Sports and cheating synthesis essay When people think about America they think about the greatest country in the world or they think about the American dream. The American dream is based off if you work hard then you will have a successful life. Although people strive to reach the American dream some fall short and along with others are faced with the “side-effects” of being American. There are many side effects of being American but the main side-effects people are faced with are competition, corruption, and drug use.
Growing up in America it’s a natural instinct to want to be the best at everything you do, no matter what it takes. Competition starts at a young age when parents sign their kids up for Tee-ball and all the way up to when they are playing varsity baseball. It may not seem bad, but every year parents are pushing their kids to get better and better. No kid wants to disappoint their mom and dad, so year after year they try to be the best out there causing competition between each athlete. Eventually some kids can’t handle the pressure from competition and look for an easier way out just like in the film Bigger Stronger Faster.
Growing up Chris Bell and his brothers were not the best of athletes, so they got picked on and made fun of. Eventually they were sick of it and began to train to get stronger and better, although they were working hard and getting stronger they got caught up in the competition and wanted to keep getting bigger. They looked for an easier and faster way to achieve their goal, so they turned to steroids. The oldest and youngest brother were competing to be the best at what they do just like many other Americans. Competition caused the two brothers to use steroids, but in other incidence people
Growing up as an athlete I have experienced all of these issues. For the problem of competition I have played against kids that have cried during a game because a coach or parent was yelling at them because they weren’t playing good. Also I have seen kids fight on the same team because they wanted to win but one kid kept messing up, I have also got in fights with other teams during games. For corruption I have played against kids that were up to three years older than I and they lied because they wanted to win the tournament, also I have played in games where the referees lived in the own of the team we were playing against. When people think about America they think about the greatest country in the world, but in the essay I have written I showed you that sometimes America isn’t always what it seems to be. From my personal experiences to the information from the articles and films I believe there with always be issues in America and people will always have the side effect of being American, however not all of the side effects are negative ones.