Professional Sports Not So Professional

From an early age children are told to “dream big” and that “nothing is impossible”.  When you ask a child what they want to be when they grow up the most common answer is to be a professional athlete and from an elder’s standpoint to tell them their dream is more than likely unattainable due to the difficulty of the physical requirements, would be contradictory.  So we the older generations allow these children to look up to these professional athletes as role models and dream of someday being like them and being able to play in a professional sports arenas, but who exactly are these kids looking up to?  Today’s professional athletes consist of nothing more than being greedy, dishonest, and dramatic.  To be quite honest if these are the types of people being looked up to, then our country has a big problem that lies ahead.

                In a 2008 study 16,500 athletes held jobs as competitive athletes and sport competitors.  In the same study 16 percent of the athletes were found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs, nearly one in every five.   Even with that number deceptively seeming high, professional athletes are one of a kind.  They go into their respected leagues with the raw natural talent needed to succeed in their sport; however that doesn’t seem to be good enough for them.   The thought of the god given talent these athletes possess not being enough to fit their standards is disgusting to think about.  Here these individuals are given the opportunity most people dream about and all they do with it is taint the purity of the sports world.  It seems like now days you can’t turn on sports or a sports talk show without hearing about a new athlete that has been found to be using performance enhancing drugs.  In my opinion once an athlete has been found guilty of these acquisitions they have not only negatively affected the purity of their sport but have put any record he or she may have broken in question.  A recent example would be when baseball superstar Barry Bonds was discovered to be using performance enhancing drugs his whole career. Bonds, who is the league’s all-time leader in home runs now surfaces the question if his legacy is legitimate.  I can sure tell you he would not have my vote to get into the Hall of Fame.   These are the athletes that need to be made an example of.  John Dawson writer in World Express magazine stated, “Imagine that day in the future when Bonds walks to the podium and begins his acceptance speech. Will he thank his trainer, Greg Anderson, who, according to leaked grand jury testimony, helped Bonds acquire undetectable anabolic drugs known as the “cream” and the “clear” and has spent months in prison rather than testify against Bonds?”  This brings to mind the idea that it is more than just the players and this foreshadows only bad things for the sport world’s future.

                There is no doubt that steroids and performance enhancing drugs are getting out of hand in all professional sports, but how the consequences will be determined is still up in the air.  If I were the commissioner of any sport I would make it an automatic one year suspension for any athlete caught taking these substances.  Whether they were first time offenders or third time offenders, and if they just so happen to be third time offenders they would be banished from the league indefinitely.  These punishments may seem harsh but something must be done to save the purity of the sports we all know and love.  If something is not done soon steroids will be a requirement to get into professional sports, eliminating true talent all together.  There must be some type of movement in the sports world to eliminate all dishonest athletes that take the easy way out and the sooner the better.  As far as the future purity of the league, well that remains to be seen.

When Are You A “Real” Adult?

When you turn 18 you can defend and die for your country, vote for the leader of your country, and even experience the holy matrimony of marriage; however you may not consume any type of alcoholic beverage.  Take a second to reflect on that thought for a moment.  You can marry the woman or man of your dreams, but you will not be legally able to celebrate at your own wedding with any type of champagne or alcohol.  You can be sent to the vast war infected countries to die for your own country and be looked upon to be mature enough for this, yet by law you are not looked upon to be mature enough for a cold beer.  This is a hot topic that has many people’s opinions out there on the web, and even creeping into congress.  There are people who take the same stance as me that the legal drinking age should be lowered to 18, and it would be in your best interest to hear not only them but their argument out.

                The concept of lowering the drinking age is not just one that is a dream of all under age kids that want to get their hands on some alcohol, but a common belief of many U.S. representatives, adults, and kids.  The three blog posts that I read are not only “must reads” but “go read right now reads”.  “If 18 is old enough to lift a weapon in defense of your country, its old enough to lift a cold beer on base”, this was a quote by a U.S. representative in the first of the three must read blog posts I read.  The blog was posted by Larry Peterson and gives a very strong structural argument that addresses both the opposition’s side of lowering the drinking age and then counters the arguments to those.   “There they are in their rucksacks, and they’re going off to operate Abrams tanks and Black Hawk helicopters and squeeze the triggers on their M-4 rifles.  We tell them they’re responsible enough to do that and risk their lives, but not responsible enough to have a beer with their steak on post. I think that’s an insult”, said Peterson.  This is a strong statement and not only from an opinionated standpoint, but from a human rights standpoint.  Yes Peterson does focus a little heavily on the military standpoint of things, but there is no bypassing the importance and gratefulness of an American soldier.

                The second must read that pertained to the topic of lowering the drinking age to 18 was one that focused on the Duke Presidents strongly opinionated statements favoring the topic.  If you as an individual have any interest or initiative to have the drinking age lowered to 18, this blog post is one you should defiantly read.  Duke president Richard Brodhead makes many thorough arguments in favor of the changing of the drinking age.   Brodhead says the current law “pushes drinking into hiding, heightening its risks” and prevents school officials “from addressing drinking with students as an issue of responsible choice.”  It is pretty commonly agreed upon by young teens that once they go to college drinking does not seem as “fun” because they can do it whenever they like.  Many of these teens being 18 years of age anyway.  The remainder of this blog goes on to give many other strongly opinionated arguments advocating the lowering of the drinking age by Brodhead, and numerous congressmen.  I would strongly urge readers of all different interests and beliefs to take time out of their schedule to read this blog because the content is mind boggling and makes it become very evident that the current drinking age is one that should be lowered.  When an opinion is given by a highly credited individual it becomes a much more worthy and notable opinion that cannot as easily be dismissed by the everyday person. This is another reason why I urge you to read this blog post!

                My third and final must read blog post was posted by a notable blogger, Drew Olson.  Like my other two must reads Olson gives a very persuasive argument to why the legal  drinking age deserves to be lowered, and counters many peoples opposing opinions as well.  Olson makes a strong statement in the defense that the number of car accidents has not lowered due to the drinking age but because of stricter seatbelt and speeding laws.  Olson says, “Plenty of smart people will counter my argument with plenty of statistics showing that raising the drinking age to 21 reduced the number of accidents and deaths on our highways. I will grant that, but counter that safer vehicles, increased emphasis on curtailing speeding and mandatory seat belt laws have played a role in that reduction.”  This is one of many strong cases that Olson makes in his blog post and this is why I highly recommend you go to his website and read his blog post on the legal drinking age.

                Lowering the legal drinking age is a hot topic in today’s world that has and will have a large impact on many American young adults.  Whether or not lowering the age is what you stand for I still strongly recommend all three of these blog posts and encourage you to consider all of the pros to the question, putting aside the immediate availability of alcohol.  It is unclear at this point and time if the legal drinking age will be lowered but, with these three articles in mind I don’t see why it shouldn’t be.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/3396443/

http://www.onmilwaukee.com/myOMC/authors/drewolson/lowerdrinkingage.html

http://savannahnow.com/news/2010-09-02/kingston-lower-age-drink-beer-or-win-military-posts-18

The College Life

                Lack of sleep, overwhelmed, sore, and constantly stressed are not exactly a common combination of general feelings for the average person.  It is however a common feeling for a college student who is new to the college scene.  There is no doubt that every college student has to attend to the different demands of college life, in every aspect as well.  This is no different for me and the transition into being a college student and the transition into collegiate sports as well.

                Little do “we” freshman college students realize how easy we had it in high school when entering our freshman year of college.  Compared to high school, the homework is more extensive, sleep is seldom to come by, and keeping a healthy diet is easier said than done.   When you are in high school you get into a routine that allows time for you to go to school, maintain a relevant social life, eat appropriate amounts, get homework done, and most importantly sleep.  In my case the addition of transitioning from high school athletics to collegiate athletics is also in the mix.  Not to say that having all of these changes, and in some cases pressures is not doable, but adjusting to it all is no easy task.  At this point I have already come to create a daily schedule that I follow.  With all of these changes in front of me and not knowing how to accurately adapt to the lack of sleep and plethora of homework, I have found “downtime” to be more like homework time.  That one hour block I get in between classes is almost more frustrating than anything.  I get done with a class and finally get back to my room and I get a whole thirty minutes to rest and catch up on homework.  Why not do it all at night you ask?  Well staying up until 2 a.m. every night can only go on until you have fallen asleep with a book in your hand.  My mother used to tell me, “Make sure you get your eight hours”, but at this point “getting my eight hours” would seem like a vacation.

                With all of the sleep deprived and homework loaded nights in mind, I still have to commit three hours a day to football.  In high school all that was required for football in a day was about a two hour practice at most, and of course games on Friday nights.  In college there is a lot more off the field commitments that require a lot of one’s time.  At minimum practices will be around two hours, plus the hours you spend watching film off the field, and when you are already tired and swamped with homework  studying for football makes you all the more exhausted.  Don’t get me wrong because there are defiantly some pros that tie into this as well.  Football keeps me focused and keeps my head on straight so that I don’t go out on weekends and completely blow off all that is due on Monday. 

                With all these different complaints that come to mind there is one of two ways that they can be looked at.  As complaints, or sacrifices that are necessary, and that is exactly what they are.  Nobody says the college life is an easy life, and football is supposed to be a challenge.  It is how I handle these challenges and sacrifices that will help shape me into the kind of person that I want to be. So in the mean time I will continue my 2 a.m. homework schedule, and continue to attempt to keep up with the fast past life that college has come to be.