6 of 41

No

Write now Article Tools

Honestly, it's a bit absurd that this is still up for debate after so many years. The fact that doping has been a part of sports since the first athletic competition is nary an excuse to leave it in the game. Murder has been a part of life since the days of Cain and Abel, but that doesn't mean we should simply dismiss murder as just another unfortunate side effect of personal conflict. If anything, the fact that it has gone unchecked for so long is testament only to how serious of an issue it is, or at least that we've been showing it too little regard. It began as a problem, and, dismissing it as too wide spread and deep a problem to address in its entirety, we let it become an epidemic.

One side note that must be kept in mind though is that certain types of steroids are used in medical treatments. While these are called steroids just the same, they are of a different nature than performance enhancing steroids. More detailed testing would be necessary to determine the type of steroid in the blood, urine or hair follicle. But if advances are being made by pro-doping chemists to hide the drugs, the anti-doping chemists can surely refine their tests to show more accurate results. Anyway, steroids as a legitimate medical treatment, preferably issued by someone other than a sports doctor, should be acceptable.

As far as performance-enhancers go, these should definitely be banned. Often it's argued that anybody who consumes caffeine products at work is guilty of taking a performance enhancer. This isn't an entirely accurate assessment though, as caffeine only helps a person to stay awake and does not affect or even effect their competence on the job. In instances where the biggest part of the job is dependent upon physical strength and mass or even speed, using drugs that will enhance these attributes with little or no additional effort gives an unfair advantage over the competition.

Any position in any sport requires some actual skill and prowess in addition to physical strength. But doping to enhance physical strength and such negates the need for such skill, allowing the untalented to overcome the talented with no practice or training. Thus, our winners end up being the people with the best drug connections rather than those with the best training regime, natural talent and overall grit and drive.

Given the complexity and number of factors considered in the BCS Ranking algorithm, league and conference directors are obviously concerned with assuring that the most honestly deserving teams and athletes are the ones receiving titles and awards. So matters of actual skill versus drug-induced advantages ought to be taken into consideration and given notable weight as well.

If fair play isn't enough, consider that professional athletes were once role models for our youth to go outside and play sports, or at least take part in some sort of physical activity. Now, aside from the fact that they're getting involved in criminal trials and acting like hardcore jerks, more and more of our supposed champions are getting caught doping. What happened to the days of Michael Jordan, Shaq without Kobe, Larry Bird, Joe Montana and Troy Aikman? Besides the fact that these men's individual demeanors making them feel more accessible as role models, they reached their athletic pinnacles on a combination of training, talent and natural advantages. Video games may be partly to blame for the laziness of this generation, but the lack of athletic role models definitely plays a huge part in this as well. And as long as our so-called champions are getting to the top with drugs instead of talent, our children are going to either lack athletic role models or get the entirely wrong impression.

Learn more about this author, Erik Setser.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Should steroid use ever be allowed in professional sports??
We want to hear your view. Write now!