Summary
In Peter Martins "Destroyed"
the author discusses the mental, physical, and moral implications of
performance enhancing drugs. Peter Martin debates whether performance enhancing
drugs such as steroids should be considered cheating and compares them to other
acts of cheating such as corking a bat. In his argument over cheating he also
discusses the effects that cheating has on the fans of sports and the unrest it
causes. He also examines the physical effects on the athletes and explains that
they have long reaching effects that can lead to a shortened lifespan.
In the end, the author concludes
that “Competition is to be played fairly and naturally...” (Martin 581) and
that while the drugs can be damaging to sports, they are detrimental to athletes
health.
Paragraph #10
In the 10th paragraph of this story the
author explains the most pressing issue with performance enhancing drugs, the
physical ones. He talks about anti-steroid messages that depict limps falling
off of bodies and how that really isn’t that far from the truth. He explains
that the effect of steroids are bitter sweet because they give the user a great
amount of strength but they damage the body in the process. He gives the
example of Ken Caminiti who look steroids regularly during his baseball career
and died at the young age of 41 due to a heart attack. He concludes when it
comes to steroids we need to be looking out for the players more than the game.
My Favorite Part
My favorite quote from this article has
to be "The fields, once clean, are soaked in juice" (Martin
581). This sentence brings a lot of
intense imagery to my mind and really helps the reader understand to what
extent performance enhancing drugs have effected sports.
Sources
Martin, Peter.
"Destroyed." The Bedford Reader. 11th Ed. Boston,
MA 02116: Bedford/ST. Martin's, 2012. 580-582. Print.
