Brennan Dardis
Eng102 D.Adams
12/13/07
Class Portfolio
Research Proposal
In the current age of professional and non-professional sports, athletes are finding ways to enhance their bodies. Steroids and other supplements such as human growth hormone (HGH) have been a major topic in the sports world. Most prominently baseball has been taking harsh criticism from not only the media but the US government as well. The problem with these sports enhancing drugs is that they are so tempting to be used by athletes has they not only have the ability to strengthen their bodies in numerous ways, but possibly aid them in recoveries and their longevity of their careers. Since I am an avid baseball fan I am posing my research question as, "should sports enhancing supplements, most importantly steroids, be allowed to be controlled by licensed physicians in the current day and age of baseball?"
After the baseball strike in 1994, baseball as seen an influx in offense, resulting in increased revenue for baseball as a whole and more importantly the individual owners of the teams. In 1973, the American League adopted the designated hitter rule (DH), which allowed a hitter to take the place of the pitcher, which in turn increased offensive numbers in the American League. As most sports fans would attest, seeing runs/points/goals scored is more exciting to watch than no offensive output. Therefore there is an implied calling for increased numbers in professional sports, and in the case of baseball that equates to more home runs, stolen bases, strikeouts and almost any other category logged in the game.
My goal of this research project is to address all the negative connotations of sports enhancers as well as all of the positives with the hope of concluding in a happy medium of moderated sports enhancers. My audience is intended for sports fans as a whole, but more directly towards baseball advocates. However, since modern medicine has numerous uses for steroids/supplements in the normal world, my audience could include those interested in health professions as well.
Aiding me in my research I will undoubtedly be using numerous sports journals/magazines as well as journals/magazines that are health related as I will need background information on specific supplements/steroids. I plan on focusing on 3 or 4 supplements/steroids to have a good range of pros and cons for the use of each of them. One interesting thing I have to my advantage is that although I am only a blogger for the purpose of this class, I do read numerous sports blogs daily and will be able to ask myself more questions related to my research question with the ability to research on specific events/information. I also plan on digging up interviews with specific ballplayers to further aid me with my argument.
This research paper will take a large amount of work due to the specificness to the sport of baseball alone, but I feel that will only be a positive as it will be more focused. One thing I will need to pay attention to during this process is the current events in the sports world as steroids/supplements are mentioned almost every day. I plan on doing most of my research from home using the online capabilities of the library but will try to include as many books that are published on the subject to balance out my sources.
Steroids In Baseball
What keeps fans going to the ballpark? Is it the atmosphere, the food, the live entertainment? Baseball has been a storied sport throughout American history and touches millions of lives throughout the country. Most young boys grow up playing the sport and therefore have a closer relationship with it. However nostalgia and gimmicks alone are not what perpetuates baseball as a business, it’s the record of the home team. Everyone knows that in almost all sports putting up a higher score means victory. In baseball this comes in the form of runs produced. In recent years offensive output has been increased throughout the league and has been linked hand in hand with the ever so controversial subject of steroids. Are they good for the sport or are they bad for the sport? In conjunction with proper medical and legal guidance steroids would be a benefit for baseball as they would, improve the athletes mentally and physically, they would aid in longevity and recovery times, and lastly they would increase revenue throughout baseball.
One of the main reasons, if not the main reason a ballplayer would use steroids would be for the benefit of increased muscle mass. When one mentions steroids in conjunction with baseball, they are referring to anabolic steroids, steroids that mimic the male hormone, testosterone. Testosterone is one of the main hormones that stimulates muscle growth, hence the desire to take steroids. Astonishingly anabolic steroids can add 6.6 to 11 pounds of muscle after several weeks of use (Pampel 58.) Typical brands of anabolic steroids are Equipoise and Deca-Durabolin (Pampel 60-61.) More muscle mass in turn with proper exercise can generate more speed and power for a ballplayer, two essential tools for producing runs. Besides sheer increase in muscle mass, steroids increase confidence in ballplayers. This is twofold as steroids increase aggressiveness but can also influence a placebo effect in which a ballplayer would feel like he is using every means possible to better himself (Pampel 46.) Combining strength and confidence, steroids create Über-athletes. Take for instance Barry Bonds. When he came into the league as a rookie he averaged one homerun every 25.8 at bats. Whereas just three years ago (2004) incredibly Bonds averaged a homerun every 8.3 at bats (McCloskey 68.)
Another crucial benefit of steroids is their ability to help ballplayers recover faster from injuries and their ability to lengthen the careers of ballplayers. Since speed and agility are crucial in baseball, wear and tear occurs throughout a ballplayer’s career. From simple to severe muscle strains (tears in a muscle’s fibers), anabolic steroids quicken the recovery process. As one baseball player puts it, “I’m in pain all the time, every (expletive) in here is on something” (Carroll 26.) A violent swing of the bat can sprain anything from a calf muscle to a pectoral muscle, everyday occurrences in the life of a ballplayer. As a ballplayer grows older they become more susceptible to injuries, the sad fact of aging. However, middle-aged ballplayers are able to have longer careers as minor injuries can be overcome faster.
Thinking outside the individual, steroids would benefit the economical side of baseball, creating more money for everyone from the laymen of the organization to the city or state in which the team resides. Baseball is a sport but it’s also a business. For genuine fans of a team or the sport, winning might not be everything, but for fair-weather fans, winning is crucial. Take for instance a franchise like the Kansas City Royals. Since the early 90’s they’ve had one of the worst home attendance records, and by no surprise, they’ve also had one of the worst records as well. Since 2000 the Royals have lost 60% of their games and have ranked in the bottom three of all baseball franchises in attendance, this year just less than 20,000 fans a game, only 48% of the total capacity. On the other hand, take the San Francisco Giants and Mr. Steroid himself, Barry Bonds, they averaged just shy of 40,000 fans a game, 95% of their total capacity. (ESPN)
Although steroids could be very beneficial for baseball, there is also a downside to them as well. First and foremost, as with most drugs, there is the possibility of addiction and overdosing. While steroids are not stimulants or depressants like cigarettes or alcohol, users can continue usage due to their positive effects on their bodies. However some of the side effects that steroids can cause include strokes, heart attacks, liver and kidney complications, shrunken testicles, depression, and even sudden death (Egendorf 12). Besides the unusual health complications steroids can cause, they can also diminish the integrity of the sport. Ballplayers in the early 20th century didn’t have access to steroids and therefore there are many who believe that modern players should stick to the game the way it was designed. As George F. Will states, “They (baseball players) should try to perform unusually well. But not unnaturally well. Drugs that make sport exotic drain it of its exemplary power by making it a display of chemistry rather than character – actually, a display of chemistry and bad character” (Egendorf 19.)
There are some very serious health and mental complications that can occur with steroid users, and no doubt without a collective supporting and regulating steroids, the integrity of the game would be changed. However, health complications can be minimized, and/or avoided with medical supervision and proper usage. And as far as the integrity of the game, it could be held in place if steroids were made available to all players. After all, cheating has been a part of baseball since its inception, hence the invention of the curveball and the corked bat.
Under the proper rules and regulations and proper testing times, steroids can only be beneficial for athletes. For the enjoyment of the sport one writer (Tom Verducci) puts it best when he said, “In 1998 a 70-year-old man would have seen a major-leaguer hit 60 home runs in a season only once in his lifetime. By the time the man was 74, the feat had occurred six more times, all by players accused in the court of public opinion of having used performance-enhancing drugs” (Pampel 48.) Clearly there can be no coincidence. Numbers don’t lie.
Bibliography
Carroll, Will. The Juice. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2005.
Egendorf, Laura K. Steroids. Farmington Hill, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2006.
ESPN.com (for statistics)
Fainaru-Wada, Mark. Game of Shadows. New York: Gotham Books, 2006.
Jost, K. (2004, July 23). Sports and drugs. CQ Researcher, 14, 613-636. http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2004072300.
McCloskey, John. When Winning Costs Too Much. Lanham: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2005.
Pampel, Fred. Drugs And Sports. New York: File on File Inc, 2007.
Worsnop, R. L. (1991, July 26). Athletes and drugs. CQ Researcher, 1, 513-536 http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1991072600.
Cover Letter
This semester’s research project was certainly a new experience for me. I have never taken an online/hybrid course before. Needless to say it was confusing, frustrating, yet informative and fun.
What I felt I did well at for this research project was the actual research I did and my attempt at writing a unique stance on a controversial topic in sports. I went to two different libraries for my research, here at MCC and the Tempe public library. I was able to find five useful books for my research on top of the myriad of information on the internet. Spreading out the research project throughout the semester was a great asset as not every source is available at the time you need it. I challenged myself to go outside the norm and write a paper in favor of steroids. Although I agree with the points I made, if I was the commissioner of baseball, I would ban steroids and all of those individuals using them. It was a lot harder to find material in favor of steroids but I enjoyed the process.
Unfortunately there were problems with my research project as well. First of all my lack of meeting several deadlines was very detrimental. Computer access became an issue for me at the start of October due to moving. One thing I really liked about the class was the peer reviews and I was not able to take advantage of that for my WP#3. I also could have done a lot more grammar activities to better my own writing instead of just looking at and learning the topics. However I felt I met the course guidelines as listed below.
Course competency #1 was to be able to write for specific rhetorical contexts which I felt was mastered in deadline #3. I learned how to narrow down a topic, form a purpose, and to be able to write without bias and to keep the audience intended for in mind. Following the homework assignments in deadline #3 this was accomplished. The most difficult aspect of writing for me is to be able to not let things that I believe in affect my writing.
Course competency #2, the ability to organize ones writing was shown throughout the course. WP#1 was the epitome of this as it forced us to decide our topics early on and to lay out a schedule. Organizational skills of WP#3 were aided by the Toulmin outline idea. Although I did not make a cluster map, I understood the use of this as well. Both of these exercises enable one to support the main topic more with specific ideas/facts. In the future I plan on using a cluster map and then transfer my ideas into an outline.
Course competency #3 emphasized the ability to use consistent voice, tone, diction, grammar, and mechanics. Both Everythings an Argument and the Bedford Researcher had great examples of proper writing conventions. However I felt that by reading others/correcting others writing projects we were able to put the mechanics into work. The grammar girl website was useful at times, but most everything was covered in the books.
Course competency #4 stressed the ability to not only obtain sources, but to sort through them by credibility, relativity, and their currency. There were several sources that I found in the library that were either biased or all one-sided, therefore I mainly used the sources that credited the other side of my topic (steroid usage in baseball). I also tried to find the most recent sources as I came across a few books from the 70’s and 80’s on steroids, obviously being outdated. This competency was shown by writing projects #2 and #3. One other beneficial part of this class was the library tour where we learned how to use the online research catalogs. Most of these sources were current, but you could sort by almost any category giving you numerous materials.
Course competency #5 was the ability to integrate the sources you found into your paper. The tricky thing about this aspect was to use the material you found without plagiarizing the source. Quoting a source was the easiest method, and one that I have been familiar with since elementary school. However being able to paraphrase or summarize is a lot harder way utilizing a source, yet many times can be better for a paper as it isn’t as dry as a direct quotation. Another difficult part of integrating a source is being able to cite it correctly using MLA format. This was able to be done through the handout given in class as well as the Bedford Researcher. I feel that from WP#3 I learned how to properly cite a source as well as correctly using the information.
Course competency #6 is essentially tied into #5 as it addresses the proper usage of citing a source. I for one did not know the correct way of citing internet sources and all the information I needed was provided by the handout and Bedford Researcher. In high school I used MLA and APA so my ability to write a bibliography was always somewhere in between. I plan on keeping the Bedford Researcher as a way to keep my memory fresh.
Course competency #7 was the ability to give and use feedback from our peers. I felt that the peer review option through Google Documents was a great way to communicate with one another. I don’t know about others in the class, but even though I only received a handful of comments, I looked at almost everyone’s WP#3 to serve as a great template for problems/errors that could have been evident in mine.
Course competency #8 was the ability to assess my own abilities as a writer. I feel that this is constantly changing depending especially on what classes I am currently taking and the mood that I am in. However I felt that this class was an excellent refresher class for basic grammar skills and writing conventions. I for one certainly needed help with my ability to find, use, and cite sources and this class certainly addressed that. I think in today’s world of spellchecking and “do it yourself” attitudes, many important English skills are lost.
Lastly competency #9 addressed the ability to use technology with ones writing. Before this class I really only used the computer for typing papers and reading sport scores. From this class alone I have learned how to use online catalogs, peer reviewing via Google Documents, and blogging as a means of communication. Although many of the times using the blog site was a hassle, I feel that I can now use it as a tool in the future for other things besides writing.
All in all it was a great learning experience and I feel more confident about writing a research paper in the future.
