five strikes you're out
my co-workers were glued to their tv's yesterday screaming and yelling at the ncaa tournament while i was glued to espn news watching the mlb hearings. as the sports trades noted today one thing is clear, "mark mcgwire's legacy is forever tarnished." what a fucking idiot that guy is. he is a jock, it's true. he's not paid to think/speak/dredge up the past, but still. he basically said, "the past is dead to me. let us never speak of it again."
the mlb lawyers though, they're a whole other bag of tricks. they aren't evil in that way of the "new york lawyer," no, they're the midwest lawyer evil. the one who says, "oh, you big new york lawyers, we don't know about such-and-such..." but is stabbing you in the back.
the mlb people were so cavalier. congress was not having it. waxman called them on their shit. it's great. if the players were doing an unfashionable drug like heroin or crack -- something that didn't make baseball more money (like so-called "performance enhancing drugs") mlb would've put the smack down on the drugs a long time ago. the fact is, not only are the players doing banned (not allowed in mlb) substances, they're doing outright ILLEGAL substances and mlb seems to think they're above the law. the players are either playing dumb or are dumb. but congress is over their bullshit. "the past is the past. i don't want to talk about it." to congress!
the problem is that if you're using illegal drugs as part of your business (baseball), you are implicitly telling kids you have to do drugs to be pro. not to mention all those cases of high school boys committing suicide because steroids make you crazy, as we well know. oh and not to mention what happens to your players in 5 years. or later that night when in a roid-rage he beats his wife/kids/boyfriend.
the fact that their whole business is based on bigger, faster, better is the engine driving this. they are killing the players for money, basically. i mean, that's kind of dramatic, but it comes down to the fact that a juiced up player hits them out of the park. if he's small, it's not as interesting. the congress wants them to take a stance similar to the nba, nfl, olympics, etc. but mlb is giving them all kinds of bullshit double-talk.
and this, america's pastime.
the mlb players' association says a player gets 5 chances. break the law 5 times and we'll reprimand you. congress wants them to have one violation and they're benched for two years. a second and they're done. like the olympics.
the mlb lawyers though, they're a whole other bag of tricks. they aren't evil in that way of the "new york lawyer," no, they're the midwest lawyer evil. the one who says, "oh, you big new york lawyers, we don't know about such-and-such..." but is stabbing you in the back.
the mlb people were so cavalier. congress was not having it. waxman called them on their shit. it's great. if the players were doing an unfashionable drug like heroin or crack -- something that didn't make baseball more money (like so-called "performance enhancing drugs") mlb would've put the smack down on the drugs a long time ago. the fact is, not only are the players doing banned (not allowed in mlb) substances, they're doing outright ILLEGAL substances and mlb seems to think they're above the law. the players are either playing dumb or are dumb. but congress is over their bullshit. "the past is the past. i don't want to talk about it." to congress!
the problem is that if you're using illegal drugs as part of your business (baseball), you are implicitly telling kids you have to do drugs to be pro. not to mention all those cases of high school boys committing suicide because steroids make you crazy, as we well know. oh and not to mention what happens to your players in 5 years. or later that night when in a roid-rage he beats his wife/kids/boyfriend.
the fact that their whole business is based on bigger, faster, better is the engine driving this. they are killing the players for money, basically. i mean, that's kind of dramatic, but it comes down to the fact that a juiced up player hits them out of the park. if he's small, it's not as interesting. the congress wants them to take a stance similar to the nba, nfl, olympics, etc. but mlb is giving them all kinds of bullshit double-talk.
and this, america's pastime.
the mlb players' association says a player gets 5 chances. break the law 5 times and we'll reprimand you. congress wants them to have one violation and they're benched for two years. a second and they're done. like the olympics.
posted by ninaberries at 11:57 AM
1 Comments:
The real problem with steroids isn't that they give an unfair advantage to a player. So does good nutrition, available weight training, good coaching, etc.
The problem is that the long-term side effects are so damaging, that many players won't make the trade-off between performance and years off their lives.
But what happens when advancements in the medication reduce or eliminate the side effects? What happens when steroids, or a similar substance, is as safe as Vitamin C?
What will sports look like then?
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