All these commentators and reporters seem to have the same opinion on the steroid issue. Basically guys like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, A-Rod, etc. are evil and don't deserve the Hall of Fame because they took performance enhancers.
First I'd like to say they need to grow up and quit living in this make believe world where everything warm and cuddly is baseball. I think the nostalgia of being America's Past time has taken over the realism that since the beginning of baseball things haven't been as pure as these guys would like it to be. Heck the the big Shoeless Joe Jackson and Black Sox scandal dates back to 1919 or somewhere around there. Guys in baseball have always done anything to get an edge. Pitchers used all kinds of shady tricks to get an advantage and many of them are in the hall of fame. I don't see the difference between doing something to improve your body or doing something like rubbing some kind of substance on a ball to give it a funky spin or whatever. Both give an advantage.
Steroids have been around for along time, so who's to know if guys in the 70s and 80s weren't doping. I mean the Govenator and his pals in the Mr. Universe contest were using in that time period so obviously it was available. And let me make this clear, I love baseball and it doesn't bother me that these guys used performance enhancers. Why does it bother these other hypocrites? They are paid to be the best they can be and while maybe their judgement suffered when deciding to use, their goal are the same as any other athlete; to perform at the highest level.
If they are upset because of the health risk that is one thing, but that is rarely mentioned if ever when these guys rant and rave about it. It's some imaginary code they have. If baseball and other sports want to punish guys that get caught using now then I have no problem with that either. Players know the rules and if they get busted then there should be consequences. But during McGwire, Sosa, Bonds era, these things technically weren't illegal in the league. And lets be clear about another thing, Bonds and company hit hundreds of home runs because of their talent. Sure I'm not that naive to not know they hit more because they were stronger, but think about how many guys were using and then think about how many guys are in the 600+ club. Not many. Talent still has to account for something. These writers and commentators have no problem voting in known drug addicts and wife beaters, criminals, but heaven forbid a player used something to actually make himself a better ball player.
Keith Olbermann said these guys don't deserve to get in. Of course he also said based on stats and play alone that Pete Rose doesn't deserve to either, but Dale Murphy does. Remember I said based on play alone. Forget about the gambling and the betting on baseball. Pete Rose's stats which are far better than Dale Murphy's, Keith thinks Rose isn't worthy. That's what I'm talking about right there; this embodiment of self-righteousness for baseball which doesn't exist. If Rose hadn't done the things he did then Keith would have said something else I'm sure, but Rose violated the imaginary purity of baseball.
The hypocrisy of the media elite knows no bounds. They bitch and moan over guys who's only goal was to make themselves better. The means are clearly questionable, but not unforgivable. I mean to paint these guys as evil is extreme, but I guess that's what sells papers and drives ratings these days. Every reporter needs their villain whether that person deservers it or not. Keith Olbermann needs people put to on his worst people in the world list. These players are guilty all right, of being incredibly human. They were easily tempted to find an edge in a business where being on top is all that matters. And who created that glass ceiling? So to Jay Marriotti, Woody Paige, Bill Plaschke, Keith, and the rest of the whiny bitches I say, grow up, there are far more pressing things in this current world to be upset about. Maybe baseball fans and company should mimic the NFL which handles things slightly differently. They have a policy and if a player violates the substance abuse then they are fined and suspended. They don't create a bunch of hoopla about it and pretend it's anything other than what it is. But hey what do they know they're only the most popular professional sport in the country.
