Top 10 Pro Athletes that Enjoy Mary Jane

10.)  Kenny Brit a receiver for the Tennessee titans, this guy is way to clean cut. Most definitely doesn't look like he smokes bud. It is said to be that he hasn't had very many run in with the cops but once he was stopped and searched and the police for weed in his possession. Can't give the clean cut guy the benefit of the doubt


9.) Carmelo Anthony doesn't surprise me, in the picture here he almost looks stoned. The weed smoking explains why at times he stays at the other end of the court trying to catch his breath. Get your smoke on melo, your stats make up for it.


8.) Randy Moss's lips are blacker then Whoopi Goldberg's of course he smokes weed. The weed doesn't effect his spend nor his hands. Explains some of his instability with being able to choose a team. He may just be looking to find which state he can play ball in with the best Mary Jane.


7.) Bill Walton, I don't even know what to say about Bill. I think he had to smoke in order to have something to do with his money cause he wasn't snazzy enough to get a woman. The guy is a monster!


6.) Mike Vick has had his issues, back and forth to court dealing with all of the scrutiny. Vick had to smoke to keep from stressing himself out.


5.)  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar smokes bud because he is prescribe medical marijuana and so is everyone else that likes weed in California. Supposedly he has had chronic migraines in the past, I think the migraines only came when he had no weed to smoke on the road.





4.) Michael Phelps is a well known pot smoker, when he won those medals and society found out his secret everyone disliked him, but when the Olympics came back around he regained his fans.


3.) Santonio Holmes in 08 he missed the season opener for possession of weed, he is largely known to be a weed smoker and he is proud of it. that big contract allowed him to get the best of the best product.

2.) Tim Lincecum, knowing nothing about him or his career. The hair explains it all, total hippie and its all good the baseball salary will keep Lincecum with a fine supply.


1.) Ricky Williams is one confused guy, had a bang out season with the dolphin then decides he is going to Canada to play football so he can enjoy marijuana. One must respect his wishes because it wasn't about the money only. He had a joy and a true love for weed, but the weed may have been a cause to his issues outside of football and a effect to his performance when he returned to the NFL.

Lee, Amber  2012 Bleacher Report "Top 25 Athletes Who Smoke Pot"
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1152611-25-elite-athletes-who-also-smoke-pot/page/26

Puerto Rican Contributions to the Great Game of Baseball

A couple of years ago I was attending the Puerto Rican parade on the north side of Chicago, the Humboldt Park area. One of the floats was dedicated to the Roberto Clemente High School baseball team due to a championship they had won. Not having much of an interest on any diversity in baseball, I was intrigued as to who this Roberto Clemente character was and why he was so great that he influenced this team carrying his name to be amazing athletes. Looking up a bit more information on Puerto Rican players, I found that Puerto Rico was home to many baseball players. 

Puerto Rico's early contribution to baseball was Roberto Clemente Walker, who was born on August 13, 1934 in Carolina, Puerto Rico. He began his career by signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers fresh out of high school. He played for the minor league team, the Montreal Royals and then went on to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He then moved on to the Pittsburgh Pirates and was put on the map in 1955. He also participated in the 1971 World Series, he is remembered as a great right-fielder and had an amazing hand in baseball. He became the first Hispanic to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as well as the first Hispanic to reach 3,000 hits with 240 home runs.

Carlos Delgado was born in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico on June 25, 1972, after being sought after by numerous teams he reached out to Blue Jays. It was not until 1993 that he made his debut, although, he did not play a full season until 1996. Soon after that his potential was shown and he exploded as a baseball player. Over the years he played with Toronto, Marlins and the Mets. His statistics were outstanding and impressive.

Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez is one of the players which I probably have heard about the most. He was born in New York City in 1975 and began his career at a young age, 18. Baseball ran in his blood due to his brother and his father both were involved with baseball. At the age of 4 he moved to the Dominican Republic with his family and later came back to Miami. In 1975 Rodriguez was playing with the Seattle Mariners and later on went to the Texas Rangers and New York Rangers. His careers was on a this line once he was accused of using performance-enhancing drugs but even with that he still went on to help the Yankees in their 2009 World Series. 

World Cups? Family Feuds!

When speaking of the FIFA World Cups  the first thing that pops into my head are watching the soccer games with my family growing up. Coming from a Mexican background, soccer was a huge part of my life. There never fails to be soccer games during the week on television during week or at least one discussion a day about which team is playing against who, and who was going to be the winner. A simple conversation criticizing a player's move could end up in an aggressive argument ending with "tu no sabes nada" (you don't know what you're talking about). When the World Cup comes around the corner, these discussions will go on nonstop for about six weeks: beginning two weeks before, during and after the tournament.

Due to my Mexican background, there was always a sense pride whenever Mexico won a game, a huge party-like celebration happened during and after the game. The most anticipated game of he whole tournament was always the Mexico vs USA game. This game was super controversial due to the big question "Who are you rooting for?!" There was a huge sense of betrayal, almost guilt, if one answered "USA". This decision has a lot to do with the pride that was held due to not only the U.S's performance, but the importance given to the sport as well. Soccer, as learned in class, has nowhere near the importance or the respect that any other sport has. Football, baseball and even basketball is almost a way of life, of which soccer has no part of. In other parts of the world soccer is a lifestyle to be respected, in Mexico the most popular sport on the street just happens to be soccer. As an example of how intensely this sport is dug into the Mexican lifestyle, during home games in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca,  not only is the stadium filled to its capacity but the whole city is paralyzed and a city-wide party takes place, somewhat like when any Chicago team wins a championship but many times worse.

The upcoming FIFA World Cup is to be held in Brazil, a long anticipated tournament in which every four years every country unites to the sweet sounds of a ball being kicked across the field and a stadium roars with excitement.

Say No To Drugs! Well Maybe Just This Once

Drugs in sports has always been a hotly contested issue and is not exclusive to any sport.  Whether it's baseball, football, the Olympics, even the more recent sport of cycling, drugs have become a natural part of the sport of sports.  According to CSMonitor.com, "Though science has made significant leaps forward in its ability to catch drug cheats, antidoping efforts are only as successful as the programs that enforce them. And if there is a lesson from the past decade, it is that from cycling to baseball, it takes a serious scandal and a threat to the very integrity of a sport to get officials to crack down." (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2013/0213/Drugs-in-sports-Who-is-winning-the-doping-war)  What this means is that even if there are sophisticated and easy ways of finding drugs in sports, the effort to actually find them is lacking.  Furthermore, it takes a great deal of pressure on the sport in particular to get officials talking!  We see it in all the major stars of our lifetime (Sammy Sosa, Hulk Hogan, Lance Armstrong, hell even Arnold Schwarzeneggar) and almost have become desensitized to the fact that drugs do exist in the world of sports.  It takes a great deal of media attention to even think about an effort to stop drugs in sports, why is that?

Now drugs has always been taught as a bad thing to do as a child, but what if it wasn't?  What if drugs were actually the reason why sports are as exciting and as dynamic as they are now?  The thought of drugs being intrinsic with sports may be a hard pill to swallow (no pun intended) but the fact of the matter is that there is no such thing as a "clean" sport.  Not everyone is a born superstar athlete so there are those who take the liberty to give themselves that extra push in order to reach that pinnacle.  Is that a wrong choice?  If you were given a chance to enhance your performance in any aspect of your life, wouldn't you take it?  So why is it a crime when used in a professional sport?  A website that I found (http://sportsanddrugs.procon.org/) actually lists the pros and cons of using drugs in a professional sport.  Each question categorized and linked, the answers by professionals, sports enthusiasts, and sports fanatics alike are listed and are able to be up for debate.  After reading through a few answers, I realize that the opinion of drugs in sports is actually not as one sided as I had previously believed; people actually think drugs are a necessity! Whether your opinion on drugs in sports is positive or negative, drugs will always be a staple in any sport.  The question is, what side are you on?

East Germany Doping Scandal

There have been many cases of doping scandals in the world of sports.  More and more athletes are getting caught or simply coming forward confessing of using illegal performing enhancing drugs.  One of the biggest doping scandals in history was the East Germany doping scandal that went on from the late 1960’s to 1980’s.  This started when the Berlin wall was built to divide Germany from east and west.  East Germany wanted to increase their athletic reputation. The state began to carry out a plan to get the best athletes for the Olympics and bring home the gold. 

            The state recruited more than ten thousand German athletes.  Most of these athletes were from ages thirteen to sixteen years old.  In the documentary, The Great Olympic Drug Scandal, one of the former Olympic medalist says that they were treated like real stars but unfortunately they had no idea about the plan they were about to execute. 

            This program was officially called State Plan 14.25(cbc.ca).   The officials, coaches, and doctors that were part of this program were to produce gold medalist by feeding their athletes performing-enhancing drugs.  The athletes were fed these drugs with or without their consent.  Many of the athletes were young girls who had not even reached puberty.  These girls were fed testosterone, which helped them with muscle building, made them stronger, and have more endurance.  They also gave the athletes anabolic steroids, which have similar effects as testosterone in the body.  These drugs had more impact on woman than on men, so the girls were the first ones to start seeing changes in their bodies as a result.  Katharina Bullin, an Olympic medalist says that they were given different vitamins and supplements after their intense training, which included the drugs.  These were administered with the vitamins so the athletes would not suspect that they were being drugged.  The coaches would tell their athletes to speak up for any physical problem.  The coaches wanted to be seem trustworthy but in reality they wanted to be aware of any side effect that would affect an athlete in winning in the Olympics. These drugs guaranteed gold medals, so the coaches were so desperate that even gave their top athletes double dosage of testosterone. 

As steroids started to get more popular all around the world, the program became more intense.  They increased their dosages and furthered their research to get the best results from the steroids.  At the Olympics, East Germany’s athletes were the top in every sport.  Unfortunately, with all the medals came the side effects of the drugs.  The girls started to see changes in their bodies.   They started to grow excessive facial and body hair.  They started to gain weight and became aggressive. Their voice began deepened and were not allowed to speak to the media so no suspicions would arise.  A former athlete claims that her hands became bigger as well as her nose.  A lot of these changes were reported to the doctors, but they were not allowed to tell the athletes the reason for their body change.  Some of the girls started to question the changes and the “supplements” they were being fed. Many of the athletes that kept asking questions became dishonorably discharged and stripped from their medals.

Dr. Rainer Hartwich, who is an expert on steroids, suspected there were drugs involved due to the sudden winnings and big number of top athletes that all happened to be from East Germany.  It wasn’t until after the Berlin wall was removed ending communism that the systematic doping came to an end.  Soon after, the entire plan came to light.  Sadly it was too late, the damage was done and the athletes were severely damaged.  There was a wide range of side effects from depression and eating disorder to damage of vital organs such as the heart, liver, and womb.  Many of these athletes had premature death.  Many of the women claim to have miscarriages and even cancer that was triggered by the steroids.   On the documentary, two of the athletes that tell their story claimed that they were affected for life due to the steroid abuse.  One of the former athletes, Heidi Krieger, claims that her body changed drastically because of the testosterone that she felt she could no longer live in a woman’s body.  A couple of years later had a sex change and now is Andreas Krieger.  Another former athlete, Katharina Bullin, says that she stopped wearing feminine clothes because she was publicly humiliated and confused for a man all the time.  Her body and face features became similar to a man’s.  Due to the large muscles, her bone structure on her legs got so distorted that she’s still not able to walk right. 

Out of all the people that were directly involved in the program only seventeen people were convicted for illegal doping.  These included doctors and coaches.  Only a small number of these people served time and the rest were simply fined after damaging the lives and health of more than ten thousand young athletes.  

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/drugs/stories/top10.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGV35u35UM4

http://www.withoutthejuice.com/statesponsored-doping-east-germanys-sinister-scandal/

Funding for the poor Athlete

     "The NCAA Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund is intended to provide direct benefits to student-athletes or their families. The fund shall be used to assist student- athletes in meeting financial needs that arise in conjunction with participation in intercollegiate athletics, enrollment in academic curriculum or that recognize academic achievement." (GatorZone) 

       Issues finically concerning college student athletes will continue, unless there is a possibility for the athletes to make enough money to fund their lives without having to worry about finical needs. The reality of he situation is that if a student athlete is going to be paid and they will be able to live without finical worries, can they still be considered students. The history of college age students is that they are usually finically strapped. The struggle of not being able to have the extra spoils that are wanted is a part of future success with finances, because they have lived with less and there is not a need for more. 

       The Student Athlete Opportunity Fund allows students to receive funding when the funding is needed. In order to qualify for the funding assistance the student must be below standards of life. As a student everyone lives below the standard of life so this raises the argument that students that are not athletes should also receive funding to assist when they are finically strapped.

         “Targeting needy athletes looking to cover clothing, emergency travel and educational and medical expenses. An original $3 million-a-year allocation rose to $10 million 1996-97, then to a little more than $10.4 million in 2002-03. It's projected at almost $10.9 million this year.” (Wieberg, USA TODAY)

            From 1991 when the fund was originally started the three million dollar put aside to aid students in need rose to 10.9 million with in 10 years. The question is where is the money coming from and why is the amount continuously rising? I believe if the amount is able to rise, because there is money for the NCAA to pay athletes.

USA Today: Wieberg, Steve

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/2003-12-23-ncaa-athlete-welfare_x.htm

Gator Zone

www.gatorzone.com/compliance/pdf/student.../opportunity_fund.pd

Are Steroids Worth the consequences?

               

In the last 20 years we have seen a great number of famous athletes that have been accused or convicted of using illegal performance enhancing drugs while participating in sports. Before 1991 it was legal for athletes to us performance enhancing drugs, because these drugs were not popular and the harmful side effects from them were not discovered yet. Since 1991, these drugs have been illegal to purchase or possess under federal law and were banned in sports within a few years of the law change. After many allegations during the 1988 Olympics about steroid use, the government decided to outlaw the drugs and other sport organizations followed.  Many of us can remember in the mid-nineties when many athletes in the MLB were accused or caught using performance enhancing drugs. According to ESPN, the following MLB players have been linked to the use of performance enhancing drugs in the late 90’s seasons: Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Manny Ramirez, Rafael Palmeiro and Gary Sheffield. All of these players have accomplished something great for the game of baseball and many people were discussed to find out their childhood heroes were actually drug abusers. On top of that they were all breaking the law as well. During the great “Home Run” race of the 90s, these players had attracted so many young players that looked up to them as some of the game’s best athletes.  I wouldn’t want my children to inspire to be like someone who breaks the law and uses illegal drugs. The pressures to compete along with other factors, burden these professional athletes to the point that they turn to illegal substances for assistance. A perfect example of this would be Lance Armstrong. Lance was considered to be the best bicyclist in the entire world after he won 7 tour de France titles for cycling. As many of us have heard in the last year, Armstrong admitted to using steroids and other performance enhancing drugs during his participation in the Tour de France races. He had also encouraged all his teammates to use the drugs as well. He was stripped of his 7 titles and he was forced to surrender his famous Livstrong charity. This story is extremely unique because Armstrong became a hero to so many people who have struggled with similar health and athletic barriers. What makes Lance Armstrong’s story so different is the fact that he was able to beat cancer and prove that he was able to succeed no matter what obstacles needed to be overcome. His courageous story along with his unbelievable cycling accomplishments makes him a perfect role model for all athletes, in any sport. The thing that was so upsetting is that Lance disappointed thousands of fans and young athletes who looked up to him and he made people re-think about all the positive encouragement that he generated during his career. Armstrong always stressed that no matter what happens, if you keep on working toward something you can achieve it. To find out that he “cheated” or was “dishonest” the entire time is like a slap in the face. Many people were upset and disappointed to hear Armstrong admit to using drugs during all his Tour de France victories. The question that everyone has for these athletes is “Why?” What is the reasoning behind their actions? Does the outcome from using the drugs outweigh the impact it has on the sport and young fans? These drugs can help the athletes perform better and help them build their reputation but when it is exposed then it can totally destroy everything they have worked to accomplish. Like Armstrong, who lost all his Tour de France titles, his reputation, and his Livestong charity, that he worked so hard to build. So the big question is; Is using steroids worth all of the consequences for athletes?   

 http://personal.psu.edu/cjb5120/seventhassignment.html

http://espn.go.com/mlb/topics/_/page/the-steroids-era

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sCTDftgx8U