[SPORTS ★★]
JENRRY MEJIA PERMANENTLY BANNED FROM BASEBALL FOR DRUG USE
(P1) Jenrry Mejia is 26 years old. With any kind of luck at all, that leaves him with a lot of life left, and with any kind of PRUDENCE, he would have had a long baseball career left.
(P2) He grew up in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, where he shined shoes for a few pesos at a time. He discovered baseball at 15, found he was good at it, and began to understand that it could be his career.
(P3) He was in the major leagues with the New York Mets at 20. He was a regular in their BULLPEN at 24. He was suspended twice after testing positive for PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS [PEDS] at 25. And on Friday afternoon, at 26 years old, Jenrry Mejia became the first player in professional baseball to be banned for life because of a third positive test.
(P4) In a period of 10 months, Mejia tested positive for Stanozolol, and was suspended for 80 games; then tested positive for both Stanozolol and Boldenone, and was suspended for 162 games; and then tested for Boldenone again and was permanently disqualified.
(P5) He probably would have been the Mets’ CLOSER. He would have made millions of dollars.
(P6) Instead, he will have a hard time pitching anywhere. The professional leagues in Japan, Korea, and Mexico all have agreements with Major League Baseball, and will honor the ban.
(P7) Mejia can apply for REINSTATEMENT here in two years, but it is highly unlikely to be granted.
(P8) So what kind of a young man is BUSTED for STEROIDS, twice, and while serving each of those suspensions is busted again for using the same drugs? Mejia, as of Friday, was six months from pitching in a big-league game. Why take illegal drugs now? Or, maybe, why do those drugs linger in him still?
(P9) Maybe he is that FOOLISH, that SHORTSIGHTED, that RECKLESS. Maybe he is that INSECURE. That FRAGILE.
(P10) Maybe he believed that everything – the fastball, the big-league life, the big-league paycheck, and his entire professional future – depended not on his talent, but on those drugs.
(P11) The Mets, through a statement, would only say they were “deeply disappointed” to learn of Mejia’s VIOLATION. Now they’ll MOVE ON.
(P12) While the simplest and quite understandable reaction is to wonder how a grown man could make such a dumb decision – three times – you may also ask why he would choose to kill his own career. That’s nobody else’s problem today, of course. Just his. And he’ll have an AWFULLY long time to think about it.
WORDS: 429
SOURCE: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/jenrry-mejia-a-major-leaguer-at-20–banned-for-life-at-26-003952536.html
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- Why do people make stupid decisions?
- Why do rich, famous, and talented people seem to make more stupid decisions than other people?
- Have any athletes in your country gotten into trouble recently?
- Are professional athletes paid too much?
EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:
What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation:
- Performance-enhancing drugs
- Move on
