What motivated Mick Johnson is that he got stopped at the one yard line at the champion ship game. By Mick Johnson getting stopped his team lost the champion ship title. During the offseason Mick started going to the gym and had his own personal trainer. His trainer Derek convinced him into taking steroids. The purpose of him taking steroid was to make him an overall better football player. In Mick’s freshman year he was such an overall good player that he made varsity running back in his freshman year. In the championship game his team lost and he thought the loss was his fault.
He thought that he wasn’t good enough or strong enough. Mick thought by going to the gym and having his own personal trainer he could lift weights and do anything he needed to do get him stronger. His trainer Derek convinced him into taking steroids wouldn’t do any damage to him and that it would only make him better and help him with his future football career. I can identify myself with Mick Johnson in different ways. If I was in a championship game and my team lost because I got stopped a yard short from winning the championship game I would feel the same as Mick felt.
I would feel as if I wasn’t good enough and would get down on myself. We both have similar desires in getting better and being the best in any sport that I play. When I do something I like I always try to be my best and put 100% effort into whatever is that I want to achieve. One way that Mick Johnson and I are different is when he decided to take steroids. At that time he knew that by taking steroids he would be cheating. I don’t cheat; I’d rather practice a lot so that I could get better.
Three minor characters that added feeling to the story are Peter Volz, Mike Johnson, and Drew. Peter Volz was Mick’s personal trainer from the gym. He had a huge impact on the feeling from the story. Peter was the one who convinced Mick to take steroids and that it would only help him with his future in his football career. Peter told Mick it would help him for high school and also in the future, when all it would do is make him good for a short period of time and ruin his future football career and his life. Mike Johnson is Mick’s dad. He also gave feeling to the story.
He always pushed him to being one of the best and was like his coach. His dad is the one who got him into football and helped him with everything. If it wasn’t for his dad he would have maybe never taken steroids, because his dad was the one who got him into the gym. Drew was one of Mick’s best friends. Drew was the one who caught Mick taking steroid and performance enhancing drugs. He notice that during the middle of the game he would always go in his bag to inject himself and he noticed that he always made sure that he let no one go in his bag.
If it wasn’t for Drew maybe Mick would have never shot himself. The central conflict in the book is that Mick Johnson is taking steroids and he doesn’t realize how it will ruin his future football career. Peter Volz convinced him to take steroids and tells him that many people that go to the gym take steroids, get stronger, and that it doesn’t affect your health. He knew that if he got caught taking steroids it would end his career, and would not make it anywhere past high school football. Football was mostly Mick Johnson’s life.
In his sophomore year at a playoff game before the game he went to go inject him XTR to give him energy to play and make him stronger, it could also cause anger and depression. In the 4th quarter his team was down by 4 points and needed a touchdown to win the game. There was less the 10 seconds left on the clock and it was fourth and goal the last play of the game. They hand the ball off to their running back Mick Johnson and a linebacker of Foothill high tried to stop him but came up short and Mick Johnson ended up scoring the game winning touchdown.
Shilshole high school made it to the state playoff game and there was no doubt without Mick Johnson that they wouldn’t have won it. When Mick got home he wanted to put the XTR into his safety closet and dug threw his bag and noticed that it wasn’t there. Drew called him and wanted to talk to him. They met at the park and Drew showed him the needle and the drug. He told him he was going to tell the coach and his football career would be over. Mick tried to stop him and pulled a gun out of his pocket and threatened to shoot him. Drew didn’t care and knew he wasn’t going to shoot his best friend.
As Drew was leaving Mick put the gun to his head and he pulled the trigger. It turned out that only a twitch kept him alive and only grazed his head when he shot himself. Mick went to therapy for 3 weeks. Mick Johnson is left wondering if he’ll continue to be tempted by steroids. I learned lots of things from this book Gym Candy. I learned that cheating is not the right way, because it could always come back to you. For example, Mick cheated by using steroids and it caused him depression and almost ended up killing himself. Another thing I learned is what you want and what you get aren’t always the same.
Mick Johnson couldn’t stand being and average football player he always wanted to be one of the best. The only thing what got him to be better was steroids; he would have never been as good as he wanted without. The last thing I learned was stay around positive people. Mick Johnson should have stuck with his friend Drew he was a hard worker and he never cheated and was determined to get better. Instead he chose to be around his trainer Peter Volz who gave him steroids instead of giving him what to do so he can get in better condition and stronger.
