Abstract
This paper presents arguments for and against the use of illegal substances by athletes in the sports arena. The writer takes the stand that the world is currently filled with enhancers of all sorts and that athletes should not be condemned for dragging this practice onto the sports field.

From the Paper
"Although there are rules against illegal substance use in sports you cannot criticize the guilty athletes too harshly. They may not have made the right choice but everyone makes mistakes. Before you turn your nose up at a guilty athlete and tattoo him as a 'cheater' maybe you should think about the last time you colored your hair, whitened your teeth, or popped that stimulant your doctor prescribed you to help you focus. Yes, there are big differences, but the bottom line is you cannot condemn an athlete for using something to improve his performance on the field when we are guilty of the same off the field. Athletes should not be criticized so harshly for using artificial substances to improve their performance when other people are guilty of the same."

Tags:athlete

Abstract
This short paper looks at the popularity of athletes in our present day society. The author argues that, through the media, athletes are seen as role models and therefore have a profound influence on impressionable children.

From the Paper
"An athlete is a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina. Since the beginning if the 20th century, athletes have become more and more recognizable in the public eye. They are seen as much more than just a person who plays sports. In fact, in today's world, athletes are among the highest paid professionals. "

Tags:sport, example

Abstract
This paper is an argumentative essay about the need for salary caps in Major league Baseball. The paper argues that salary caps are necessary in order survive as a profitable sport.

From the Paper
"There is obviously a problem in Major league Baseball and it needs to be fixed before the league goes belly up. While this sounds preposterous it is quite possible. In my mind the best solution would be a salary cap and revenue sharing. As a Padres fan I grow tired of seeing them place last or second to in the NL West. While I will still support them I won't be attending as many games (especially while in Iowa). Because of this they will lose money in ticket sales, with the effects of that trickling all the way down to revenue for broadcasting, leaving them in a financially precarious position. This is in danger of happening to many teams. Fans are going are growing tired and vexed at seeing their teams go nowhere in the post-season. Three competitive teams are not enough to keep a profitable fan base and more importantly profitable revenue."

Tags:baseball, broadcast, broadcasting, bud, cap, league, major, profit, revenue, salary, selig, sharing

Abstract
The following paper discusses why steroids have garnered a lot of media attention over the years. The writer looks at the true story behind these controversial substances, though the main focus of this paper is the sport's arena. It is of the writer's opinion that the world of sports will never be based on true competition until these supplements are eradicated for good.

From the Paper
"In today's society, there is undoubtedly a strong emphasis on physical fitness and athletic strength. The media-driven quest for the "perfect body" has caused everything from low self-esteem to anorexia nervosa to suicide in our society. For professional athletes, the demands for physical perfection are particularly intense, in large part due to the use and abuse of steroids."

Tags:abuse, athletes, competition, debate, drug, substance, field, play, competition, physical, perfection, abuse

Abstract
This paper discusses pros and cons of Title IX. It examines its effect on collegiate athletics and predicted problems with the future. The writer presents problems with proportions and quotas and how the Bush administration addresses this issue.

From the Paper
"Passed in 1972, Title IX is a set of federal provisions that seek to level the playing field for both male and female athletes throughout the country. Title IX mandates equal opportunities for participation for both genders in educational programs that receive federal funding. However, from the very beginning this legislation has been involved in a whirlwind of controversy, largely because of the incredible grey area it attempts to sift through. While most of Title IX's critics even agree it is worthwhile, the debate has been in the criterion for and application of the mandates. Now, in light of newly filed lawsuits and a recently formed federal review commission, Title IX is back in the limelight again."

Tags:athletics, college, collegiate, female, funding, legislation, olympics, sports, women

Abstract
This paper examines the issue of performance enhancing drugs in the form of over the counter nutritional supplements. In particular it talks about ephedra, androstenedione (andro) and creatine within the context of the sports world today. It discusses the pharmacology of all three, their health risks and why the NCAA have chosen to legalize or illegalize these three drugs. They are all legal to purchase without a prescription, but ephedra and androstenedione have been banned by a majority of sports governing bodies and creatine has caused more problems than any nutritional aid has ever caused a sport governing body.

From the Paper
"Androstenedione is also known as Andro or the Mark McGuire drug. Shortly after breaking the homerun record, "Big Mac" came out and said that he used the supplement to gain a competitive advantage. Andro gives an athlete this "competitive edge" by working in a way similar to anabolic steroids. It is what is called a pro-hormone. It is part of the final product, testosterone. The supplement is supposed to increase the amount of testosterone in men much the same way as anabolics, but with out going to the extremes of pure anabolic steroids. A person could think of it as light steroids, except for the fact that it doesn't work. It has been proven however to increase the levels of estrogen in the male system. This can cause many steroid like side effects, but without steroid like strength gains (Sports, 2001). "

Tags:ncaa, prescription, hormone, drugs, competitive, advantage

Abstract
The writer learns that "The Natural" was author Bernard Malamud's first book. Written in 1952, the novel recounts the story of Roy Hobbs, an over-the-hill pitcher turned batter who just wants a chance in the major leagues. Many critics have called "The Natural" the best baseball book of all time. Malamud combines his love of baseball with the mythical and dark sides of human nature, showing a seedy side of the game not usually recognized by writers.

From the Paper
"As the novel progresses, Roy gets his chance to play baseball with a down-and-out team, the New York Knights, which is another reference in the book to the quest for the Grail. "Over the course of the season Roy gets involved with Pop's lovely niece, Memo, and her friend, the gambler Gus Sands. Eventually his desire for Memo, and his need for sufficient money to keep her in the style she desires, once again leads him astray from his quest" (Editors). He agrees to throw a game, and his miraculous bat, "Wonderboy," that he has carried with him since the beginning of his quest, shatters in his last game, ruining the Knight's chances, and his own to continue playing America's game. He is destroyed, because he has not only failed in his quest, he has failed those that believed in him. "Roy does somehow deserve to be destroyed for not honoring the natural talent he has been blessed with" (Editors).

Tags:baseball, hero, game, myth, legend

Abstract
This paper will discuss the value of yoga and weight training and offer a compare and contrast format to see their benefits. By analyzing the differing elements of weight training, one can see the vigorous approach that can be helpful for strength. However, yoga serves a different purpose. These two polar, yet complimenting methods serve different functions when dealing with the scope of health and fitness. Both concepts hold positive and negative traits, but can be done to compliment each other accordingly.

Abstract
This paper reviews the kinds of leading-edge signage found in today's major league sports, the information that signage offers beyond mere branding, and the trends in stadium and home-viewer sports advertising.

From the Paper
"In the book, Ballparks (Von Goeben, 2001), there is a black and white photo of the Polo Grounds in New York, taken around 1911, with only two billboards prominently displayed "the billboards advertised "ESCO Hosiery" and "Adlers Gloves" " that probably cost less than a hundred dollars each. That was a lot of money back then. But by 1952, in another photo in the Ballparks depicting a World Series game at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, signage was taking up most of the interior walls of the stadium. Thirteen billboards at ground level "approximately 30-40 feet wide each" were visible from the left field corner to the scoreboard in right center. And one wonders how much those billboards brought in for the teams. Not very much, in today's dollar terms. But whatever the pittance was, it is dwarfed millions of times over by the $10 million a year Reliant Energy pays in 2003 to be the "sponsor" of the NFL's Houston Texans stadium, or the $7.6 million FedEx pays annually to get its logo "and name" on the Washington Redskins' football field."

Tags:team, logo, sponsor

Abstract
This paper argues that by glamorizing professional and amateur sports-people and their achievements or abilities, the media directly affects children and encourages performance-enhancing drug use. The paper shows that authorities need to encourage sufficient funding to enable research and provide testing in all regulated sports in order to put fair play back into sports.

From the Paper
"According to Tokish, Kocher and Hawkins (2004), there is a "potent marketing influence" on athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs. Whether or not they really work is not important - if there's a possibility that they'll work, that's a good enough reason for many athletes to take them. If by chance they are dangerous to take, and at this point in time the research just does not exist to refute the possibility, that is a chance they will take."

Tags:steroids, scholarship, major, league