Seed Germination
Justification Paper
Jim Lammers
There is no disputing the fact that performance enhancing drugs have the potential to raise the level of competition in athletics. The goals in sport can be boiled down to higher, farther, and faster; therefore in order to improve competition it is necessary to make athletes bigger, faster and stronger. Professional athletes (not collegiate or interscholastic) should be allowed to make choices in their training regimen which will make them better prepared to do the work of their chosen profession. At the present time PEDs are not permitted on any level of sport, but they are used nonetheless, allowing a clear advantage to those who do use. Legalizing their use across the board would eliminate the advantage factor, and create a higher level of competition, so for the reasons that will be stated I propose legalizing PEDs for professional athletes.
One reason for allowing PED use is that this will result in stronger athletes which will improve the games. One example of how the level of competition is improved is the 100 meter dash final in the 1988 Summer Olympics. The standing world record was demolished in one of the most watched races of the entire games. Anticipation was sky high as eight sprinters put on a show for the ages, only to be tarnished by the winner testing positive for steroid use. Other athletes in the field were using human growth hormone, which was undetectable at the time, so in reality the entire field was juiced. (9.79) Another was the great home run production around the turn of the century in what baseball writers call the steroid era. The top six home run totals were achieved between 1997 and 2002, as well as 12 of the top 20 individual season producers. (Baseball) The fact that these fetes were accomplished by drug-enhanced athletes should not be swept away, but should be an example of what can be accomplished through scientific means.
Recently bicycle racer extraordinaire Lance Armstrong was stripped of
Jim Lammers
There is no disputing the fact that performance enhancing drugs have the potential to raise the level of competition in athletics. The goals in sport can be boiled down to higher, farther, and faster; therefore in order to improve competition it is necessary to make athletes bigger, faster and stronger. Professional athletes (not collegiate or interscholastic) should be allowed to make choices in their training regimen which will make them better prepared to do the work of their chosen profession. At the present time PEDs are not permitted on any level of sport, but they are used nonetheless, allowing a clear advantage to those who do use. Legalizing their use across the board would eliminate the advantage factor, and create a higher level of competition, so for the reasons that will be stated I propose legalizing PEDs for professional athletes.
One reason for allowing PED use is that this will result in stronger athletes which will improve the games. One example of how the level of competition is improved is the 100 meter dash final in the 1988 Summer Olympics. The standing world record was demolished in one of the most watched races of the entire games. Anticipation was sky high as eight sprinters put on a show for the ages, only to be tarnished by the winner testing positive for steroid use. Other athletes in the field were using human growth hormone, which was undetectable at the time, so in reality the entire field was juiced. (9.79) Another was the great home run production around the turn of the century in what baseball writers call the steroid era. The top six home run totals were achieved between 1997 and 2002, as well as 12 of the top 20 individual season producers. (Baseball) The fact that these fetes were accomplished by drug-enhanced athletes should not be swept away, but should be an example of what can be accomplished through scientific means.
Recently bicycle racer extraordinaire Lance Armstrong was stripped of
Cited: “9.79.” 30 for 30. ESPN. 16 Oct.2012 Television. Baseball Almanac Bissinger, Buzz. "Winning. (Cover Story)." Newsweek 160.10 (2012): 26-33. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Sept. 2012. Nightengale, Bob. "For MLB, clean is merely a dream." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Sept. 2012. Wiesing, Urban. "Should Performance-Enhancing Drugs In Sport Be Legalized Under Medical Supervision?." Sports Medicine 41.2 (2011): 167-176. Academic Search Premier. Web. 17 Sept. 2012. Verducci, Tom. “To cheat or Not to Cheat.” Sports Illustrated. 0038822X, 6/4/2012, Vol. 116, Issue 23 Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Sept. 2012.