The Invasion of Steroids in the Sport's Realm
Athletes across the nation are ruining their careers because they have fallen victim to the temptation of performance-enhancing drugs. It has become too easy for athletes to gain access to these drugs. The idea that these drugs will help them break the high school record, win state, or become recruited by colleges fill athletes heads as they weigh the options of the pros & the cons of using performance-enhancing drugs.
It sounds like a dream, right?
When you have the aspirations to be the best in a sport or win the gold, it is easy to take the risk. The success, fame, and glory is all worth the risk, or is it?
Careers can be ruined instantaneously. Take Barry Bond, who was one of the best baseball players of all time. The BALCO scandal was one of the first cases of an athlete using performance-enhancing drugs, and it gained so much attention the U.S. Congress decided to conduct an investigation.
It was not the attention Barry Bond was shooting for when he decided to use anabolic steroids.
Anabolic steroids are used by approximately 30% of college and professional athletes. They are known to increase muscle mass, strength, and endurance. Steroids are harmful to the cardiovascular system and come with side effects though. Common steroid effects are paranoia, irritability, delusions, mood swings, and increase in body hair.
Beyond the use of anabolic steroids to increase physical strength, many athletes use medications to manage the pain that often accompanies training and competition in games, along with sports-related injuries.
After the scandal involving Barry Bonds, why do athletes continue to use these drugs? There are many reasons. Among student-athletes in high school and college, the drive to excel can be very powerful. While only a limited number of athletes are recruited by highly rated colleges, the number of athletes who strive to be recruited is high. For student-athletes in poorer areas, recruitment by a first-rate college may feel like their only opportunity for a chance at college. For those athletes who are recruited, the expectation that they have to excel to prevent the risk of losing their scholarship.
The only thing we can do is remind athletes of the dangers that accompany drug usage. As much as an athlete may want to succeed, they may be ruining their lives in the process.
