 |
The Benefit of Having No Doubt
One fan's reaction to Major League Baseball's steroid epidemic
One benefit we all have as fans of professional sports is that we are not required to withhold our judgment. We don’t need to deliberate or wait patiently at the hands of a judge and jury. We scoff at a 409-page informational brochure written by some man who would be better suited solving our country’s more immediate, pressing problems. Simply put, we have no need for a congressman, who suddenly cares about the integrity of the game, to tell us there’s something terribly wrong with our nation’s pastime.
The mere notion that steroids and other performance-enhancing substances could be playing a part in our recent baseball culture was enough to create concern. Rumors carrying so much weight and disastrous consequences do not just appear out of thin air. And, now that our suspicions have been publicly validated by the Mitchell Report, we, the fans, have the luxury of withholding nothing. Let fly, I say. After all, these are people we have spent nearly our entire childhood and adult lives idolizing. Luckily, our children won’t have to endure the pain of praising convicted cheaters.
More unnerving than learning the names of the 86 players who were indicted in Mitchell’s report is the undeniable fact that the report left out a considerable amount of other professionals who have committed the same crime; faceless, soulless “professional baseball players” whose identities will likely never be learned.
Buy MLB hats & merchandise including baseball Fatheads & MLB game tickets online at DFN Sports sites. |
And because I can point the finger of blame only in one direction at a time, I will forever reserve the right to single commissioner Bud Selig out as the main culprit. Whether Selig is an extremely gifted actor, or he really is as dumb as he looks, conventional wisdom tells you the problem could have and should have been dealt with years ago. Selig was put in a position to quell the concerns at the outset of this travesty in 2003, when investigations surrounding the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) were initiated on suspicions owner Victor Conti was supplying superstars the likes of Barry Bonds and others with illegal substances. But he did not act. But, then again, why would he? All things considered, it was his own device that created America’s renewed love affair with the game, following the strike of 1994. An offensive brand of baseball began driving television ratings and putting rear ends in the seats. As long as the sport over which Selig presided was profiting so was he. And baseball, as a business, was thriving. But, as a game, it was dying.
It took the failure of an elementary testing program and a second intervention on the part of Congress to bring Selig back to reality. The integrity and pride which resides in the game of baseball will forever outweigh the money it generates. And steroids, HGH and whatever other products players were-or should I say are- utilizing to gain an edge continue to jeopardize those virtues. Make no mistake about it- the integrity of Major League Baseball is forever tarnished. It will never be the same, and we, the fans, have to pay the price.
Professional athletes often refer to what they do as a “privilege” and not a “job.” If they wanted a job, they would join the real world, like the rest of us. But these athletes are the chosen few who are lucky enough to have been bestowed with great gifts that allow them to elevate their craft to heights the rest of us can seldom fathom. Even more, these chosen few are given the opportunity to turn these skills into million-dollar paydays. However, we are only envious when greatness is achieved without illegal help. We deserve to see excellence take place on a fair and even playing field. It takes hard work and dedication to achieve true role model status. But it takes nearly an instant to become something far less, something society loathes and despises.
After all this, how am I possibly expected to attend another game with my own hard-earned money not knowing if every player on the field has not cheated at one time or another? I can’t. Eight dollars for a beer? Four and a quarter for bottled water? Why don’t I just send my wages in the form of a donation in care of Bud Selig to be deposited in some sort of post-Steroid Era survivor fund? In the coming years that will be the aftermath of this very much unforgettable era, MLB officials (aka. the owners) will continue to ask the fans to spend money and support the game that we have loved so much for so long. But imagine what would happen next if we suddenly fell out of love with the game of baseball and instead opted to support those things in life that represented everything good about our country. Baseball did that once. Never again.
by Ryan Faller
DFN Sports Staff Writer
> More MLB baseball news articles from ProBaseball-fans.com