College Football Playoff

Every single year, regardless of what teams it is, there is a never ending debate as to who should be in the College Football National Championship game. No matter who gets picked, somebody always gets left out. Whoever it is, is never happy. Of course there can be an argument to pick any given team to make the championship, but the committee can only pick two. There are going to be several teams every year who have the pedigree and credentials to make the championship game, so often times picking only two is nearly impossible. However, finally after many years, we have ushered in the age of the College Football Playoff system, comprised of four teams to battle it out for the championship. 

Down in the south, college football is the most important thing to people. They live and die by their TV every Saturday watching their favorite teams. A loss is devastating and the season is on the line every game. Rivalries get personal in real life off of the field. Young athletes dedicate their lives trying to get a scholarship to the top program. Real life friends are lost and made over rivalries such as Alabama vs. Auburn. Down south, college football is more important than the NFL, and often comes in at one of the most important things in the peoples’ lives.The fanatics are crazy over the sport. They plan their lives off of their favorite team, and it is insane. For example, in Alabama, Crimson Tide fans are not welcomed around Auburn fans. They genuinely dislike each other, no matter what type of person they are. People are judged by what team they root for. 

The NCAA deciding to implement the four team playoff system was a great idea. Bowl games effect communities and even states, and it goes way beyond just the teams playing. With four teams all getting a shot to play for the title, the idea works very well. There is much less of a chance for a team to get left out that should have made it. However, now the debate will move onto if a team or two got snubbed from being in the tournament. This year, Alabama, Oregon, FSU, and Ohio State will play for it. It will be argued all the way up until the last game whether or not teams like TCU and Baylor should have made it over a team like Ohio State. Regardless, with the new setup, the committee has a much larger chance of getting the decision correct and winning public approval. This year, they most certainly got the decision correct. The four teams selected are all very deserving. In addition, it would have been nearly impossible to pick just two of them to play for the championship. The new playoff system should definitely have been made years ago by the NCAA.

Roid Rage

            Steroids in professional sports are extremely commonplace nowadays, probably too common. Unfortunately, it is at the point where steroids are used not only in professional sports, but youth and high school sports, also. The blame for that cannot go one hundred percent on the athletes. Of course the athlete is the one who directly takes the substance, the people around them and higher up in society need to do more to prevent any use of it at all. It is very unfortunate, but far too many athletes can get away with it. Sadly, they do not entirely understand the vast consequences that arise from taking such a terrible substance. The effects of steroids may pay off momentarily for a player, but the long term consequences are ruthless, and what players fail to understand is what hurts them.

            First and foremost, the biggest dangers of steroid use come physically. While there can be some upside, the dangers entirely outweigh the benefits. They believe that just by taking the substance, they will perform better, and that is the only thing that will happen to them. To young athletes, it is understandable that they would not know how bad they are for them. A college or high school kid could think, “Hey, here is something that can make me stronger and faster and help me do better”. Their ignorance to the matter will also prevent them from doing further research, so they will not know the consequences. Steroids cause a great deal of both liver and kidney damage. They increase the risk for heart attack by increasing blood pressure and cholesterol. They harm the immune system, thus putting people at a higher risk for infections and diseases. In addition, while it is believed that they make people faster and better athletically, they harm bones and joints immensely, and decrease the flexibility. Aside from all of these major issues, they cause a great deal of stomach and headaches, as well as a tremendous amount of facial and body acne. Physical dangers aside, the dangers emotionally are endless as well.

            The physical dangers of using steroids should be enough in it of themselves to prevent someone from using them, but the emotional are just as bad. While they can leave your body entirely decimated, they can literally ruin your mind. Someone may think they could bear the physical detriments on their body, but there’s no way they could live with those and the psychological pains. People who take steroids are extremely edgy, paranoid, and impatient, and they get frustrated with things and people very easily. They have frequent and severe mood swings, and are often times depressed. They become obsessed with themselves, and they are obsessed with food and their body. They constantly need to work out to reach a “perfect” body that they envision. However, they can never reach that image, and the physical stress they put themselves through will hurt them greatly. “Roid Rage” occurs as well, and people have extremely angry and violent outbreaks for no reason whatsoever. Steroids change an athlete’s physical build and their emotions.