Drugs and Sports

This paper discusses the increased use of drugs in sports and the greater control of this problem.
2002, 940 words, 10 source(s).

More Free Term Papers:
Dual Career Marriages
This paper examines a case study of a career couple and the issues that arise.
Dummy Corporation
An informal guide for a person wanting to open a dummy corporation, all the tricks of the trade.
Dying Young
A discussion of A. E. Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young" , providing the reader with an idea of the author's views on death.

More College Papers:

Click here to search for Term Papers on "Drugs and Sports"
OR let us write you a NEW customized college paper on any topic you need!

Drugs: Hurt Players and Sports Brett Favre, Diego Maradona, and Darryl Strawberry are all big name sport stars. They all play different sports, but all have the same problem: they tested positive for using illegal drugs. Cocaine, anabolic steroids, and painkillers are just a sample of drugs found in sports. Cocaine is described this way, aEoeIt makes you feel like you can do anything, and for athletes who long to be in control all the time, thataE(TM)s a strong temptationaE (Coffey 1). Anabolic-androgenic steroids are synthetic forms of hormones that produce muscle faster (Rozin 176). Over fifty percent of the players in the National Football League are weekend or recreational users of cocaine (Burwell 1) . Forty-four Olympians have been caught with steroid use since 1972 (Corelli 28). Through FavreaE(TM)s painkillers, StrawberryaE(TM)s and MaradonaaE(TM)s cocaine, one can see that drugs hurt the athletes as well as the sport. First Brett Favre, who was the Most Valuable Player in the National Football League last season, entered a drug abuse center for his addiction to Vicodin, a very strong painkiller (Plummer 129 ). Favre had problems because of Vicodin. Favre suffered a seizure in February while in surgery to repair a broken bone. The seizure resulted from the abuse of the painkiller (Howard 1). Favre states, aEoeI went to Topeka, because the pills had gotten the best of meaE ( qtd. in Plummer 129). FavreaE(TM)s daughter Brittany asked his wife Deanna, aEoeIs he going to die?aE (qtd. in Plummer 129). He not only scared himself but his family as well. Favre not has to submit up to ten urine tests a month. His losses were internal as well. aEoeIt is kind of embarrassing,aE says Favre; aEoeI will do whatever it takesaE (qtd. in Plummer 133). He spent several weeks in rehabilitation but was not be fined or suspended. If caught again his charge will be a four game suspension with loss of pay. Another famous athlete, Diego Maradona, was once considered the most skilled soccer player in the world. Now he is considered a loser. Maradona was banned from international soccer play for testing positive for cocaine. Shortly after that, he was arrested for cocaine possession (Longman 1). The fifteen month suspension ended in time for Maradona to play in the 1994 World Cup. He was then caught with five illegal drugs in his system. One doctor called it a aEoecocktail drug" (Sports Illustrated 10). He was then kicked out of the World Cup. aEoeThis latest behavior will no doubt further damage MaradonaaE(TM)s already sagging reputation, "said U. S. soccer team member Claudia Reyna (Longman 1). Drugs hurt MaradonaaE(TM)s health and reputation and prevented him from becoming a World Cup champion. Maradona wanted to leave the World Cup stage a champion. Instead he left as its most pathetic figure (Sports Illustrated 10). As a final example, National League rookie of the year for 1983 and 1986 world series champ, Darryl Strawberry had a great future going for him, but not anymore. Strawberry checked himself into the Betty Ford Center for cocaine abuse (Verducci 16). Five months later he tested positive for cocaine. After this, Strawberry had no team to call his own, as he was suspended from baseball (Verducci 17). Strawberry entered his third rehabilitation center in five years (Verducci 18). Drugs kept Strawberry away from his family. Ruby, his mother, said, aEoeHe didnaE(TM)t care what was going on with the family. He was not in touch with usaE ( qtd. in Verducci 20 ). Cocaine can take a person away from a lot of things, but taking away from a family has to be the worst. Strawberry has had three wives, and five children by those three. Ruby said about the second, aEoeHis marriage was a bad one from the beginningaE ( qtd. inVerducci 22). Cocaine took many valued things away from Strawberry: his wives, children, family, baseball, and, of course, money. Strawberry has since come clean and was a member of the New York Yankee World Championship team. These athletes not only hurt themselves but their respected sports. These professionals are looked at as heroes. Little children think these athletes can do no wrong. It would be dangerous for parents to let their children to have Daryl Strawberry as a hero. Drug charges are also an embarrassment to the sport. aEoeIt dents the sport a little,aE said Roy Wegerle about MaradonaaE(TM)s charges. Fernando Clavijo said that soccer players, like other athletes, are role models, and aEoewe have to be careful what we doaE (Longman 1). It would be difficult to tell a kid who wants to be like Maradona, aEoeNo son you do not want to be like him.aE These popular players become suspended, therefore fewer people come to the games, which means less money for the sport. Drugs are hurting sports everywhere. In 1994, the Chinese womanaE(TM)s swim team captured six gold and three silver medals in the world championships held in Rome, everyone shouted aEoesteroids!aE aEoeHow else could anyone get so good so fastaE (Rozin 176)? It has nothing to do with what sport it is, drugs can have a major effect on it. Though the use of drugs seems to be getting greater, the control of them is getting stronger too. This past summer, in Atlanta, the Olympic Games held its biggest drug crackdown in history. In the National Football League, random drug testing is becoming effective. There are officials that report to every team and educate about drug use. Then there is always rehabilitation (Burwell 1). Suspensions are greater than ever and fines are outrageous. The chance to play and perform must outweigh the desire to experiment with drugs and suffer the painful consequences of drug abuse. Works Cited Burwell, Bryan. aEoeThe NFL Confronts the Burgeoning Drug Crisis.aE Social Issues Resources Series August 21, 1983, Article #54 Volume 2. Coffey, Wayne. aEoeCocaine Back in Sports News, and Many Ask About BiasaE(TM)Death.aE New York Daily News. May 20, 1996. aEoeCornered Kicker.aE Sports Illustrated. July 11, 1994. Volume 81. Corelli, Rae. aEoeThe Drug Detectives.aE MacleanaE(TM)s . July 22, 1996, Volume 109. Longman, Jere. aEoeMaradonaaE(TM)s Suspension Disappoints U.S. TeamaE New York Times. July 1, 1994. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. aEoePackers QB Favre Enters Substance Abuse Program.aE May 15, 1996. Plummer, William. aEoeBeating the Blitz.aE People. October 28, 1996. Rozin, Skip. aEoeSteroids and Sports: What Price Glory?aE Business Week. October 17, 1994. Sports Illustrated. aEoeCornered Kicker.aE July 11, 1994. Volume 81. Verducci, Tom. aEoeThe Hard Price of Hard Living.aE Sports Illustrated.. February 27, 1995. Volume 82.