steroids “they are almost never applied to elite professional or Olympic athletes” (Elite Users of Steroids). With my policy, it doesn’t matter if your affiliated with any professional sports or the Olympics, you would face the same penalty as any other citizen if caught using steroids. I believe that scare tactics, like suspension or banning, have improved efforts on stopping steroid use in professional sports, but if the government takes action and threatens to impose sentencing on those individuals, then I believe that steroid use in sports will become nearly extinct. If the government would take a stand on steroids, there would be no more “blowing off on criminal ramifications of steroids” (Elite Users of Steroids).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Over the years since the BALCO scandal, there has been speculation into whether or not steroids actually boost statistics, such as home runs, in baseball. Some highly educated people, such as Yale professor Robert Adair, believe that steroids had minimal effects on the parts of the body that are used to hit home runs. Adair says that power hitting comes from lower body strength, but instead, steroids affect more of the "show off" muscles, like the biceps, triceps, and deltoids (Steroids, Other "Drugs" and Baseball). The "show off" muscles have no effect on power hitting, therefore steroids have no effect on power hitting. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Adair's statement is simply untrue. Though power hitting comes from torque in the lower body, the statistics simply do not lie. In the "Juiced Era" from 1994-2004, the runs per game and the home runs per game went up from the "Canseco Era" in 1986-1993. In the American League, the runs per game went from 4.50 in 1986-1993, to 5.06 in 1994-2004 and the home runs per game went up from .89 to 1.12 in the Juiced Era. In the National League, the runs went up from 4.15 to 4.68 and the home runs went up from .77 to 1.04 (Effects of Steroids). These stats cannot be thrown out of the equation. It is evident that runs and home runs had a drastic increase during the "Juiced Era." Despite the fact that anabolic steroids have more effect on the upper body and that home runs and power are produced from the lower body, steroids have undoubtedly caused increased power. Though some argue that increased power causes more fans, I still believe that steroids, in general, have a negative effect on the sport.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Another opponent’s argument to why steroids benefited baseball is the increased amount of fans during the Steroid Era. Norman Foster, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, is against strict policies on steroid use. While discussing the harsh penalties that MLB commissioner Bud Selig wanted to impose on known steroid user, Barry Bonds, he said that “Bonds is probably the biggest draw in the sport in the past decade. Why would the commissioner be so intent on taking him away from us?” (Sports and Drugs). A report from Illinois College of Law student Michael Lenhardt also believes that fan appreciation during the Steroid Era benefited the game as a whole after the 1994-1995 MLB strike when attendance took a toll as it dropped by almost 10 million. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">It was not until Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa’s 1998 steroid fueled home run race that the League began to recover. “Attendance in 1998 increased to almost 39 million in the National League, up seven million from the season before, and the fact is, the increase of almost seven million fans coincided with an increase of almost 400 home runs in the sport” (The Business of Steroids). Without steroids, Lenhardt doesn’t believe that the MLB would have had the fan base it had during the Steroid Era and the fan base it has today.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The amount of fans during the Steroid Era undoubtedly increased due to offensive power houses like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds. Fans loved watching players hit 60+ home runs a year. But, fans did not have knowledge that these offensive power houses were under the influence of drugs that ultimately enhanced their performance. That is why I believe steroids still had a negative effect on baseball, even though fan bases were skyrocketing. After the BALCO scandal implicated many famous baseball players, fans were not happy. In a USA TODAY/CNN/GALLUP poll conducted in December of 2004, “ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">82% of fans said they believe records set by athletes using steroids should either be eliminated or kept with a notation” (Players Admit Steroids). It is safe to say that fans did not approve of steroid usage, and that it has had a negative effect on the sport.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The last opposing view on steroids is that steroids aren’t nearly as harmful as people make them out to be. According to Norman Fost, professor at the University of Wisconsin Medical School says that one of the main reasons MLB commissioner Bud Selig banned steroids was that he “is concerned about the health and safety of the athletes” (Sports and Drugs). Fost argues that if Selig was really concerned about the health of athletes, he would ban alcohol and tobacco since they “account for 500,000 deaths each year in America” (Sports and Drugs). The people that agree with Fost’s opinion believe that steroids should be legalized solely because of the lack of deaths they cause per year. That argument is simply irrational and incompetent. The health risks that steroids cause for athletes is simply not worth it. In an NPR debate on the acceptance of steroids, sportscaster and creator of the program Sports Machine, George Michael, says he is “not willing to pay the price for legalizing steroids and performance-enhancing drugs” because he has seen how it has affected people who have taken steroids. Michael believes that steroids are far worse in the long run than people say (Should We Accept). Also, steroid use completely undermines the authority of professional sports, along with the athletes who worked as hard as they could to get to where they are now. Even though steroid use does not cause as many deaths per year as alcohol and tobacco, neither of those substances create an unfair advantage like steroids do.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">It is evident that steroids have had an overall negative effect, specifically on the game of baseball, but also in other sports. People argue that steroids have minimal effect on the muscles used in power hitting, that it was the best thing that has happened to sports with the increase of fans, and lastly that the health effects are not detrimental. None of these statements are remotely true and easily refutable. The statistics prove that once steroid use began, that power hitting increased drastically. Also, after the BALCO scandal, fans did not approve of steroid use, therefore if the fans knew that Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire were cheating, it would not have caused such a draw to the sport. Lastly, the health effects caused by steroids are very serious, even though they do not cause as many deaths as alcohol and tobacco, which are legal in nearly every professional sport. I believe that using steroids is cheating, and is negative towards every aspect of sports. The only way to end steroids completely is to get better testing and impose harsher punishments and enforcing the laws already made by Congress on steroid use. In an NPR debate, Richard Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency//, said that “//The use of performance-enhancing drugs is not accidental; it is planned and deliberate with the sole objective of getting an unfair advantage” (Should We Accept).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__ Annotated Bibliography: __

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jost, Kenneth. "Sports and Drugs." CQ Researcher 23 July 2004: 613-36. Web. 4 Apr. 2012.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This secondary source encyclopedia article from CQ Researcher, was written by Harvard professor Kenneth Jost. This article covers the history of steroids in sports, as well as background information and the impact it has on sports today. The article provides excellent material and information that I can use for my position paper and help guide me answer my research question.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Performance-enhancing Drugs." World of Forensic Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 525-527. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 4 Apr. 2012.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">This secondary source encyclopedia article from the Gale Virtual Reference Library is written by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner who are both authors of many genres. This article provides a more scientific knowledge on steroids and what it does to the body. This will help my paper significantly because it provides facts on how harmful steroids can be to the body.

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">Bosshardt, Richard T. "Doping Is More Than Just Cheating." //Orlando Sentinel//. 17 Jul 2011: J.6. //SIRS Issues Researcher.// Web. 09 Apr 2012.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">This newspaper article from the Orlando Sentinel is written by plastic surgeon Dr. Richard T. Bosshardt. This article depicts everything that is wrong about steroids and it's negative effect on the body and also on sports. I will use the source when I will explain the negative aspects of steroids on the persons health, and also to their sport.

<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">"Steroids in Baseball." //Gale Student Resources in Context//. Detroit: Gale, 2010. //Gale Student Resources In Context//. Web. 9 Apr. 2012.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">This encyclopedia article is written by the editor from Gale Student Resources in Context. The article covers the background, as well as The Baseball Steroid Era, and only how steroids has affected the game of baseball. This is a fantastic source for the background of steroids in baseball, and I can use it for almost any memo in my NHD paper.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">"Steroids." //Drugs and Controlled Substances: Information for Students//. Ed. Stacey L. Blachford and Kristine Krapp. Detroit: Gale, 2010. //Gale Student Resources In Context//. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

<span style="color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">This encyclopedia article is written by Stacey L. Blachford and Kristine Krapp, who are both authors that specialize in drug research and abuse, is from the reference base, Gale Student Resources in Context. This article provides a thorough history, overview, and scientific facts on steroids. This will be a great source when I need to back up my position on my position paper because of its credibility.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">"Drugs and Athletes." //Gale Student Resources in Context//. Detroit: Gale, 2012. //Gale Student Resources In Context//. Web. 12 Apr. 2012.

<span style="color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">This encyclopedia article written by the editors of Gale Student Resources in Context. This article is very thorough and has sections on history, steroids in professional sports, as well as athletes using illicit drugs such as marijuana. The article also goes in depth on the 2003 BALCO scandal, while will b very helpful while writing my Memo 3.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">//Anabolic Steroids (ESPN)//. //eLibrary//. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.

<span style="color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">This newspaper article is written by the editors of ESPN.com. This article was written in 2004, in the midst of the BALCO scandal. It provides a basic understanding of the situation, a background of steroid usage, and also what a steroid is. This article is not bias, and is helpful for almost any memo.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">"The Philadelphia Inquirer Bob Ford column." //Philadelphia Inquirer// [Philadelphia, PA] 25 Nov. 2011. //Gale Student Resources In Context//. Web. 17 Apr. 2012.

<span style="color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">This newspaper article is written by Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Bob Ford. Ford is strongly for drug testing and provides a plan for what he believes would minimize steroid use in all sports. This a great article for Memo 4 and also Memos 4, 5 and 6 and on as Ford is on the same side as I am for the topic of drug testing.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">Morse, Dan. "Elite Users of Steroids Rarely Face Criminal Prosecution." //Wall Street Journal//. 14 Dec. 2004: B1. //eLibrary//. Web. 17 Apr. 2012

<span style="color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">This newspaper article is written by Wall Street Journal journalist Dan Morse. Morse exposes the truth on how athletes "get away" with using steroids and not being prosecuted for it. This article is a great source for Memos 4 and above, as it provides a side on how to deal with this issue.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Baseball Prospectus, ed. "Baseball Between the Numbers." //Baseball Prospectus//. N.p., 9 Mar. 2006. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.

<span style="color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">This article is from the website, Baseball Prospectus, which is a website that specializes in sports knowledge with their many published books and websites. The article itself is a statistical article on the topic of steroids. The article provides great evidence for the argument memos. The statistical part of the article brings information from 1949-2004, and compares stats between the years

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Lenhardt, Michael. //The Business of Steroids in Baseball//. Illinois College of Law, 14 Mar. 2010. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <span style="color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">This is a report from Illinois College of Law student Michael Lenhardt. The report covers the economic and business part about steroids in baseball. The part of the report I used the most was the statistics on attendance. This source is against my argument, but it is definitely a respectable and credible source

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Jenkins, Chris. "Players admist steroids changed baseball." //USA TODAY// 15 Mar. 2005: n. pag. //USA TODAY//. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.

<span style="color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 12px;">This newspaper article is written by USA TODAY journalist, Chris Jenkins. The article was written shortly after the BALCO scandal, and brings a players point of view on the subject. This article has many stats on players opinions, as well as a Gallup poll that has stats on what the fans think about the steroid situation. This article has the same position as me on dilemma, and is a great source for my 5,6 and 7th memos.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Pound, Richard. Interview by Jeffrey Katz. //Should We Accept Steroid Use in// //Sports?//. NPR. 23 Jan. 2008. //NPR//. Web. Transcript. 29 Apr. 2012. <span style="color: #3232c0; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 90%;">This is an NPR interview, reported by Jeffrey Katz. It is a debate between many experts on the topic of steroids. There are three experts on each side, one side being that steroids are good for the sport and should be allowed, and the other side being that steroids are bad and should be outlawed. This is a great source for my call to action, because most of the experts propose their plans on how the situation should be handled.