With the concern of becoming bigger and stronger rising among athletes, the focus of the game has drifted out of sight. It is almost as if it is more important to be bigger rather than better than the other team. As more and more athletes use the muscle enhancing drugs and other forms of steroids, the athlete’s performance and health comes into question.
Many people could begin to wonder if an athlete is capable of the same achievements attained without the help of a steroid. Could these same drugs cause the addition of an asterisk next to a record, due to the fact that the athlete was using an enhancement drug? Does this mean that the athletes of today are only better than those of the past due to performance enhancing drugs and not skill? Answers to these questions should be thought through carefully along with the consequences of steroid use. Are the long-term affects of steroids worth the wins that will soon be forgotten over time?
Steroids have been used for decades by doctors treating men whose bodies do not produce enough testosterone naturally. Steroids can be used to treat asthma as well. It …
… middle of paper …
…. 1999
Hayden, Thomas, and Karen Springen. “McGwire’s Power Supply.” Newsweek 7 Sept. 1998. 10 Oct. 1999
Kuhn, Cynthia, Scott Swartzwelder, and Wilkie Wilson. Buzzed. New York: W.W. Norton
Is Steroid use the Price of Fame?
Motivation plays an important role in the success of an athlete. However, motivation is not easily achieved or maintained. Reasons vary why people chase their dreams or even so so far as to break the law to achieve their goals. Is it the chase? Is it the intrinsic reward of a personal accomplishment? Is it an extrinsic reward of fame and fortune that comes with success? All of these reasons are possible answers to why people do what they do. In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Dr. Victor Frankenstein pursued his dream “for nearly two years, for the sole purpose of infusing life into an inanimate body.”(Shelley 233) When the doctor was finished his creation was not what he had anticipated. Sometimes people who are highly motivated exhaust all efforts to achieve their goals and many times those efforts only lead to negative consequences.
Many examples of people whose motivation led them down the wrong path can be found in the sports world. Athletes become so caught up in becoming the best at what they do that they will hurt themselves and the people who love them to do it. In the 1988 Olympics in Seoul Korea, runner Ben Johnson won Olympic gold in the 100-meter dash, only to have his medal stripped from him after he tested positive for steroids. He was already one of the favorites in the event, but he needed to be sure. He was not confident enough in his own ability that he needed an extra edge. He chose to break laws to give him an even greater chance of winning. His decision left him with only shame, embarrassment and humiliation. He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and the headline read-“BUSTED”-in big letters. Just last month Ben Johnson could be seen on the news racing against some kind of drag car in a circus like …
… middle of paper …
… time to reflect on your goals and attempt to predict what results may come from you actions. Who will you be helping, who will you be hurting, and is it all worth it? Talk to others who have been in your shoes before and listen to what they have to say about the price of fame. Surely, Dr. Frankenstein would have had a lot to say to these three athletes, or anyone else who has made, or is about to make an important life decision. Hopefully, the children of today hear the stories of people who went to far to achieve greatness and learn from them that motivation is a good thing only if the path to success is legal, safe, and worthwhile after everything is said and done.
Works Cited
Shelley, Mary. “Frankenstein.” The Presence of Others: Voices That Call for Response. 2nd ed. Ed Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: St. Martin’s, 1997. 230-235