"I never heard about it."
That's what Bud Selig had to say back in February, 2005 about steroid use in baseball in the 90's and early 00's.
That's right, the man in charge of a professional sports league had no idea what was going on under his nose. He was also still the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers during that time and is a self-proclaimed baseball fanatic. Loves the game, watches all the time.
And he didn't know anything? He never got word from his scouts, his General Manager or anyone else that something funny was going on around the game?
You know what's really scary?
I believe him.
That's because NOBODY talked about steroid use publicly. The Commissioner didn't. The owners didn't. The General Managers didn't. The coaches and managers didn't. The "clean" players didn't. Heck, even retired coaches, managers, players, scouts and front office executives kept the mouths shut.
They're all guilty.
The weight of this scandal is not solely on the shoulders of home runs hitters like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez.
What about all the cheating starting pitchers who recovered better from start to start, had their "A-game" more often and had the stamina to maintain a high level of performance deeper into games?
What about all the cheating relievers who recovered faster from day to day, had their "A-game" more often and had that extra 2-3 MPH they needed to finish a batter off late in a game?
What about all the smaller, speedy defensive types who were able to stay healthier longer, keep their legs fresher and perhaps chase down a handful of baseballs they otherwise wouldn't have gotten to?
The fact of the matter is that the ENTIRE GAME was compromised as was anyone who was a part of the game in any way, shape or form. That includes people like me who work in the media, by the way.
I'm tired of late-coming hypocrites like Roy Oswalt blasting A-Rod from afar while he had cheaters in his own clubhouse all this time. Where is his anger for them? Where was this bile when it comes to Roger Clemens?
Is it only wrong if some guy you don't like gets caught?
Everyone's to blame and to go deeper than that is foolishness. Leadership failed, the union failed and the media failed.
Seems pretty simple to me.
Today Selig told the Associated Press that A-Rod had "shamed the game."
Yes he did.
But he had a lot of help from other cheaters, co-conspirators and enablers.
You fit in there somewhere, Mr. Commissioner.
KW
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You know what, I believe Alex Rodriguez when he says he didn't know what he was taking too. If he was desperate to live up to his expectations, as he said he was, he probably just took whatever, hoping to give him a boost, not really with regard to the label.
ReplyDeleteI can see how that happens. Some person, probably in the fitness industry, says "Take this, it works" and the player does it.
ReplyDeleteBody builders always know what they're putting into their bodies, but baseball players aren't as into that as some people seem to think.
I saw it with creatine in college - a couple of guys used it, told other guys about it and pretty soon half the team was using it. Now, that was legal and the roids A-Rod used were illegal (w/o a prescription) but it's the same principle.
The whole steroid debate has bothered me for quite some time. Now that it has hit A-rod, who I think will become the best ever, I'm going to start speaking out wherever I can. First, at the end of the day, sports are entertainment. A lot of people make a great living off of entertaining me and my family, and we pay for it dearly. Whether it is a ten dollar movie ticket, a forty dollar PPV of UFC, or an eighty dollar football ticket, it is still entertainment. If someone wants to juice up his or her body to increase my entertainment value by hitting more homeruns, or more people, or more people harder, then so be it. In A-Rod's case, I get more value from the ten dollar ticket I buy to the royals-yankees game for sure (and so does Mr. Glass). Second, you have to look at steroids, HGH, or any other performance enhancing substance as a technological innovation in the same light as a mizuno fielders glove compared to the pillow that Ty Cobb used, or The Tommy John surgery he was fortunate enough to get that Ty Cobb couldn't (if he needed it). To say that there should be two record books ignores the introduction of all of the other technological innovations that fundamentally impacted the game, and its statistics. How about lighted fields in the early 1900s, astro turf in the 1960s, I can go on and on. Third, steroids are not illegal if a doctor prescribes them. So let the pros use these technological innovations, under their doctor's supervision legally, to increase my entertainment value.
ReplyDelete