Sheryl Bergmann Drewe’s essay, Fair Play, describes the ethical considerations and effects of athletes using performance-enhancing drugs in sports. Drewe argues that there are many reasons why athletes should not use these drugs, including harm to self, others, and to the integrity of sports in general. The arguments that she makes are very convincing, concise, and straight to the point, so it is easy to read and understand the points being made.
Drewe’s essay was interesting and made good points, but what it lacked were specific examples of ways in which performance-enhancing drugs have adversely affected athletes. She writes, “First, there are the health risks. If the drugs you take are dangerous to your health and you suffer physical harm from taking them, then you are hurting those who care for you” (123). This statement would be much more convincing if specific examples of what kinds of health problems occur; health problems could mean being more susceptible to getting a cold or it could mean heart failure. Specific examples would make this article more complete.
The article was very well organized. The hook of the article, that the decision to use these drugs affects athletes at every level, makes the article relevant not only for athletes themselves, but also for people who have friends and family of athletes. The order of the paragraphs and transitions made sense because it outlined in each section the different ways performance-enhancing drugs adversely affect not only people but also sports in general.
Drewe’s purpose was to appeal to athletes of every level. The arguments against using performance-enhancing drugs are very persuasive. However, because it lacks specific examples of how performance-enhancing drugs affect athletes and sports, the arguments Drewe makes come across more as hypothesis than proven points. The intended audience may be at the point where they are considering whether or not to use these drugs; she would have more success convincing them not to use them if examples of bad effects or even more references to outside expert sources were made so that people could better understand the bad effects described.
Overall, Drewe’s article has good intentions and presents a number of valuable points to persuade athletes at all levels that performance-enhancing drugs are not a sound moral or ethical choice. If this were an introduction to a book with further information on the topic, it would suffice, but in general, the piece lacks specific examples which make it less successful than it should be in being persuasive to its audience that performance-enhancing drugs are a bad choice.
Works Cited
Drewe, Sheryl Bergmann. Fair Play.
