Steriods

Steroids Austin Pulse `In life, when you cheat, you are severely punished and taught a lesson. But in sports, you can get caught cheating and get a small slap on the wrist and a fine, that with the salary that pro athletes, is nothing more than pocket change. The issue of steroids in sports is not a big a deal as it really should be. But the truth is, it’s a problem that needs to be discussed. Steroids were first invented to help cure diseases. The first testosterone based anabolic steroids were invented by a team scientist led by Adolf Butenandt, a German scientist. He created them to help treat hypogonadism, a testosterone deficiency. But after more experiments with his creation, it was realized that they could help improve a persons athletic abilities. Steroids and stimulants have been used as far back as the mid 1800s. The first major incident of steroids in sports was in 1886 with cyclist Arthur Linton who died in the middle of a race in France. The cause of his death was liked to trim ethyl, a stimulant. And from then on steroids have been a constant and ugly part of sports. But the reason steroids are a problem isn’t just because steroids improve an athlete’s abilities, it’s because of the health risks. Some of these risks include liver tumors, jaundice, fluid retention, and high blood pressure. And those are just from short term use, the effects of long term use are largely unknown. Some emotional effects of steroids can be; paranoid jealousy, extreme irritability, delusions, and impaired judgment stemming from feelings of invincibility. The most staggering use of steroids maybe is the one of major league baseball. Baseball has been at the center of the steroid discussions because of the amount of players that have admitted and supposedly used, also for the way that the MLB has handled all the scandals. One reason that steroids have hit major league baseball so hard is because of all the big name players that have used steroids, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, and Mark McGuire, just to name a few. And because most of those players are record holder, in my mind that makes their record illegitimate and need to be erased. I also think the MLB needs to make the punishment for using banned substances more harsh. First of, have all players and trainers go through a conference or meeting explaining what substances are banned. That way, if a player is busted for using enhancers, they can’t use the old “I didn’t know it was illegal” excuse. Next a much larger fine, the fines now don’t even matter to players because of how much they make. It needs to be at least 10% of their annual salary of that year. Because everyone knows, the easiest way to get to a big time athlete is to start taking away their money. And last but not least, longer suspensions. I think if you get caught for cheating in professional sports, you should not get to play. Depending on the amount and what substance you use would determine the severity of the suspension. I think that the minimum amount of suspension time should be two months of the season. For more extreme cases possibly the whole year, but it’s all subjective to the individual case. So in conclusion, cheating is unacceptable, in any walk of life. And in a profession that wants you to be an honest yet affective player, the temptation to use steroids maybe hard to resist. But athletes can not fall into that world. And if they do they will be ashamed and rightfully punished. Once steroids are out of sports, I believe the sports world will be a much better, more competitive place. Which is all a sports fan like me, can ask for. http://www.drugfree.org/Portal/Drug_guide/Steroids SI.com