Jake Corcoran
9.79 Essay
Levis Sports Ethics
Due 11/20/18
Steroids Have No Place in Sports
To many Americans, sport is the only religion we subscribe to. Instead of attending church, we attend sports cathedrals like Yankee Stadium. Like all religions, there are certain dogmas that are expected to be followed. For Jews it’s eating Kosher; for athletes it’s not cheating. EXCELLENT ANALOGY! In all forms of competition, athletic or not, participants are expected to play by the rules or face the penalties of not abiding by those rules. In the same way, when the use of PEDs is forbidden, athletes should be prepared to face the consequences when they are used. Steroids shouldn’t be illegal just because it says so in the rulebook. Among logistical issues, there are ethical implications with the integrity of sports at risk, that should criminalize steroids. NOT CLEAR ABOUT THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN LOGISTICAL AND ETHICAL? When steroids are part of the athletic world, sports become a scientific arms race to manufacture the best drug. THIS IS A GREAT OPENING PARAGRAPH IN SPITE OF THE ONE SENTENCE THAT’S UNCLEAR
To me, the ethos of sports is competition that tests the limits of the human body. GOOD TOPIC SENTENCE Sprinters are competing against each other in every race, but the ultimate goal is not only to win that race, but to beat the record that was set by a sprinter before. Each new world record reestablishes the limit of human performance. Similarly, the most commonly had discussion in the basketball world is “who is the greatest of all time?” Is it Jordan? Could it be LeBron or Kobe or Wilt? Essentially, this debate boils down to who has been the best performer within the parameters of basketball. When PEDs come into the picture, such comparisons cannot be made. GOOD POINT Once an athlete takes a performance enhancer, suddenly, the sport loses its competitive nature. It is no longer who is the best, but who has taken the best drug to elevate them above everyone else. Their career achievements aren’t really their own; they’re partially owed to the PEDs. Like Lou Gorman, former GM of the Red Sox said, “those great players currently enshrined in the Hall of Fame achieved that honor strictly on the merits of their god-given talents and not by utilizing artificial means to enhance their accomplishments.[footnoteRef:0]” GOOD USE OF A QUOTE Fans want to see athletes compete, not pharmaceutical companies. WELL-SAID [0: "Lou Gorman Biography." Should Performance Enhancing Drugs (such as Steroids) Be Accepted in Sports? Accessed November 21, 2018. https://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=008185.]
Among ethical issues, the elusivity of the drugs and how hard it is to detect them cause even more problems. Masking agents like diuretics are used to change the chemical composition of urine[footnoteRef:1]. This makes detecting PEDs in drug tests very difficult and easily manipulated. Drug testing technology remains one step behind the most advan...
