Proposal Paper

The steroid epidemic has had a strangle hold upon baseball for the last twenty years. It began in the mid nineteen-eighties, usage peaked in the late nineteen-nineties and continues to affect the game of baseball up to the present day. Unfortunately this problem was often ignored by many or others didn’t know the extent of the steroid problem. In my paper I intend to bring this problem into public and show how many people within baseball knew about it. I want to expose to the public how bad the steroid problem [is] in baseball and give an explanation as to why this problem has existed for as long as it has.

It is my intention to present these problems in my paper. I would explore this with the effects of steroids on the body to prove the harms of using steroids both to the athlete and to society [here, I think you would be better served to discuss both harms and advantages. I think this may set up your argument better]. I intend to describe the things that caused the perpetuation of the abuse of steroids by professional baseball players. I intend to particularly cite the 1994-95 baseball strike and the desire of Major League Baseball to bring baseball back to prominence afterwards. I also intend to analyze a recent article that was in ESPN The Magazine, titled “Who Knew?” that discusses this problem. It brings up the point that it was known on very high levels in the league that players were using steroids. I also intend to examine the new rules for punishment that was recently decided upon by baseball.

The main point that my paper will present is that steroid use in baseball was allowed to go on because the players, managers, owners, and fans allowed it to for each of their own personal reasons. Players allowed it because if they were among those that were using steroids, the desired to make themselves better in a shorter period of time. Those baseball players who were not using steroids, allowed it to go on because they were afraid to break the locker room code of “What happens in the locker room, stays in the locker room.” The managers allowed it to go on because they wanted to win baseball games, and they figured that with players using steroids, they were winning. Owners allowed it to continue because the increase in home-run hitting was bringing fans back to the baseball. The fans allowed it to go on because they liked seeing the home runs, and broken records. The fans mostly wanted to ignore the steroid issue because they didn’t want to have something else taint the game that they loved.

I feel that it is important that I write this paper to try to make more aware of how bad the problem of steroids is in baseball. I want to show the negative effect that steroid usage has upon the game of baseball, society, and America's youth.

[This presentation looks good. The only comment I have I made above, so make sure to take that position into account. Overall, though, this looks good. Also, make sure not to rely too heavily on that ESPN article: I don't want your project to be a summary of that one article.]

WORKS CITED
Assael, Shaun and Peter Keiting. “Who Knew?.” ESPN.com.ESPN. 8 Nov. 2005 <http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=steroids&num=1∞>

Jost, Kenneth. “Sports and Drugs.” CQ Researcher Online.14. 26 (2004). 14 Nov. 2005. cqresrre2004072300 <http://library2.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2004072300∞>

“Widespread misuse of steroids in athletes.” Nutrition Health Review 1 Jan. 2002: 8. Health Module. ProQuest. 16 Nov. 2005 <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=4&did=250536011&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1132154204&clientId=1360∞>