Kendall’s Fastball
Sports aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability, but at the same time it provides entertainment to the viewers. Sports are suppose to build sportsmanship and the players should have integrity. But sadly, not everyone does. Instead they use performance-enhancing drugs.
The fans go to the games to see the players. However, in recent years more and more attention have been drawn to the illegal use of PEDs.
For decades PEDs have been associated with sports, especially baseball. This has affected the way I view sports.
They are showing that it is okay to cheat, to lie and to gain advantage over players that are playing fair.
This year stars like Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and Melky Cabrera have been accused of taking PEDs. All of these icons that kids are idolizing have diminished their integrity.
It’s sad really. Kids are losing role-models to look up to.
I grew up idolizing Chipper Jones from the Atlanta Braves, and if were to find out that he used PEDs, I would be upset. Everything that I thought was great about him, all of his success, was because he had to use a drug to get it.
Now the use of PEDs are being associated to football and cycling.
Lance Armstrong’s comeback from cancer was the greatest sports story. But as many of you know, he had denied doping allegations since 1998 and finally admitted Jan. 14 in an interview with Oprah. Armstrong had already been stripped of all his wins and awards, including his then-record seven Tour de France wins, but his admission was a confirmation of the suspicions of sporting fans across the world.
Then this month we had the accusation of the Super Bowl champ Ray Lewis from Baltimore Ravens. A Sports Illustrated report claimed that he sought help from a company that makes a certain PED to speed up his recovery from a torn triceps.
Who knows if he really did dope or not. But hopefully the athletes think about the children that look up to them when they decide whether to dope, because every kid needs his Chipper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sporting_scandals
