Justin Benson
English 1010
11/29/12
Sports
Sports, they have been around for hundreds of years. They are a fierce way of
competition. Sports allow us to show off our athleticism and put our bodies to the test. They
both cause and prevent injuries. Sports are used for work, and or recreation. They can either
make or break a family. Sports play a greater role in our lives than we actually realize.
Sports play a huge role in our world. They create jobs not just for athletes but for
thousands more. A perfect example of this would be the league created by the National
Football Association or the NFL called Fantasy Football. It was created for the fans to be able to
pick their own players and make their own team to see how well they would do if they were
either in the owners or coaches position. “Fantasy football is growing--nearly 34 million
individuals play fantasy sports and 75 percent of them play fantasy football--and this growth
has led to job creation, increased advertisement revenue and more football fans, according to a
Kansas State University expert. Fantasy football is a virtual game in which team 'owners' draft
professional players to their personalized teams to compete in leagues based on the players'
statistics.” (M2 Presswire). Due to Fantasy Football alone there are thousands of jobs for
people to fill not only in Television production but computer tech, advertising, design, etc. Now
there is not only these type of leagues in the N.F.L. but also in the N.B.A, M.L.B, and N.H.L which
has created jobs for thousands of more people. Without sports our economy would not be the
same and a lot more people would be looking for jobs.
As we can see sports are competitive and many athletes feel the pressure in order to
compete at the highest level. This can lead to desperate measures taken by athletes to do
whatever it takes to have the advantage over everyone else. One of the Drugs many athletes
are taking advantage of is Adderall. Adderall is a drug that was created for people with
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder so that they could concentrate and focus but with the
want to become the greatest at their respective sport, players are abusing this drug. "For those
diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Adderall can be essential to daily life,
providing much-needed calmness and focus. But the prescription stimulant drug is often
abused, and not just by college students for late-night study sessions. Adderall has been used
by athletes as a performance enhancer for an energy boost or a spike in concentration."
(Tampa Bay Times) This article examines the pervasive problem of Adderall misuse among
professional athletes.” (Smith)
As more and more drugs are being taken by athletes to improve their performance the
athletic leagues have been forced to take initiative and make rules which bans the use of
certain substances such as Adderall and many more drugs. If caught breaking these rules the
players receive consequences which can lead to a several game suspension or a lifelong
suspension and stripping a player of his accomplishments. One of the greatest and most recent
examples is ex cyclist Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong is greatest bicyclist to ever ride a
bicycle. Many know him for beating his great battle with cancer. It was a great shock to
everyone that Lance Armstrong was found guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs.
Because Armstrong was found guilty of taking performance enhancing drugs he had to accept
the consequence that came along with that decision. “The International Cycling Union (UCI)
[has] banished Armstrong from ever competing again and formally stripped him of his Tour de
France titles, along with every cycling achievement since 2008, endorsing the punishment laid
out earlier this week by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency." (Clarke)
Due to the great physical, and athletic abilities the professional athletes have, the
leagues have to set specific rules of what an athlete can wear in order to keep them as safe as
possible. One of the greatest issues in the sporting world today is the link between football
players and brain damage due to the high impact collisions with the head. This has become a
great issue due to the fact that the N.F.L. has restrictions on what the color of socks a player
can wear or the type of wrist band but not much emphasis has been shown towards which
helmets a player should wear in order to stay as safe as possible. “Frankly, the league has been
far more aggressive about thigh and hip pads than they have about ensuring that every player
has access and information regarding helmets," said DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the
N.F.L. Players Association.” (Borden) Being an athlete makes your body stronger and less prone
to injury but if precautions are not taken it can lead to serious injury.
Injuries are not only happening in Football but in all sports, even the ones that seem the
least physical. Soccer is one of those sports that is seen by many in the United States as non
physical sport due to the acting and drama of the soccer players in order to receive a certain
call. As some of this may be true soccer has been under great study by many sports scientists
as they are finding many soccer players with brain injuries due to striking the ball repeatedly
with their heads. "Soccer players who repeatedly strike the ball with their heads may be causing
measurable damage to their brains, even if they never suffer a concussion, according to a study
published Tuesday [Nov. 13, 2012] by the Journal of the American Medical Assn. By examining
brain scans of a dozen professional soccer players from Germany, researchers found a pattern
of damage that strongly resembled that of patients with mild traumatic brain injury, said Dr.
Inga Katharina Koerte, a neuroradiologist at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, who led
the study." (Morin) This has become a great concern for many as it is the most popular sport
worldwide and the fastest growing sport in America.
In order to keep sports safe and organized there is a very important sports figure that by
many is taken for granite. If you have ever been to any sporting event you have probably
noticed that the crowd at any minute will randomly start yelling and screaming angrily at the
game. No, not at the players but at the referee. Many times we spectators forget how
important the referees are to sports when we feel that they make a bad call against our team.
This assumption soon came very true for players, coaches and fans of the National Football
League.
The NFL was struggling to come to a money agreement with the referees which ended
in a referee lockout. Due to the lockout the N.F.L. replaced these referees with less
experienced ones in order to keep the season on schedule, not thinking that it would be a big
deal to the league. As the N.F.L. season began everyone could see the inexperience of the new
replacement referees. Bad calls were made weekly by the new referees which started a little
tension between players, coaches and fans but not enough to bring the old referees back and
pay them what they want. This went on for about four weeks until the Green Bay Packers
played the Seattle Seahawks. The game came down to the final seconds and due to a horrible
call by the officials the Green Bay Packers lost the game. This then caused a stir in the sporting
world and the commissioner of the N.F.L. was nearly forced to bring the old referees back. "It's
game over for NFL [National Football League] replacements. The regular officials are coming
back." (Los Angeles Times) Key terms of the eight-year deal reached between the NFL and the
NFL Referees Association are provided. The "deal lifts a lockout...and puts to rest the fiasco of
inexperienced replacement officials, whose slipshod performances cast a shadow on the
credibility of the nation's most popular and successful sports league." (Farmer)
As we can see sports has a major impact on our world from creating jobs to giving us the
greatest entertainment we could ever imagine. They are some of Americas greatest pastimes
and causes of some of the greatest stories in history. It can be competitive and fierce or
physical and mean but is looked as many times as art, not war. In reality sports has an impact
on all of us whether we play, watch or don’t do either. Whether we like it or not, sports are
always affecting our lives, we just have to look for it.
Sources
Borden, Sam. "Despite Risks, N.F.L. Leaves Helmet Choices in Players' Hands." New York Times. 21
Sep 2012: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Nov 2012.
Clarke, Liz. "Armstrong Formally Stripped of Tour Titles." Washington Post. 23 Oct 2012: A.1.
SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 15 Nov 2012.
Farmer, Sam. "NFL, Refs Reach Deal." Los Angeles Times. 27 Sep 2012: C.1. SIRS Issues
Researcher. Web. 15 Nov 2012.
Morin, Monte. "'Heading' Soccer Ball May Injure Brain, Study Says." Los Angeles Times. 14 Nov
2012: A.9. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 29 Nov 2012.
"Dream Come True: Fantasy Football Grabs Attention..." M2 Presswire. 25 Oct 2012: n.p. SIRS
Issues Researcher. Web. 29 Nov 2012.
Smith, Joe. "Illegal Use of ADD Drug Rises for Athletes." Tampa Bay Times. 17 Oct 2012: C.1. SIRS
Issues Researcher. Web. 29 Nov 2012.