Deviance in Sports

Arian Foster discussing deviance in college sports

On November 10, 2016 in my American Sport in the 21st Century Class we discussed deviance in sports. Deviance in sports consists of fighting, bounty hunting, academic cheating, performance enhancing drugs, gambling and illegal recruiting practices. College athletics, specifically FBS-Divsion
1 football schools have been scrutinized for illegal recruiting and academic cheating. University of North Carolina was scrutinized for having "paperless classes". These classes were for athletes and the class would only meet one to two times a semester with a paper due at the end of the semester. Having these academic standards is only harmful to the student-athletes. In the documentary titled "Schooled, The Price of College Sports" discusses the "paper classes" and how they harm the student athletes. There was a quote in the film that states, "student-Athletes are getting a degree not an education" and this is a very true statement. At Division 1 football schools, the boosters are more focused on the football team winning games then the student-athletes doing well in class. This is not beneficial to the student-athletes long term as some student-athletes receive a degree that does not allow them to pursue a career after graduation. This is just one of the many examples of deviance in college athletics.

Maria Sharapova press conference admitting to a failed drug test

As far as professional athletes, the biggest concern is performance enhancing drugs. In class we discussed the reasons for professional athletes taking performance enhancing drugs. We discussed the physiological reasons, psychological reasons and the social reasons behind performance enhancing drugs. For physiological reasons, the athletes want to prevent injuries and reduce fatigue, while they also can take performance enhancing drugs to steady nerves (psychological reasoning) and for the fear of not winning (social reasoning). The article from CNN discusses how performance enhancing drugs have been a problem since 1960. Anabolic steroids are defined as natural and synthetic substances that help build muscle mass, enabling athletes to train harder and recover quickly from strenuous workouts. Many athletes are taking stimulants because they increase awareness and decrease appetite. With the busy schedules of athletes sometimes the stimulants claim to help them to stay alert, while athletes take HGH (Human Growth Hormones) for improved endurance and strength. Maria Sharapova, arguably one of the most talented female tennis players in the world, admitted to failing a drug test at the Australia Open and was suspended for two years but the suspension was reduced to 15 months. Recently this summer, the IOC announced that 271 out of 389 Russian Athletes were cleared to compete in the Olympic Games, while the other 118 Russian Athletes were banned because of a doping scandal. Also, in the article the Kenyan sprint coach is sent home for posing as an athlete for a drug test, while the track and field coach tried to bribe journalist in advance to warn them about drug tests.
As one can see deviance in sports is an increasing problem that can be hard to prevent. There are many supplements that can help an athlete pass a drug test if needed. My opinion on this is a mixed feeling, I do not think it is right for athletes to use them but I understand why they would take Performance Enhancing Drugs. Despite performance enhancing drugs having health risks later down the road, each athlete faces immense amounts of pressure from coaches and teammates to win and not fail.

 http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/06/us/performance-enhancing-drugs-in-sports-fast-facts/index.html