Summary
In Peter Martin’s article “Destroyed” he encourages his readers to take a different look at the problems caused by performance enhancing drug use in modern day sports. While Martin does somewhat agree that the use of these drugs is considered cheating and it is affecting the purity of the sport, he asks if that is more important than what is happening to the athletes that use these drugs. He reminds people that these performance enhancers are seriously dangerous and have horrible side effects. He proves this point by mentioning Ken Caminiti, a former major league baseball player that used steroids during his career and later died at age 41 from a heart attack. Martin urges people to recognize that athletes who use are victims who will pay the price for their mistakes, sometimes with their lives.
Paraphrase of Paragraph 10
Athletes and their fans are greatly affected by the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports. Not only do they test the ethics of sports, but they cause serious harm to the athletes who use them. Athletes on steroids have become superhuman and the fans consider their actions to be cheating.
Quote
“We hear the shouts of enraged fans, their sports mercilessly torn from purer eras, when the babes playing in the streets and in the fields could look up to their athletes, those stoic giants, noble and morally firm.
I chose this quote because, while I agree with Martin that these athletes are just people and are going to make mistakes, this quote more closely relates to what I believe is important to recognize about drug use in sports. Yes, these athletes are human and are going to do wrong but they are in the public eye and are influencing the people, especially young children, around them. They have an opportunity to help make this world a better place by sending out a positive message and when they choose not to, I cannot help but be unforgiving of their selfish actions.
I commented on Jennics's Blog and Cathy's Blog
I commented on Jennics's Blog and Cathy's Blog
