High and Inside in the Newsweek Magazine Term Paper

High and Inside

In the Newsweek Magazine article "High and Inside" by Mark Starr, the issue of illegal drug use among professional sports players is given focus. Citing particularly the case of American baseball stars, Starr puts forth the argument that the issue illegal drug use such as subsistence to steroid injections goes beyond the fact that it is illegal -- the bigger issue at hand is that such a system prevails in sports organizations because it is supported and encouraged by everyone in it.

In arguing this primary thesis of the article, Starr exemplifies the case of baseball star Jason Giambi as one of the models of how the proliferation of illegal drug use has made it so common and an imperative requirement for a professional athlete. Chronicling Giambi's career as a professional baseball player, the article details how, just before the peak of his career, he had already subsisted to a steady supply of steroids, such as synthetic testosterone and human growth hormones or HGH. Similarly, Starr cites other professional players to point out that Giambi is not alone in this kind of 'bad habit.' He mentions another baseball star, Barry Bonds, as another steroids user. Marion Jones, one of the well-known athletes accused of subsisting to steroids, does not escape Starr's discussion, for Jones is one of the professional athletes who served as the catalyst for professional sports organization to look into the effectiveness of their drug testing programs for professional athletes and players.

Of course, Starr also includes other "players" in the game of steroid use in the country's professional sports organizations. BALCO, Giambi's supplier of steroids, finds itself accused of harboring the illegal habit of enhancing the athletes and players' performance by supplying them with steroids. Personal trainers of athletes and players are also pinpointed as one of the primary influences why players learn to….....