Neel Thusay P.E. Mrs Franklin 04/10/2013 P.

E Athletes on drugs report

For what reason(s) did Mark McGwire use drugs? McGwire played in the Major league baseball from 1986 2001. He played for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. He had the best bats per home run ratio in Baseball history with Babe Ruth is second. McGwire broke the Home run record by hitting 70 home runs in the year of 1998. His record was then beaten by Barry Bonds in 2001 at hitting 71 Home runs. He worked hard on all the positions in Baseball to be seen as someone who could shine in more than just one thing. He won the Golden Glove award for his fielding. He obviously had a great career in Baseball and it begs the question as to why he would take drugs just to boost him up that little bit more. He confessed to the Associated Press for using steroids on and off for nearly a decade. He wasnt constantly on them but he admitted that he was using them for most of the time during his Home run record streak. He was also a gifted home run hitter and he hit many proper home runs even before he got inclined of steroids. This just begs the question even more as to why he needed the steroids in the first place. Also WADA hadnt formed in 1998 during his record so there wasnt much control on the use of steroids let alone other types of drugs. And McGwire himself said that he could have hit home runs just as far without steroids. According to ESPN he said that the only reason he took steroids was for health purposes, which doesnt make a lot of sense. Mark had told the press that he had used PEDs (Performance enhancing drugs) but he constantly kept telling everyone that it wasnt for strength purposes and has done it almost entirely for health purposes. And many people who he told genuinely to get it out of him werent altogether surprised, it seemed as if they had known all along and that it was too good to be true. He was the 2nd MLB player to admit the use of steroids with Alex Rodriguez being the first. He admitted in using PEDs but only told the press in 2009. And apparently he also used steroids in 2003-2004 in on and off situations. He also admittedly took very small dosages because he didnt want to bulk up to an incredible amount. McGwire was asked questions in 2005 on taking steroids repeatedly but he always kept on telling them that he was trying not to dig up the past so the press never had a definite answer. He kept on avoiding the questions and the truth came out 5 years after when he himself decided on telling the world. He thought about it deeply and he decided to come clean if he wanted to continue as a coach after his retirement. Mark McGwire had retired in 2001 but he served a hitting coach in the St. Louis Cardinals. Then he kept a low profile for around 5 years and then decided to come clean and take up another job as a hitting coach. The period from 1990-2000 was considered as the steroid era because the rules werent very solid against PEDs. They were still banned from Baseball but the ways of identifying werent very well developed. Mark McGwire also admitted in using a

Neel Thusay P.E. Mrs Franklin 04/10/2013 Human Growth Hormone. He used PEDs and HGH because he had physical problems on both his ankles. McGwire claimed to have heard somewhere that using PEDs and HGH speeded up your recovery to injuries because more protein was pumped to the areas of the muscles with damage. He said that he started using them because he thought that they would help him stay in the game and not be completely out due to his knee problem.

He was put on the disabled list (7 times to be exact) and used steroids to stay off that list as long as possible. They were really small problems which kept nagging him during play and he used them just to try and rid the problems. In a book which Marks Brother Jay McGwire (a fanatic body-builder and acknowledged user of heady PEDs) he gave the somewhat technical reason as to why the PEDs Mark took didnt dramatically increase his mass. Jay explained that because Mark only took very small doses over a long period of time his body almost got used to it and kept its flexibility without compromising all of it on muscle mass. At the same time Mark was also gaining muscle and it was 30 pounds (14 kilos) to be exact. And that was a pretty good combination for upper body rotational movement according to Jay. That was his reasoning as to how Mark was able to hit those big Home runs. Jay also said that Mark had lower back problems and couldnt work out his legs fully. This was reduced due to him talking PEDs and enabled Mark to leg press much more which he felt was a key thing in baseball. Some of the drugs that Jay said he used were Deca-Durbolin, Winstrol, Primobolan, and some others. And also Jay openly said that no one suspected him supplying drugs to his brother. He also said that there is only a small percentage increase in the batting speed it still can have a lot of effect on the speed of the ball after its been hit this has also been proven Baseball and its players only agreed to ban the use of any steroid completely throughout the sport only after McGwires retirement. It was obvious that McGwires use of steroids did over throw a lot of his fans and it brought a disappointing image to their minds. It really doesnt seem very nice to see any athlete and bear his name in mind after he has used steroids because of the emotional consequences it has. And as of right now Mark McGwire has signed a contract to be the hitting coach of the Los Angeles Dodgers and he was grated this only after his confessions on using steroids. My opinion on Mark McGwires situation is that he shouldnt have waited to confess that he was using steroids for health as he claimed. There is a slight chance that he might be lying about this but he did take it in very small amounts. Because he waited he had to wait with the guilt inside him until eventually he had to tell the whole world about what he did if he wanted to participate in the sport. But then again because he waited it allowed people to forget about his case a little bit and it didnt have as big of an impact as it would have if he had told the press

Neel Thusay P.E. Mrs Franklin 04/10/2013 when they started asking questions in 2004. But for him this wasnt the best solution.

Bibliography
250, Chris. Jay McGwire Talks About Mark's Steroid Use and Cycles. 25 February 2013. 2 October 2013 <http://www.musclechemistry.com/upload/musclechemistry-discussion/50440-jay-mcgwiretalks-about-marks-steroid-use-cycles.html>. ESPN. McGwire apologizes to La Russa, Selig. 12 January 2010. 2 October 2013 <http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4816607>. New York Times . Retired slugger Mark McGwire admits using steroids, HGH | Baseball. 11 January 2011. 4 October 2013 <http://seattletimes.com/html/mariners/2010768854_base12.html>. Wikipedia . Mark McGwire . 21 September 2013. 2 October 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_McGwire#Steroid_use>. Zaldivar, Gabe. Mark McGwire Regrets His Part of Steroid Era, Embraces Longer Bans for PEDs. 6 August 2013. 4 October 2013 <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1729055-mark-mcgwire-regretshis-part-of-steroid-era-embraces-longer-bans-for-peds>.