Anabolic Steroid Abuse & Athletics - True Sports Integrity

These legal disincentives are believed to be necessary to protect the integrity of sports and the welfare athletes and adolescents, as well defending society from harm. As the integrity of sports has been discussed, perhaps it's time to look at the welfare athletes and adolescents.

Athletes risk injury and even death a consequence of participating on the field of play. Most injuries are, thankfully, mild, such as hamstring pulls, but more serious injuries occur with striking regularity. Concussions, fractures, ligament tears and spinal injuries have all been seen by those who compete in sports. The nauseating leg injury of Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann in 1985 will forever remain in the memory who saw the protruding bone, which was replayed several times by the network. Deaths and spinal injury also occur every year in sports, but not necessarily the sports one might think. Cheerleading and gymnastics are among the most dangerous of sports, according to statistics cornpiled by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research."

In football, the greatest risk, relative to death, is heat stroke?'Twenty tio one heat stroke-related deaths occurred in football during the last seven years. Heat stroke is related coaching policy and procedure. The incidence can be greatly reduced by training staff trained to be observant for signs of heat exhaustion. Rarely does one see or hear of an injury directly related to steroids. Granted, heavier and stronger athletes have an increased risk of injuring themselves or others, but the goal training in many sports is to produce heavier and stronger athletes, with without steroids. Many sports are selectively populated with large and strong individuals, and the scoring methods of many are dependent on overwhelming the opponent, or oven beating him senseless, as in boxing. Even supposed noncontact sports, such as NASCAR, suffer numerous injuries and deaths.

Famed driver, Dale Earnhardt Sr., in 2001 as a result of head injuries suffered after making contact with the car and then being struck by another car. Earnhardt was the fourth driver to die on the circuit in nine including Adam Petty, son of legendary driver Richard To their credit, NASCAR instituted safety regulations that have since improved driver safety.