Winning at all Cost
He is at the 40, the 30, the 20, the 10, the 5, TOUCHDOWN!!! Can you imagine the joy of having 100,000 people shouting your name and cheering as loud as they could just for you? The adrenaline rush one receives when playing in front of large crowds is an irreplaceable feeling that only popular athletes experience. Nearly 200 American athletes who were aspiring for the Olympics were asked if they would take a banned substance that would guarantee them victory in every competition for the next five years, but at the end of those five years it would cause their death. More than half said they would take it. (Henslin). Over years with the evolution of football, the pressure on athletes has grown to its highest level ever. The public eye is on these athletes all hours of the day, which creates such an intense atmosphere never seen before. The feeling of satisfying those thousands of fans is becoming more and more addicting. Because of this phenomenon, “natural” athletes are being cheated because other athletes are using performance-enhancing drugs, like anabolic/androgenic steroids that would help them greatly to improve their performance. The increase in the number of athletes using these drugs is inversely proportional to my personal interest and involvement in football. Since the competition is getting more and more unfair for those “natural” competitors, I declare myself against those cheaters that are degrading such of beautiful sport by taking performance-enhancing drugs.
Athletic competition has been part of society since the early beginnings of man. Gladiators, wrestlers, and sprinters are some the early types of athletes that competed. Mankind seems to have been born with a desire to compete; every man feels the need to have dominance over other men. Football gives individuals that chance to be better than another person, just as the earlier sports did. The inbred desire to dominate will lead football players to do almost anything for victory. This is good in many cases because it shows courage and perseverance. On the other hand, many have taken it to the extreme of using outside agents to better their chances for dominance, like performance-enhancing drugs. Traditionally, football has been associated with integrity, honor and honest effort; however, the changing face of today’s contemporary society’s attitude, morals, and standards existing within it has brought with it many changes to this sport. Today’s athletes have a constant drive to be the best and to win. They would do anything to succeed in their athletic journey, because in our times nobody cheers for losers. It is in our nature to try and to cheer for the best. The fear that athletes have of loosing that God-like status has pushed a couple of friends into this world of unethical rules. In professional and collegiate football leagues, the use of performance-enhancing drugs is looked upon as a serious problem. It is given that these drugs are dangerous for the athlete’s health, but the usage is also very discrete and low key.
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