WPE Sample Topic 2
The sample reading passage below is followed by a writing prompt.
Reading Passage
from “Why It's Time To Legalize Steroids In Professional Sports”
by Chris Smith in the August 24, 2012 edition of Forbes
So much for the end of baseball’s steroid era. Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon are both facing 50-game suspensions after testing positive for testosterone usage. And baseball isn’t the only afflicted sport, of course, as the US Anti-Doping Agency today stripped cyclist Lance Armstrong of seven Tour de France titles and banned him from the sport for life for doping. Steroids, doping and other illicit performance enhancing drugs and treatments have become the biggest scourge of professional sports leagues, and that’s why it may be time they were made legal.
. . . .
Not only would the playing field suddenly be even for all players, it would be at a higher level. A huge part of watching sports is witnessing the very peak of human athletic ability, and legalizing performance enhancing drugs would only help athletes climb even higher. Steroids and doping will help pitchers to throw harder, home runs to go further, cyclists to charge for longer and sprinters to test the very limits of human speed.
. . . .
It also makes sense for professional sports to allow steroids from a business standpoint. One needs only look to the late 1990s, when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa put on two of the most memorable baseball seasons in 1998 and 1999. Even cursory fans became invested in the home run races, especially in 1998 when McGwire shattered Roger Maris’ 37-year-old single season home run record. Jerseys flew off the shelves, games sold out and baseball was so exciting that some have gone so far as to claim it ruined post-steroid baseball.
. . . .
Detractors will argue that steroids and doping can pose health risks to the athletes involved, but athletes undertake serious health risks by simply walking onto the field or straddling a bike…Plus, if performance enhancers were made legal, then they could be safely distributed and regulated so that players aren’t forced to rely on shady back alley transactions for untested drugs.
. . . .
Athletes are going to take steroids and turn to doping regardless of the rules. Drug use in cycling is seemingly as old as the sport itself, and baseball players have tried to cut corners wherever possible, whether it be with spit balls, corked bats, stimulants or steroids. It doesn’t justify the actions of Armstrong, Cabrera or Colon – they knew the rules and chose to break them – but the current system has continually failed to establish a level playing field for the world’s most talented athletes. Legalizing steroids, doping and other performance enhancers would finally set an even bar, and that would just be the first of many benefits.
Prompt: After reading the excerpt from the article, “Why It’s Time to Legalize Steroids In Professional Sports,” write an essay between 500 and 800 words in which you argue whether or not legalizing performance enhancers would “set an even bar” in professional sports. If you do agree with what the piece suggests, support your point with compelling arguments that expand upon or go beyond those points already offered in the article. If you do not agree, then defend your position with compelling counterarguments and explain what you would do to address the “scourge” of illegal doping. Your essay should show an understanding of the article without simply repeating it, and you should incorporate specific details from your own experience and knowledge into your response.