Birdman

In our society today there is a big focus on the aspects of sports. One quote that I think best describes sports was by a writer named Susan Casey. She said "Sports remain a great metaphor for life's most difficult lessons. It was through athletics that many of us come to understand that fear can be tamed; that on a team the whole is more than the sum of its parts; and the ability to be heroic lies, to a surprising degree within". Sports have taught us these lessons and is part of the overall integrity of the game. Even though sports teach us the good things in life there is also a dark side. Athletics who go down this path disregard the rules of the game and seek to get an edge on the competition. One of the major problems in the sporting world today is the impact of drugs. Drugs have gone from therapeutic uses to personal enhancement and muscle building. Recently, an issue that has blown up in the media is HGH. HGH or Human growth hormone is a protein responsible for the growth in both men and women. It targets the breakdown of cells and is designed to stimulate the immune system. The primary ways HGH can be abused is to increase muscle mass and strength. A player that has been linked to HGH is Paul Byrd. Paul Byrd is a pitcher for the Cleveland Indians and according to Tom Withers from AP sports took HGH under doctor's supervision before it was banned in the MLB. Jeff Passan of Yahoo sports reported that the Indians just exercised the 7.5 million option on him and will keep him another year. The question that has been issued is should the Indians have brought back someone that took an illegal substance? In my opinion, I think that it is wrong. As an organization you send the wrong message in that you condone cheating and he knew what he was doing when he took it. More importantly what message do you send to the youth? A way you can attain more money is to cheat the system. It is a situation where they needed to look more at the situation rather than the players stats. It is unfortunate that people value stats rather than morals and this needs to be addressed.

Duquesne Player Shootings

Over the years there have been many tragedies that have rocked the world. They have changed the landscape of our society and will always be everlasting images in our culture. These tragedies have made us more aware of how precious life is because it can be gone in an instant. It is important to live to the fullest because our time here is short. One tragedy that rocked the world was the Duquesne Player Shootings in September of 2006. According to Alan Robinson of the Associated Press five Duquesne Basketball players were shot early Sunday morning on September 17, 2006. The players that were involved were Sam Ashaolu, Stuard Baldonado, Kojo Mensah, Aaron Jackson and Shaun James. Bill Schackner of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that the five players had been at a dance in the Duquesne Union. After the party the Duquesne players were walking back to their dorms and ran into a group of people who were not students. One of the members had been upset and pulled out a gun firing several shots that left four of the players injured and Sam Ashaolu was put in critical condition. It was a terrible situation and forced the Duquesne community into turmoil. The campus had always been a tight knit community and this incident was something totally unexpected. Since this incident occured many schools around the country have taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety of their students. Schools want their students to be safe and not have to fear the outside surroundings. Eventually, the suspects were caught and given their punishments. The question I have to ask is were the punishments appropriate for the crime? In my opinion, the verdicts were to lenient towards these people. Joe Mandak of the Seattle Post said that shooters Derek Lee and William Holmes will get 7-14 and 18-40 years respectively. How is this possible that someone who can shoot another person can get off this easy. This incident wasn't an accident and one player was almost killed. I feel that both should get life in prison and there should be no plea agreement. As a person how can you bring yourself to shoot another person? These guys deserve more for their crime and they ultimately have ruined these players lives. These players will always remember that night and these two gunman will eventually be free. Another issue that should have been addressed is the families of the players. Their parents sent them to school not only to play basketball, but to get an education as well. The parents will always be worried about their children and to let these men off like that is a shame. The crime and punishment will never be justified and I think the verdict was a big mistake.