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Azia Ludwig Sue Briggs Eng. 1010- 11:30 11/19/13 Synthesis/ Exploration

It would be much easier to eliminate the anti-doping rules than to eliminate doping. The current policy against doping has proved expensive and difficult to police. In the future it may become impossible to police. Unforgettable words from Dr. Julian Savulescu, PhD (ProCon.org). Performance enhancers first sparked my interest when professional athlete, Lance Armstrong, lost all of his titles in the Tour de France. He used the performance enhancer known as blood doping. Blood doping is a system of increasing the red blood cell count, which then carries oxygen from the lungs into the muscles, creating a higher concentration of blood. This allows the athlete to have more endurance. The Tour de France is 21 to 23 days long riding approximately 2,000 miles. That is about 95 miles per day. So can you blame Lance Armstrong? I know that I could not. I simply did not see that Lance Armstrong had cheated and I had to see if others had similar thoughts. I started my research with a few questions in mind such as why does the public humiliate athletes for using performance enhancers? In addition, why shouldnt athletes be allowed to use performance enhancers? From there I found myself making connections through different pieces.

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I started with a periodical by Oliver Burkeman, Being an Underdog permits things that might otherwise have seemed Unthinkable. In this piece, Oliver Burkeman gives an insight on how Gladwells feels about Lance Armstrong and his blood doping case. What really sealed the deal for me is when Burkeman quotes Gladwell, what I am trying to say is, look, we have to come up with better reason. Our reasons suck! This quote made complete sense to me. If anti-doping agencies had better reasons for why athletes shouldnt use performance enhancers, than obviously, there would be less athletes secretly using performance enhancers. When I first read this piece, I was looking for something with the same point of view as mine. The question that remained with me throughout reading this periodical is, why shouldnt athletes be allowed to use performance enhancers? Now after reading the first two paragraphs my question took a turn. It is not that athletes should or should not take performance enhancers. It is that doctors and/or drug testers have not found legitimate reasons for athletes not to take performance enhancers.

I then read a piece in the book, They Say I Say. In the book, numerous pieces and articles related to the topic of performance enhancers. We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals, by William Moller. As I began reading the passage, I had the question of why does the public, humiliate the athletes for using performance enhancers? I quickly found my answer in the title of the passage, We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals. As I read, further I learned more about the stress that comes with the fame and success. Life and injuries happens and performance enhancers help prevent and allow the player to play more. The negative of doing poor on the test was far greater than the negative of getting caught... (pg. 547), I related to the topic of wanting good grade and the use of steroid with Alex Rodriguez. Although the comparison may seem extreme, it is a logical comparison.

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Next, I began the article, Catch Me If You Can, by Jim Schmaltz. When I began reading this article, this statement quickly stood out to me Being publicly branded is often worse than the suspension itself. What immediately comes to mind is the Lance Armstrong case. When he was caught using performance enhancers, he lost everything. I started with the question, why shouldnt athletes be allowed to use performance enhancers? I learned a different side to the question. I learned more about the different companies that go into preventing the athletes from using or abusing performance enhancers. Furthermore, I learned more about different types of performance enhancers such as deer antler velvet. The article has me sit in the middle of the issue. Schmaltz had made the problem so simple that I did not think about it at all, which is the cat and mouse game. It seems that no matter how hard the anti-doping agencies try to prevent the performance enhancer use, there will always be users and there will always be an athlete that wins in the situation and an athlete that loses

Following, I read the article, NFL Fighting Spike in Adderall, by Caitlin Sweica. As I first began reading the article, I expected it to be more of a complete opposing side to my own. I came into reading this article, with the question of why shouldnt athletes be allowed to use performance enhancers. I was prepared to read repetitive garbage. Instead, I learned of a different performance enhancer known as Adderall, which is used for ADHD. I also learned of the amount of time and effort the NFL puts in to keep their athletes updated on the list of banned substances. I came out with more knowledge and understanding as to why athletes that do not have ADHD, should not use Adderall.

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Lastly, was the quick view of ProQuest, At Issue: Doping in Sports. I had to question in mind of, why shouldnt athletes be allowed to use performance enhancers. As I read, I found two different perspectives. The First side is allowing performance enhancers. It suggests more of the creating performance enhancers as supplements such as Gatorade. This is a side that I can agree and a side that I have seen before. However, the second side against performance enhancers, allowed me to leave with a slightly different point of view. I had never looked at the view as a parent might look at it. I had never thought of the many lessons that sports can teach a child. This side makes me rethink my current idea of performance enhancers and molds it into a neutral thought.

In conclusion, the five different sources are linked together because of the topic performance enhancers. Some of them agreed that athletes should use performance enhancers; others disagreed and brought up the new point of views for our children. Some of the sources demonstrate that no what the organization does to prevent performance enhancers, there will always be athletes that use performance enhancers. Although, before I was 100 percent completely for athletes using performance enhancers, I can now say I see conservative side too and my thought process has changed. I did not see that performance enhancers as something would affect my future children as to how they look at their sports heroes. This allows me to understand the situation as a future parent. The ugly truth of performance enhancers is complicated. It will remain complicated until the public and the anti-doping agencies turn into safe-doping policies. For now, I remain as someone who has made an educated decision on performance enhancers. I have done the research, and seen the pros and cons. I believe that athletes should be allowed to use performance enhancers.

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WORKS CITED

Being an Underdog permits things that might otherwise have seemed Unthinkable Burkeman, O. (2013, Sep 30). Being an underdog permits things. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://sks.sirs.com Graff, Gerald. They Say I Say/ We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals. 2nd Edition. New York City: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009. 545-551. Print. ProCon.org. "Should the Use of Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports Be Legalized?" ProCon.org. 15 Dec. 2008. Web. 4 Nov. 2013. Schmaltz, Jim. Catch Me If You Can. Joe Weiders Muscle & Fitness 74.8 (2013): 105. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Swieca, Caitlin. NFL Fighting Spike in Adderall. Denver Post: B.1. Sep 10 2013. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Staff, PorQuest. At Issue: Doping in Sports. ProQuest LLC, 2013. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 3 Nov. 2013

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