Anti-Doping

The article I located is titled the "Use of doping agents, particularly anabolic steroids, in sports and society." I found this source to be a scholarly source because it was peer-reviewed, it was written by professors; very long; includes heading for each section; and it had a long list of references. 

This article points out the rising use of performance enhancement drugs over the years both in sports and in society. It showed the evidence that some performance enhancement drugs do improve performance in sports, which has led to its misuse at large. The article also talks about the adverse health consequences of using such drugs and that the side effects people known are under-reported because there is more to it than we know. There are also psychological effects of using illicit drugs and it emphasized greatly on violent behavior. It talks about the World Anti-Doping Agency, which has the technique and laboratories that can detect the misuse of performance enhancement drugs. And finally, it talks about ways in which the misuse of performance enhancement drugs can be reduced. This includes: “random doping analyses, medical follow-ups, pedagogic interventions, tougher legislation against possession of AAS, and longer disqualifications of athletes who use AAS”.   

In conclusion, the article states that the misuse of illicit drugs is detrimental to the health, physically, socially, and mentally; and that it should be combated, thus eliminated. This article is successful in conveying a successful rhetoric message because this was a research study done by professors and its use of data from the accredited World Anti-Doping Agency, helped solidify their claim.

Sjöqvist, Folke. "Use of doping agents, particularly anabolic steroids, in sports and society." Lancet. 371.9627 (2008): 1872–1882. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.

< http://dx.doi.org.lib-ezproxy.tamu.edu:2048/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60801-6>.

The Drive and the End

Winning is a must in a game. A game without a winner is child’s play. Like those games we played as kids and everyone got a trophy. There was really no incentive to strive for improvement. It is that desire to turn up as a winner that pushes the adrenaline over the top. But how far? And how desperate?

I love soccer. I play soccer for fun. I just play. I don’t get into any rigorous, butt kicking hard core training because I am not playing as a profession. There is no money involved. But say, if I want to try out for the US women national team, everything kicks into high gear, and I push myself to the limits. I watch games people play for fun and when there is a price on the line, it’s different. There is more passion in the latter. It is not that there is no love for the game, but there is an extra push or force that reward draws. What am I saying? In general, in life, if there is no reward at the end point, if there is no trophy that your heart is set on, that extra is lacking. Maybe the reason you are lacking passion or diligence in that area of life that is disconcerting you, is that you have not asked yourself why? Why am I doing this? What is the end point? What am I pressing for? What do I gain? What is the price? If you can see the end point, and it is what you desire, the drive is inevitable.