When athletes compete for excellence in sports, the use of steroids or other supplements often times may be a cause for disqualification in a sports event. Steroids have been a phenomenon for decades on mostly body builders, and people who want to see how big and fast their body can become. But since it is a performance-enhancing drug, it has been banned in all sports and most forms of steroids are actually illegal. The top steroids used in sports that are illegal are: Testosterone, Nandroione, Boldenone, Stanozolol, and Androstenedione. While the use of steroids is illegal, many people still argue the use of steroids should be allowed but it is still considered cheating, the athletes pay a price after consistent use, and the final decision comes down to the athlete to use steroids.
The author Peter Martin who wrote the article “ Destroyed” focuses on how steroids literally destroy sports. He sends an aggressive behavior out to his readers, and shows how much he hates the use of steroids in sports. “ Or really, what’s cheating? Is it cheating to inject anabolic steroids into your buttocks, or better yet, have a teammate do it for you? (Sharing is caring!)” (Martin 581). Martin states jokingly, while getting his point across. He furthermore goes into his view of the history of steroids, and how it is destroying sports. He rips some major athletes for “ stealing” the Most Valuable Player Award in their respective sport. In the end of his novel he states “ Athletes-those who dope, who take steroids, who cheat-are victims of far more serious maladies than their sports. They will pay the price with their own lives, not too many years after they retire.” This statement is very true, but it depends on how long they have used steroids and the consumption rate, to give you a better analysis of what happens to the players after retirement.
While the author Rodrigo Villagomez respectively denies that the use of steroids negatively effects sports. He believes, “ We must now see it as another corporation striving to produce a product that will be consumed by the populace” (Villagomez 587). Villagomez thinks that the use of steroids makes the game more interesting and exciting for the fans. He also contradicts what Martin says about players ruining their bodies by saying the following: “ We all do things that are not good for our bodies, be it smoking or drinking or whatever. These players are no more ruining their bodies than those people who have to have a smoke break every thirty minutes; in fact, using a natural hormone to increase muscle mass is arguably healthier” (Villagomez588). While Villagomez has a strong case, he does not show facts to swing me into believing that quote, so I still stand with Martin against the use of steroids in sports.
In conclusion, I stand with Peter Martin on banning the use of steroids and keeping them illegal from the world of sports. Even though Villagomez makes great points about keeping the game interesting and such, but we will always this question in our heads thinking: “ If he/she was not on steroids, would he/she still have been this good?” That’s what ran through my head when Barry Bonds dethroned Hank Aaron as home run king, and allegations against Bonds pointed him towards the use of steroids. As an athlete myself, I would be pretty upset to make it to the highest level of my respective sport, (NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, etc.) and have certain records out of reach or lose to another player because they are using an illegal performance enhancing drug.
