Why Do Athletes Use Steroids

Paul Walsh
Dr. Aziz
Psychology 1000

WHY ATHLETES FEEL THE PRESSURE TO USE STEROIDS

Why do so many Athletes feel that they need to use performance enhancing drugs?
Our society loves to place athletes on an iconic status they expect to see a good show day in and day out. They want to see bigger athletes playing, bigger home runs in baseball, bigger hits in football, and faster times ran in track meets. Our society is very demanding in these issues they want to see these big plays on sportscenters top ten plays and these 500 bombs ft. that just rocket of bats. Then when a little controversy arises about these performance enhancing drugs an athlete may be taking our country will turn their back on that person as soon as they hear of such a thing. Then after all
the allegations of pro athletes using steroids I turn on my favorite show sportscenter and have to listen some college geek who couldn't make high school swim team talk about how the game is tarnished and its not pure anymore.
Shit as long as young kids are playing football and baseball in the parks and having a good time then I still see the game as pure as it has ever been. If these little twerps did not put such high expectations on athletes with their preseason all everything teams then maybe athletes wouldn't feel it so necessary to do such a thing to their body. But from my experiences as a college athlete there is tons of pressure put on you to succeed by fans, coaches, and administrators that some feel necessary to gain as much of an edge as possible. That includes cheating if need be because that is what athletes are doing by taking steroids they are cheating the game and all of those involved with them. Every athlete wants glory every athlete wants to leave something behind every athlete wants his legacy to be remembered they want to be talked about forever. Like Babe Ruth his name will never be forgotten even though his home run record was broken. People will never forget him people will still remember him as the best hitter the game has
ever seen. Hank Aaron broke his record and Barry bonds will crush the records that Aaron and Ruth set, but surrounding Bonds is a dark cloud filled with questions of steroid use. People will remember Bonds as a great hitter but there will be an asterisk next to his name in the books. A couple years ago when Bonds all of a sudden started crushing homers everyone in this country loved him opposing teams fans would cheer when he would send one out of the park. Then the Balco scandal was surfaced and Bonds was questioned of steroid use. Then all of a sudden he was getting booed at his home park our society had turned their back on another athlete that they once cheered for every day. I s it wrong for these athletes to use steroids? The world today seems to think so, but would they trade all those highlight plays for steroid free sports today. That is a question I would like to be answered by our society. Personally I don't think that trade would be made because our society today is too obsessed with these highlights. Our society doesn't care about steroid use as long as is kept quiet; as long as they don't have to hear about it they will keep on keeping on. Even President Bush is calling for a ban on steroids in baseball. Bush stated "unfortunately some in professional sports are not setting much of an example". He goes on to say "The use of performance enhancing drugs like steroids in football, baseball, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message. That there are shortcuts to accomplishment and that performance is more important than character." The President's comments on the subject came at the time of an international doping scandal which involved BALCO, The Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, a supplement lab which listed Barry Bonds as one of their many high profile clients. Bonds, who ranks fourth on the all-time homerun list broke the single season record for homeruns in 2001. (Kroichick,Crumpler,pg.1 ) Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Shilling thinks before he gives a good job butt slap. "I'll pat guys on the ass, and they'll look at me and go, ‘Don't hit me there, man. It hurts,"' Schilling said. ‘That's because that's where they shoot the steroid needles." The Texas Rangers were packing up after the last game of a road series when a player accidentally knocked over a bag by his locker. Many vials of steroids fell our and rolled on the clubhouse carpet. The player laughed went over and picked them up like nothing had happened. Steroid use has become a virus in sports today, especially baseball, a sport that in today's world has become reliant on the drugs so they have better TV ratings and a good time at the Homerun Derby. The biggest sign that baseball is accepting steroid use was the first public admission without remorse by a prominent former major leaguer. Ken Caminiti, the 1996 National League M.V.P. said that he won the award while taking steroids that he bought in Tijuana, Mexico. Caminiti stated that his performance went threw the roof while taking steroids. He also said that his balls shrank and retracted, "It took four months for my nuts to drop on their own," during the period after he stopped using. "It's no secret what's going on in baseball. At least half the guys are using steroids. They talk about it. They joke about it with each other. The guys who want to protect their image by lying have that right. Me? I'm at the point in my career where I have done every bad thing you can do. I don't want to hurt any of my friends or teammates, but I have nothing to hide." When asked what advice he would give a young player trying to make it in the big leagues Caminiti responded. "I'm not going to tell him it's a bad. Look at all the money in the game: you have a chance to set your family up, to get your daughter into a better school…..So I can't say, ‘Don't do it,' not when the guy next to you is as big as a house and he's going to take your job and make the money." It is also true that people have become more accepting of steroid use. For instance, 14 years ago Jose Canseco was taunted with chants of "ster-oids" during the ALCS at Fenway Park. I like to suck donkey dick. Physiques similar to Canseco's have become so common people cheer for them. Players even joke about using, for instance, an American League outfielder had been taking a steroid used for horses, and an opposing player pointed at him and said, "He takes so much of that horse stuff that one day we're going to look in the outfield and he's going to be grazing."(Sports Illustrated issue date June, 3 2002)

Sports Illustrated june, 3 2002