Reactions

Jane's

Dan Olson

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Binyam

Perfect Bodies: Reaction and Reflection Papers

Reaction/Reflection paper by Jane Chang

Doping to victory

Doping can be strictly defined as the consumption of any substance (whether food or drug) to improve one's performance. This definition can be applied in a variety of situations, from college students drinking coffee in order to stay awake to athletes who take steroids to make them stronger. The problem with doping is where one draws the line. The drugs used in doping often have detrimental effects to one's health, both mental and physical. In the short run these drugs improve one's performance, but in the long run they can kill.

Turning sports into a way of life instead of a leisure activity has generated fierce competition for athletes to be the best at what they do. Having a "natural ability" no longer is enough. One must work long and hard hours to gain an edge on the competition. However, these days, even good training cannot guarantee a victory. For athletes and coaches the drive to be at the top is so great that they look for shortcuts to their end goal: winning. The one who wins is always the one who is remembered in the end; finishing second is worse than finishing last. When this type of attitude becomes predominant, it is not so surprising that they try any and all methods of cheating the system. In this way, doping has become a common practice for athletes to gain advantage on their competition. Is this a practice that we as the general public should accept, or is there something we can do to change the status quo?

Doping is a practice that has been going on since the time of "ancient Greek athletes, who supposedly ate herbs, sesame seeds, dried figs, and mushrooms for this purpose" (Hoberman, 1992, 104). Likewise, athletes have readily consumed such drugs as caffeine and alcohol to improve performance. While herbs, sesame seeds, caffeine and alcohol may not fall under the same category as the manufactured drugs of today, they were still taken for the same purpose of improving athletic performance. In cycling's early days, cyclists consumed "mainly strychnine, cocaine, and morphine, though there were also folksier pick-me-ups, like bull's blood and the crushed testicles of wild animals" (Barnes, 2000, 97). Doping has become routine in many if not all sports, but these days, athletes use more sophisticated drugs such as anabolic steroids to improve performance. Many of the drugs used have long-term health risks and cause irregular behavior in the short run. Athletes use these drugs without regard to the undesirable side effects they may cause because they produce the desired results.

The lure of fame and riches drives athletes to excel in their chosen sport. To win big one must be willing to take risks regardless of the costs. Fans and sponsors alike show strong support for those who are at the top of their game, not for those who just do well. Athletes and teams who excel are able to demand more money and more perks, like new stadiums. Coaches are rewarded handsomely for good seasons but fired for losing regardless of the circumstances. In college football, "depending on the prestige of the bowl, teams receive anywhere from $150,000 to $12 million for playing" (Eitzen, 1999, 47). When their futures are entwined with their present performance, it is hard for them to reject cheating to attain their goal. Corporate sponsors also contribute heavily to the growing problem of drug use. Sponsorship is given only when a hefty return is guaranteed. Sponsors demand "clean" sports while they also demand immediate results for their investment. When people are judged solely on how they perform in the here and now, they are less likely to consider the future. Thus athletes are encouraged to keep up their doping habits because they need to perform well at all times.

The goal of winning should not overshadow the importance of health; athletes should not sacrifice years of life for fame and riches. Each athlete makes the decision to dope of not, but how objective is that decisions given the intense pressure to succeed? If you were told that by taking drugs you could attain all your goals in life but live a shortened life, what would you do? Those who choose to take drugs and cheat the system do so with the belief that there is no other way to get to the top. This belief needs to be eradicated from the minds of both athletes and those who support them. Current drug tests often give either false positives or are unable to pick up the drugs used, and putting every athlete under twenty-four hour surveillance is neither feasible nor lawful. Only when there are more accurate tests can the enforcement of drug rules and regulations be possible. As more sophisticated tests come to market, fewer drugs will escape detection. With the limited ability of current techniques to catch athletes red-handed, pressure must be put on the athletic community to reject doping. Until the athletic community refuses doping as a means to an end, little can be done to stop it from happening.

Works sited

Barnes, Julian. (2000). "The Hardest Test." The New Yorker. Aug. 21 & 28

Eitzen, D. Stanley. (1999). "Sport Is Fair, Sport Is Foul." Fir and Foul: Beyond the Myths and Paradoxes of Sport.

Rowman and Littlefield, NY. Hoberman, John M. (1992). "Faster, Higher, Stronger: A History of Doping." Mortal Engines. The Free Press, NY.