William Jordan

Dr. Guenzel
ENC1102
2/23/20
Introduction to the Dossier

Introduction: My motivation for researching this topic was provide information so

that younger athletes don’t fall into the patterns that is plaguing modern professional sports. The
use of anabolic steroids leads to nothing but problems for athletes. I hope one day that
professional and amateur sports can be completely drug-free, where only natural talent and
athleticism combined with hard work can be the way that all athletes are able to compete at a
high level. This is not to say that the recreational use of these drugs should be frowned upon, as
using these substances for vanity aligns with my views of keeping the government out of the
lives of people who are doing no harm to others. This only becomes a problem for me morally
when the use of these drugs in high level athletics forces others to use them in order to compete
at alongside other top-level athletes. Through my research I have found that the marketing of
these drugs creates for a space where professional and amateur athletes feel compelled to try
these drugs in hopes of becoming a super-star. Some may claim that there is no harm in having
steroids in professional sports, and that if athletes are going to do it regardless of drugs test, why
not level the playing field and making get rid of rules banning them across professional
organizations. I strongly disagree with this. I believe this would take the enjoyment out of
watching these events, making them seem less connected and almost unreal to the viewer. I
would compare this view to the perspective of the World Wrestling Entertainment league of
professional wrestling, or WWE. I make this analogy because broadcasting of the WWE is
mainly consumed by children who look up to these men who they see as superheroes. As a child
I viewed their broadcasts and was in awe of the size of these people, who I later learned were
almost all taking heavy doses of anabolic steroids. These people seemed unreal, and I believe
that would be the same effect on professional sports if doping (using steroids and other PEDs)
was allowed. The WWE doesn’t perform comprehensive drug testing on their athletes, leaving
unrealistic goals for young kids to look like the wrestlers they look up to. I was able to develop a
Rogerian argument while writing going deeper into my research because I was able to see how
leveling the playing fields would be somewhat beneficial to professional sports. By allowing
athletes to take all kind of PEDs league would save money and stress of players trying to cheat
the system by erasing the system that would need to be cheated in the first place. My research up
to this point has led me to the conclusion that anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing
drugs (PEDs) aren’t worth the risk and money that has been put into using them at high level of
athletics. Seeing as the careers of the athletes are damaged heavily when they care caught using
these drugs and are given more frequent drug test, trying to become the best in your sport by
taking these substances often leads to a drop-off in career success and statistics when players are
caught with this extra supplementation.
Research Proposal: Description: The use of Anabolic Steroids in sports is something that is
often kept underground by professional teams. This doesn’t not mean that they aren’t heavily
marketed within these teams and in the media. Why wouldn’t a professional athlete be tempted
to take this offer? The boost in strength and performance would make any professional athlete a
household name. All they must do is pass occasional drug tests and buy these drugs, which
shouldn’t be a problem as they are already being paid a fortune. Some may claim that it the risk
is greater than the reward, and the gain from the drugs is marginal from their already incredible
talent. This is relevant in the case of Manuel Arístides Ramírez Onelcida or Manny Ramírez, as
commonly known among baseball fans. Ramírez, since he has stopped using PEDs has since
been playing in the Taiwanese Baseball league, a significant downgrade from the American
Major Leagues. A sports illustrated articles written by Jon Tayler states that “Ramirez, who will
be 42 on May 30, last played in the majors in 2011 with Tampa Bay, when he retired in order to
avoid a 100-game suspension for a positive drug test. He spent 17 games with Oakland's Triple-
A team in 2012 and 30 games with the Rangers' Triple-A squad in 2013 but posted an OPS under
.700 both years and didn't get a major league at-bat.” (Tayler 1) The use of anabolic steroids in
professional sports was dated long before Manny Ramirez, being most popularized by Arnold
Schwarzenegger during his professional bodybuilding careers throughout the 1970s. His success
of being named Mr. Olympia- the highest prestige at the most popular show throughout
bodybuilding history- 7 times from the decade of the 70s, an accomplishment that has only been
matched by three other people in the history of the sport. Arnold states in an interview in 1977
that “Steroids are taken 8 to 9 to 10 weeks before competition… it was something that everyone
had to do to get an even chance to compete”(Schwarzenegger) This idea is perpetuated into
modern

Purpose: I’m writing this as my research article because I am passionate about the use of
Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) in sports. I believe in natural talent, and that buying drugs
to pave your way to success shouldn’t be an option. The temptation and marketing of PEDs
among professional athletes shouldn’t be something athletes have to worry about to be able to
compete with their opponent. PEDs something that, while enhancing the way the professional
sports are played, are dangerous for players to take into their bodies, as well as being dangerous
for non-users in contact-heavy sports.
Intended Audience: The general population of athletes will benefit from my research project, as
being able be semi-fluent in the language of performance enhancing drugs will show these
athletes not only the effects of these drugs, but everything that comes along with the legal and
health side-effects. Being able to recognize how athletes careers have fallen off with the use of
the substances will hopefully give my audience a guide when it comes calculating the risk versus
reward of said drugs. I look to educate the people who read my research and allow the to make
informed decisions based on my findings.
Types of Research: I'll be mainly focusing on online documents and sports statistics for my
research. This will help me best explain my research as I'll be more able to lay out how exactly
these players careers were effected by the use of the substances. My readers will be able to more
clearly see my statistics and how substances pre and post-use effected these athletes legally and
physically.