Deviance in Sports: Is it out of control?

 

http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/rjmorgan/mba211/steroids%20and%20major%20league%20baseball.pdf

 

 

          As we learned in class on October 30^th and November 4^th, deviance is very clearly seen in sports.  As explained in our last blog, deviance is defined as an act/person that differs from the norm especially in their behavior or attitudes that differ from acceptable social standards.  Who is deviant is defined by different situations and standards.  In this blog we are going to focus on Major League Baseball.  First, we learned that what is considered deviant outside of sports may be acceptable inside sports.  Things that are deviant outside of sports include fighting, trash talking, drugs, etc.  We see all these actions take place in society and especially in the MLB.  In the MLB, there has been an increased use of drugs, more specifically steroids.  In a study written by Berkeley University, they said that steroids did not make the banned substances list until 1991, but a breakout of the performance enhancing drug came about from 1994-2004.  Second, we learned that violence, aggression, and abuse are not acceptable social practices but what about sport where aggression is mostly encouraged?  It is seen as a mirror; that what occurs in society will occur in sports and vice versa.  Just like in society if there is suspicion of drug use, that person will be tested for the substance.  In the MLB the article explained that testing started in 2003.  There was an agreement made with the Major League Baseball Players Association that required one random test per player per year.  Regardless of the outcome, there were no punishments in the first year.  If up to five percent of players were testing positive for steroids, then punishments would be implemented.  Such punishments included suspensions for up to a year.  The overall punishments depended on how many players were tested positive.  Third, we learned some reasons that athletes might start taking steroids in the first place.  We learned that physiologically athletes take drugs to increase oxygen transport, to build muscle, increase energy, lose weight and train harder, and heal injury and reduce tiredness.  We learned cases where steroids have been a problem.  We learned about the BALCO Scandal and the Mitchell Report.  The BALCO scandal involved the use of banned, performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes. The Mitchell Report comes from a former US Senator, George Mitchell.  He did a twenty month investigation on players in the MLB using PEDs.  The report itself is of the players who were caught.   There are almost 100 names on that list since it was first released in 2007.  Our initial question of whether or not deviance is out of control now has a clear answer: it has become out of control ever since the outbreak of steroid use in the MLB.