History in Sport

Sport History is important because it tells us how sport used to be, how it is in the present, and how it might be in the future. It shows how sport has developed throughout the centuries.

Sports used to be religious and part of rituals in ancient times. Nowadays, sport is part of the American culture. It's secular, but there are cultural aspects and traditions attached to each sport.
We, Longhorns, wear burnt orange and white to represent UT's sport teams (I found this link about the history behind it: http://www.texassports.com/trads/burnt-orange-white.html).

I have noticed that since the 20th century, sport has come to focus more on winning and records. My reasons are that: it's all about breaking a record and beat the previous winner. Heroes are those athletes that reach the top, we value more what they achieve as athletes than what they achieve as human beings. They can't be "morally wrong" in their daily lives, but as long as they win games, they will be considered heroes. (Heroes of modern American sports --> http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/heroes.html)

First televised U. S. sports event, May 17, 1939. 

Super Bowl (2010)

"Steroids are just a side effect of being American" - Chris Bell

The documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster directed by Chris Bell portrays how common the usage of enhancements is in the American culture. These people live in a society where competition is everything, they are always trying to be better than the next person. Million of trophies are not enough, Americans are never satisfied. It seems like pursuing personal goals mean nothing unless there's a public praising that success. They do whatever they need to do to win, to obtain fame. For athletes, steroids facilitate their success.

I believe that it's hard to predict the future of doping. My reasons are that: for a lot of Americans, competition is everything. The motivation to be number one is stronger than honesty and integrity. Achieving more and more is part of the American culture, and this desire to always thrive to be the best is going to be passed from generation to generation. Will people keep using steroids to reach their goals?
Maybe people will stop taking them, after genetically changing their DNA to make their muscles twice as big.

 Steroids --> Gene Doping --> What's next?

Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

The Dilemma of Doping in Sports

Each year, more athletes are found guilty of doping. For those who use enhancements, their motivation is winning at all cost. Anti-doping organizations believe that doping goes against the integrity of the game. Winning is more important than a natural performance. But again, what's natural? There's not a fine line.

Everyone complains about doping in sports, especially in baseball. But truth is that a very high percentage of athletes are using enhancements (legal or illegal) to help with their strength and endurance. Some say it's unfair for athletes to get singled out for using performance enhancers. One simple and very logical solution would be to test every athlete. After all, it doesn’t make much sense to test anybody if you don’t test everyone. Athletes train together and if one does, others are going to follow the same path. So called doping rules and regulations as well as drug testing seems more like an act of the league commissioners to appease the fans and the media rather than a solid, well-regulated drug policy. They say they are testing for dopers, but they know that they don't test everyone and that a lot of underground "doping" is going on in their leagues. It seems like commissioners try to make the public believe that doping is under control, but in reality, it's getting worse.

My opinion is that it would be horrible and non-ideal to not test anyone. In some sports, for example, they are a lot of positions and players. Different skills are needed for each position, it's not all about getting strength for some players; it won't make them play better. Some players might feel forced to take steroids just because their opponents do. It would be ideal if every single player from all-levels would be tested for doping. I am in favor of Anti-Doping if it's done right, money should be invested, so drug testing becomes uniform.

Coach Paul Brown

I think that Paul Brown was very smart and ingenious when he took footballs cut in half and put them in players jerseys. It was not against the rules. I mean I wouldn't have liked it if I was the coach of the opposing team; nevertheless, I would have felt a little dumb for not thinking about it first.

It could be argue that it goes against the integrity of the game, and it would probably be a totally different sport if each team in football wore jerseys like that.  Paul Browns innovation was very questionable to the public, and rules were made how the uniform ought to be.
But the point I want to make is that it's all about strategies in sports.  I don't think it was morally wrong, it was a strategy, an opportunity to win a game. In a competition, you have to be clever to find new ways to surprise your opponents and earn a victory.