Steroid Testing

Steroids

Picture this. You’re watching your favorite baseball player at the plate and the pitch comes and he absolutely crushes the ball strait out of the park; but the next day there is a big investigation and your favorite player is caught having used an illegal steroid to enhance his play. You hope the news isn’t true but the evidence is over whelming. Your favorite baseball player broke the rules and is a cheater (Brown). This terrible scenario can easily be a future reality if steroid testing doesn’t begin regularly. In baseball the owner is allowed to test for steroids once a season and that’s all that is mandatory (Shaikin). This interests me because some of my favorite athletes in several sports are being accused of cheating the game and I just simply want the truth. Fans over the country agree that there should be more steroid testing, to get rid of the cheaters, but more importantly people believe they need more testing to help save lives.

For instance, many people will be in favor of more steroid testing because they want all the dishonest players out. People want the competition and the level of play fair. Nobody wants to have a league where 90% of the players follow the rules and workout and mold there body bodies by using hard work, and see the other ten percent just simply take a quick injection of some steroid and have there bodies bigger and faster than the rest (Shaikin). Next, and overwhelmingly people want previous records and accomplishments stricken from the record if that person is taking steroids. For example,

take a player like Sanfrancisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, who had 73 home runs in a single season a few years ago and people want him tested for steroids (Brown). It raises a good point. If players have nothing to hide then why not test them. The players seem to have all the control on if they should be testes or not, but people forget that it’s the owners and the league that decide the policies.

Still, and most importantly the main reason athletes should be tested is for their safety. For example, if a player uses steroids there a number of side effects. They can get liver cancer, cardiovascular problems, sterility, and testicular