As the knowledge of the human body grew, so did the curiosity of how to create synthetic testosterone. Synthetic testosterone is used to help build muscle faster, and help your muscles recover from strenuous activities. Synthetic testosterone, steroids, have been known to create such an advantage that they are outlawed in almost all professional sports. Steroids have tainted the game of baseball with all the widespread and public use of them through out the professional teams. Steriods give obvious advantages, they escalate an athletes training ability, which is a reason they have become more and more widespread, from the professional level all the way down to the high school ranks. An estimated 3 to 6 percent of high school students have used steroids according to the New York Times. That means in our small school of more or less 300 kids, 9-18 students have used steroids. This is alarming due to the side effects of these performance enhancing drugs. On my blog I posed the question, Have you ever or do you know anyone that has ever used steroids? I honestly was not expecting to have a single person say they knew someone who has used steroids, because I have participated in varsity sports all four years of high school. Through out this time period, I had never seen or heard of anyone using steroids. I figured if I hadn’t heard of it, then they must not have either. Well I was wrong.
3 of the 11 that voted say they knew someone who had used steroids. This is 27 percent of the voters. Way more than the actually average that the New York Times reports. This means 72 percent of voters did not know anyone that had taken steroids. It would be interesting to give this poll to the whole school and see how many yeses we get. I would think we would get somewhere near 20, basing it off the 11 prior voters. I believe the numbers came out this way because more and more people are trying to get any advantage they can. If someone can take a pill and it will increase their athletic abilities then they will do it if it is that easy. Pressure also adds to why the numbers came out this way. Many young people have the aspirations to make it big in what ever sport they are in, and they will take the pills to give them that advantage.
If I could take some more steps in the mystery of steroids amongst high school students, I would, like I said, give the entire school the survey to see the results. Then try and find the newest research and statistics on the spread of steroids throughout high school students. Overall, it was kind of alarming that 3 out of 11 people knew or had done steroids. This leads me to believe that there are more kids using steroids than the New York Times has reported.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Website
The Denver Post Preps website is the best website for Colorado High School sports stories. There are four things to consider when reviewing a website. One is the effectiveness of the design of the website. Second, the accuracy of the information the site is providing. A third thing to consider is the credibility of the site, how much can you trust it. A forth thing is the content in which it provides, is it biased or does it represents both sides well. For all these reasons and more the Denver Post Preps site is the epitome of a good prep website. It is effective, fairly accurate, credible, and contains good up to date content.
The Denver Post Prep website is first-class prep sports website. One reason why it is a top ranked website is that it is effective. The layout of the website is easy to navigate. You can scroll down to any sport you want or just use the search bar. The site is also a well written site and does not contain any errors. The authors of the articles are professional writers and they do their job well. Another thing that makes the site the best colorado prep site is the fact that it is fairly accurate. The information on the site is not information that can be made biased, so it makes the site that much more accurate. The only thing that makes the site only “fairly” accurate is the fact that every once and a while the stats on the site are messed up. This is typical for prep websites though, with so many numbers being punched in, mistakes are bound to happen. More often than not these mistakes are harmless and can easily be understood for what was really meant to be put in. The Denver Post Preps site is also a very credible source. The Denver Post is a large newspaper company that can not afford to have non credible information. The Prep site is updated everyday during the school year, to keep people up to date on Colorado prep news. The only apparent bias in the prep site is the column portion of it, which is supposed to be biased. The content on this site is also very good. You are able to read stories, get scores, see pictures of high school sports teams, not just in your area but all over Colorado. The main goal of the site is to provide information regarding high school sports, and the site does well in meeting this goal.
As you can see, the Denver Post Prep website is one of the best high school sports websites you will come around. The layout of the effective by engrossing the reader. Not only is the layout effective but the information is accurate. A large company like the Denver Post can not afford to have a misleading prep website. Also the site is credible and the content is great. If all websites were put together this well, people would not have to worry about misleading information on the world wide web.
Denver Post. "Prep Sports - The Denver Post." Home - The Denver Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. <http://www.denverpost.com/pr
The Denver Post Prep website is first-class prep sports website. One reason why it is a top ranked website is that it is effective. The layout of the website is easy to navigate. You can scroll down to any sport you want or just use the search bar. The site is also a well written site and does not contain any errors. The authors of the articles are professional writers and they do their job well. Another thing that makes the site the best colorado prep site is the fact that it is fairly accurate. The information on the site is not information that can be made biased, so it makes the site that much more accurate. The only thing that makes the site only “fairly” accurate is the fact that every once and a while the stats on the site are messed up. This is typical for prep websites though, with so many numbers being punched in, mistakes are bound to happen. More often than not these mistakes are harmless and can easily be understood for what was really meant to be put in. The Denver Post Preps site is also a very credible source. The Denver Post is a large newspaper company that can not afford to have non credible information. The Prep site is updated everyday during the school year, to keep people up to date on Colorado prep news. The only apparent bias in the prep site is the column portion of it, which is supposed to be biased. The content on this site is also very good. You are able to read stories, get scores, see pictures of high school sports teams, not just in your area but all over Colorado. The main goal of the site is to provide information regarding high school sports, and the site does well in meeting this goal.
As you can see, the Denver Post Prep website is one of the best high school sports websites you will come around. The layout of the effective by engrossing the reader. Not only is the layout effective but the information is accurate. A large company like the Denver Post can not afford to have a misleading prep website. Also the site is credible and the content is great. If all websites were put together this well, people would not have to worry about misleading information on the world wide web.
Denver Post. "Prep Sports - The Denver Post." Home - The Denver Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. <http://www.denverpost.com/pr
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Current State
With todays advance in technology and science, athletes are becoming bigger, faster, and stronger. Thus making contact sports more and more dangerous. Technology has really boosted the efficiency of an athlete. Now a days an athletes every move can be analyzed to determine what wasted movement he/she has, getting rid of that wasted movement will maximize their abilities. Take a look at the technology used by many Major League Baseball teams as well as college. They take videos of you, and show you where the wasted effort you produce. Once pitchers and batters take away the wasted movement all their actions become more efficient enabling them to throw harder, hit harder, and run faster. The harder these athletes throw, the harder they hit the more there is for a chance of injury to a player who is less fortunate athletically.
Not only has technology improved to help athletes, but the way people train for their athletic events has improved as well. Performance enhancing drugs have become more and more of a problem in amateur levels of sports and professional sports. Some performance enhancing drugs such as Steroids, are illegal, but then drugs such as Creatine can be bought over the counter at your local GNE store. Then there are supplements that are used to aid you in your training for sports. Such as protein supplements. The protein supplements are there to help your muscles recover from the strenuous activity. The faster your muscles recover the faster you get back to your training regimen, thus helping the athlete train harder.
With all the technology and new ground breaking ways to help your body recover from training, players are become dangerously big. Oppents are suffering from side effects of other players becoming “to big.” Todays superb high school athletes already look like grown men. These athletes being so big escalates the chance of injury to themselves or opponents. It causes injuries that can linger for the rest of their lives. Over two million high school athletes are injured each and every year (cdc.gov). Concussions have reportedly been on the rise in the last couple of years. An average of 136,000 high school athletes suffer from concussions each year (tbo.com). Many of them are minor concussions showing little or no symptoms at all. But then the other small percentage of them are severe brain injuries. Many experts are adamant that concussions are not on the rise, but we are just more knowledge able about the brain and the symptoms of a potentially deadly injury.
Not only is the new advances in sports a serious risk for other opponents, but also puts the athletes themselves who partake in the new supplements and training at risk. Athletes are willing to try anything to get and edge on the competition, to make themselves better. Such dangerous activity can lead them to make decisions blindly and could be a problem in the future. If an athlete takes steroids many side effects will affect them for the rest of their life's. An estimated 3 to 6 percent of high school students have at least tried Anabolic Steroids (New York Times). Once those 3 to 6 percent of high school students use the steroids they are going to have to live with the side effects of the illegal PED (performance enhancing drugs). Acne, excess hair growth, and deepening of the voice are all short term side effects. The long term side effects are more severe. Mood swings and the damaging of important muscles to the body including the heart. Basically steroids cause excess hormones to be produced which cause all the symptoms.
As you can see, the more technology increases the more the high school athletes become “physical specimens.” This can lead to some problems for the opponents, and the athletes themselves. It can lead to injuries to opponents who aren’t quite as big, and it can lead to injuries to the athletes. They could make a decision blindly and make the wrong decision, not thinking about the future.
Not only has technology improved to help athletes, but the way people train for their athletic events has improved as well. Performance enhancing drugs have become more and more of a problem in amateur levels of sports and professional sports. Some performance enhancing drugs such as Steroids, are illegal, but then drugs such as Creatine can be bought over the counter at your local GNE store. Then there are supplements that are used to aid you in your training for sports. Such as protein supplements. The protein supplements are there to help your muscles recover from the strenuous activity. The faster your muscles recover the faster you get back to your training regimen, thus helping the athlete train harder.
With all the technology and new ground breaking ways to help your body recover from training, players are become dangerously big. Oppents are suffering from side effects of other players becoming “to big.” Todays superb high school athletes already look like grown men. These athletes being so big escalates the chance of injury to themselves or opponents. It causes injuries that can linger for the rest of their lives. Over two million high school athletes are injured each and every year (cdc.gov). Concussions have reportedly been on the rise in the last couple of years. An average of 136,000 high school athletes suffer from concussions each year (tbo.com). Many of them are minor concussions showing little or no symptoms at all. But then the other small percentage of them are severe brain injuries. Many experts are adamant that concussions are not on the rise, but we are just more knowledge able about the brain and the symptoms of a potentially deadly injury.
Not only is the new advances in sports a serious risk for other opponents, but also puts the athletes themselves who partake in the new supplements and training at risk. Athletes are willing to try anything to get and edge on the competition, to make themselves better. Such dangerous activity can lead them to make decisions blindly and could be a problem in the future. If an athlete takes steroids many side effects will affect them for the rest of their life's. An estimated 3 to 6 percent of high school students have at least tried Anabolic Steroids (New York Times). Once those 3 to 6 percent of high school students use the steroids they are going to have to live with the side effects of the illegal PED (performance enhancing drugs). Acne, excess hair growth, and deepening of the voice are all short term side effects. The long term side effects are more severe. Mood swings and the damaging of important muscles to the body including the heart. Basically steroids cause excess hormones to be produced which cause all the symptoms.
As you can see, the more technology increases the more the high school athletes become “physical specimens.” This can lead to some problems for the opponents, and the athletes themselves. It can lead to injuries to opponents who aren’t quite as big, and it can lead to injuries to the athletes. They could make a decision blindly and make the wrong decision, not thinking about the future.
- Cindy. "Steroids | The Partnership at Drugfree.org." The Partnership at Drugfree.org | Support and Resources for Parents Dealing with Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. <http://www.drugfree.org/drug-guide/steroids>.
- Grossfeld, Stan . "A sad and revealing tale of teen steroid use." New York Times 20 Feb. 2008: n. pag. Nytimes. Web. 14 Oct. 2010.
- "HEADBANGERS: CONCUSSIONS POSE DANGER IN MANY SPORTS; MORE STEPS NOW TAKEN FOR ATHLETES' SAFETY." Reading Eagle 25 Aug. 2010: n. pag. Ebsco Host. Web. 14 Oct. 2010.
- "It's no game: Head injuries in high school sports." Tampa Bay Online - breaking news headlines, weather & deals - Tampa newspapers & WFLA - TBO.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. <http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/aug/08/090748/its-no-game-head-injuries-high-school-sports/sports-prepsports/>.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Background
You all know that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to talk about high school sports. In this blog scores and your regular sports stories will not be discussed. Issues with high school sports among other things will be discussed. Each week a new question will be asked and answered. This week is just background information that we must get through.
The start of sports, not modern day, dates all the way back to the time of ancient Greece. Greece is famous for their competitiveness and forging the way for modern day sports. The first olympics were recorded in Greece. Though they were not like the modern day olympics, they paved the way for our modern day event. Then, and now athletes were treated like celebrities of great status and power. Athletes get just as much attention draw to them as the president of the United States. Sports have changed greatly from the time of the ancient olympics. Track like events and horse races were a staple in the ancient olympics now, sports seems to be boiled down to the four major sports; basketball, football, soccer, and baseball. Though these four sports are widely considered the four “main” sports two of them are not even considered an olympic event.
Unlike other forms of entertainment, sports can be appreciated by nearly everyone on the planet. There is a sport for everybody out there. Whether it be archery, or football. Almost everyone can appreciate some sort of physical activity, which is why sports are such and interest for me. Not only can sports be enjoyed by just about everyone but they also give kids a way to vent and they give kids a safe haven. It has been proven that kids who actively participate in sports are less likely to end up in trouble. I can account for this first hand. If it weren’t for playing sports, I would not care what grades I would get, I would not care what I do in my own personal free time because it wouldn't effect anything. But since I do play sports I strive to do the best I can so I can continue playing sports without being ineligible for any reason. If someone is dedicated to a sport, it can keep them focused and goal oriented, which is a very important thing in life. Another reason why sports interests me is because sports give you real world lessons every day. For example: sports are the epitome of life not being fair, you will never win at everything. It also teaches kids to be adamant about working hard because if they can work hard they will see positive results. Also it teaches them that nothing is handed to them on a silver platter.
Clearly sports are played by both men and women, and that high school sports are played by kids in high school generally from the ages of 14-18. Many kids around the country participate in sports related activities. Despite the economy statistics are showing more and more students are becoming student athletes. For the 20th consecutive year participation has increased in high school sports. 3,114,091 girls and 4,422,662 boys participating in high school sports in 2008-09 (NFHS.org). Football is the number one sport for high school student athletes with over 1 million participates nation wide.
As you can see, sports are a passionate subject for me, and I very much enjoy talking about them. More stories to come in the weeks ahead. Stories about performance enhancing drugs, the economies effect on sports and much more.
" NFHS | High School Sports Participation Increases for 20th Consecutive Year." NFHS | National Federation of State High School Associations. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2010. <http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=3505>.
"Ancient Olympic Games - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_Games>.
The start of sports, not modern day, dates all the way back to the time of ancient Greece. Greece is famous for their competitiveness and forging the way for modern day sports. The first olympics were recorded in Greece. Though they were not like the modern day olympics, they paved the way for our modern day event. Then, and now athletes were treated like celebrities of great status and power. Athletes get just as much attention draw to them as the president of the United States. Sports have changed greatly from the time of the ancient olympics. Track like events and horse races were a staple in the ancient olympics now, sports seems to be boiled down to the four major sports; basketball, football, soccer, and baseball. Though these four sports are widely considered the four “main” sports two of them are not even considered an olympic event.
Unlike other forms of entertainment, sports can be appreciated by nearly everyone on the planet. There is a sport for everybody out there. Whether it be archery, or football. Almost everyone can appreciate some sort of physical activity, which is why sports are such and interest for me. Not only can sports be enjoyed by just about everyone but they also give kids a way to vent and they give kids a safe haven. It has been proven that kids who actively participate in sports are less likely to end up in trouble. I can account for this first hand. If it weren’t for playing sports, I would not care what grades I would get, I would not care what I do in my own personal free time because it wouldn't effect anything. But since I do play sports I strive to do the best I can so I can continue playing sports without being ineligible for any reason. If someone is dedicated to a sport, it can keep them focused and goal oriented, which is a very important thing in life. Another reason why sports interests me is because sports give you real world lessons every day. For example: sports are the epitome of life not being fair, you will never win at everything. It also teaches kids to be adamant about working hard because if they can work hard they will see positive results. Also it teaches them that nothing is handed to them on a silver platter.
Clearly sports are played by both men and women, and that high school sports are played by kids in high school generally from the ages of 14-18. Many kids around the country participate in sports related activities. Despite the economy statistics are showing more and more students are becoming student athletes. For the 20th consecutive year participation has increased in high school sports. 3,114,091 girls and 4,422,662 boys participating in high school sports in 2008-09 (NFHS.org). Football is the number one sport for high school student athletes with over 1 million participates nation wide.
As you can see, sports are a passionate subject for me, and I very much enjoy talking about them. More stories to come in the weeks ahead. Stories about performance enhancing drugs, the economies effect on sports and much more.
" NFHS | High School Sports Participation Increases for 20th Consecutive Year." NFHS | National Federation of State High School Associations. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2010. <http://www.nfhs.org/content.aspx?id=3505>.
"Ancient Olympic Games - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_Games>.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Intro
In Mrs. Wrights English 4 class, we were asked to come up with a topic and blog about it for a semester. I went back and forth between many topics, not being able to make up my mind. It is difficult to write about one topic for an entire semester. The topic can’t be to narrow, for the fact that it will be difficult to continue writing about it, but it also can not be to broad too, for it will mean to many things to talk about. I bounced back and forth between human cannibalism, and high school sports. Ultimately I chose high school sports because writing about cannibalism is almost to narrow of a topic. High school sports would be a perfect topic for me because I am a sports nerd, I tend to read about all sports anyways so why not write about it through out this blog? The major topics I will be discussing throughout this blog is; What are the pros and cons of a high school offering sports? Should schools offer just as many women's sports as men's? What effect does the recession have on high school sports teams? How wide spread are the use of performance enhancing drugs? I will be answering all these questions and more throughout this blog page.
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