Deviance in Sport: HGH Testing Coming Soon

Link to article: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2011/10/nfl-hgh-testing-to-begin-as-early-as-next-week/1

           In class on November 3^rd, 2011, we started to discuss the topic of deviance in sport.  This is also discussed in Coakley’s text, starting on page 154.  Like we discussed in class, deviance is an act/person that differs from the norm, especially behavior or attitude.  There are deviant actions both on and off the field or court.  Coakley, on page 172, explains that some of the on the field forms of deviance are cheating, gambling, throwing games, and fighting.  Another deviant act that can probably be found in all sports is the use of performance enhancing drugs (PED’S).  There are many different forms of performance enhancing drugs, ranging from Tylenol to Steroids.  Athletes take these drugs for many reasons, but the main one is to make them more efficient in what they do.  One of the main forms of performance enhancing drugs is known as HGH or Human Growth Hormone.

                In this article, the National Football League has come out and said that they have decided on a way they are going to start testing for HGH and they are working on starting the testing as soon as possible.  The NFL has never tested for HGH before, but they have done some other performance enhancing drug tests previously.  The question is then raised, is drug testing effective?  Coakley, on page 187, explains that there are powerful arguments for and against drug testing.  He suggests that while drug testing is a need to protect athletes from health issues, the athletes don’t really care about the health issues, and they also think they are one step ahead of the testers.  Coakley also brings up that while it seems like drug testing is legally justified because of athletes influence on younger people, requiring people to submit drug tests without cause violates privacy.  So for almost every argument for, there is an argument against, but I personally believe that it can be effective and all of the major sports should institute some form of random drug testing.  I realize that these tests can be very expensive, but I am a strong believer in deterrence, and I think the tests have a strong influence on an athlete’s decision to take PED’s or not.  All in all, deviance is present in all forms of sport, especially when it comes to using PED’s to enhance an athlete’s performance on the field/court, but that doesn’t mean every athlete is using a PED, and that doesn’t mean the use of PED’s can’t be stopped…There is always hope.