We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals According to William Moller in his essay “We, the Public, Place the Best Athletes on Pedestals,” sports fans are a huge factor in athletes steroid usage and we tend to turn a blind eye to the obvious substance abuse because we want them to be the best. On the other hand they know what choices they are making when using illegal substances and the consequences that follow. Moller compares the athlete’s substance abuse to his own experience in high school. With the pressure to excel in school he states, “I was giving in to the incentive scheme that was presented to me.
The negative of doing poorly on the test was far greater than the negative of getting caught. ” (547) The athletes could argue the same, using the drugs bring wealth and fame and it is worth it to them because they don’t think they will get caught. Athletes are more concerned with achieving success that they don’t consider their actions to be wrong. Moller admits, “And knowing full well that what I was doing could be nothing more than against the rules (and less importantly, illegal) I did what I felt I needed to do, to accomplish what was demanded of me. (546) In both situations the pressure to succeed influenced their decision to use an illegal substance. For players like Alex Rodriguez it’s all about the edge, he could have been a great player but he wanted to be great and for him that meant using steroids. Sure he would be great while using but what about when he’s not playing in an altered state? Would he not be able to play at all or would he just be ordinary? In that case he chose steroids over ordinary, he chose the fame and fortune over ordinary.
They are called performance enhancing drugs for a reason and now that the truth has come out over his steroid use what do we the public think of this almighty A-Rod, should we praise him for all his homeruns or thank the steroids? As for the other athletes that are simply getting prescriptions from doctors for Ritalin, they are not doing anything illegal but it still doesn’t seem right or even fair. There is a vast majority of athletes using performance enhancing drugs one way or the other, whether we see it or not. Above all “What it really comes down to is that the reason Alex did steroids is you and me. (Moller 547) By putting these athletes high on a pedestal they will do whatever they can do to be the best. They don’t even consider the health risks, the side effects, or the reputation they will gain when the public and the media find out. The health risks alone should be enough to not even attempt trying steroids and not to mention the media once there is a story out there it spreads like fire. Only then will we stop turning a blind eye to their steroid use. Although knowing that they are using steroids doesn’t ultimately mean we will even stop watching them.
