The emergence of the "steroid scandal" in baseball is in many ways a joke. Any part-time follower of the sport could see this building over the last ten years. Its not a new problem, its a rather old problem that can no longer be ignored by sticking one's head in the sand. But since, as an issue, it will be all the rage for awhile I figured I'd make a few iconoclastic observations:
1) Sportswriters, who will be taking the lead and castigating baseball with a holier-than-thou attitude, in reality don't have much of a leg to stand on. Too many times, too many of these "journalists" have ignored the story. Time after time we were told by some sportswriter that Barry Bond's puffing up after he turned 35 to the extent that he looked like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade balloon, was nothing all that exceptional. They have engaged in too much willful ignorance for too long to be believable as critics at this point.
2) People should just forget about taking away Barry Bond's Home Run record. You just cannot do it. Bond's has already tarnished his record so badly that no one will take it seriously, ever. That is more than damage enough. And what if you did take it away from him? Are we really sure that Mark McGwire's "record" is a clean one?
3) If you really wanted to take something away from Bonds, take away his MVP's. Those were something he took away from other honest players that they can never get back.
4) If MLB doesn't actually make sweeping changes, and I mean sweeping changes, I hope Sen. McCain doesn't back down and slaps baseball around something good.
5) Someone should throw the Boston Red Sox out of Major League Baseball. Maybe make them a Class A minor league farm club of the Yankees. (Sorry, that doesn't have anything to do with the steroid scandal. Its more of a general principle.)
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