Steroids, HGH and baseball
Look, enough about which baseball players may or may not have utiliized Steroids, HGH or other muscle building supplements in the past. The Mitchell report has single handedly become one of the greatest sweeping generalization vehicles ever (EVER)…in my humble, warped opinion and here’s why:
1. The report’s main intent should have been to point out that steroids and hgh are a problem in baseball, decisions need to be made, programs implemented, continuing analysis done and subsequent adjustments to said programs installed as needed. This is prototypical problem analysis and corrective action theory. However, the reports main intent, as more information comes out, is now seemingly to find and accuse many baseball players of steroid, hgh and supplement abuse. Keep in mind that most of this information is coming from two convicted felons, that now face lesser sentences because of their willingness to talk to Big George and his crony steroid chasing group. If a difference was really the objective, names would never have been included in this report. We now are left with a report that tells us who was involved, rather than what was happening and what a solution may be.
2. Let’s see, while steroids have been illegal for sometime, baseball didn’t have a policy of checking for steroids until what, last year? This being the case, why should I care what two convicted felons say about administering and selling steroids / hgh to ball players in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005? If it wasn’t against the rules, why is this a legitimate article for debate. In my compliance driven world, don’t even think about bringing a final report to the table that has a mere mention of anything outside of rock solid REQUIREMENTS.
3. With a report that contains little to no objective evidence, why is it given so much credence? In a society that says, "you must provide me objective evidence for a decision to be made," how is it that the mainstream media is allowed to take a subjective, heresy laced report in order to make statements which mimic reality? Over the last week, I have watched several hours of television, read several articles in the papers and on the internet, and entertained many arguments from my co-workers regarding the Mitchell sham, and it just blows me away, that we as a society are so willing to throw someone’s good reputation away as a result of a mere accusation. The reports I see on TV speak as though the players mentioned in the report have actually been found guilty in a court of law for using banned substances. Excuse me, a small reminder here: there is NO fact in this report. It is all subjective testimony, and again, most of it from two convicted felons.
4. I can now safely say, I’m done! Don’t care, quite frankly. Give me some facts, show me test results done in a controlled envrionment, show me evidence, tell me the exact problem, then do something different and give me the solution. It’s real easy to identify a problem: any goofball can do that. Give me a solution….put some time in on coming up with a real answer, please. And for God’s sake, if you’re going to grandstand and say that you are here to make a real difference, come through for me. Don’t engage in taking names and making accusations: nothing good ever comes from that approach.
And that’s all I have to say on the matter……………..or is it? Potentially to be continued.
December 19, 2007 at 6:50 am
Totally agree. If anything the report shows people how effective these drugs are. They are achieving the opposite of their goals with this report, not to mention the fact that they are stating the obvious. Next they will come out with a report on pro wrestling and try and tell us they use steroids too! (Or even worse, they might come out with a list of pro wrestlers who are really acting!)
December 19, 2007 at 6:54 am
It’s a witch hunt. Logic does not apply. If I’d paid more attention, I’d rant but to be truthfull, the whole thing smacked of finger pointing and blameshifting from the get go.
We as the public, demand to be entertained with spectacular feats of athletic performance and under the pressure of these expectations, athletes will go to any lengths to deliver. Owners, managers, agencies don’t want to shake the foundation of their revenues so they look the other way. Now that steriod use is the topic of the week, we need someone to blame for these infringements.
In the end, everyone shares some responsibility for why professional sports are at the state where this has become so common. We’re not concerned with how it got that way…we just need someone to take the fall.
Just my take,
Dave
December 19, 2007 at 7:15 am
They actually "outlawed" steroids back in 2002 and HGH 2005, but the testing rules were so transparent and relaxed that only the true idiots would ever test positive for the stuff. I agree with your frustration with the report. Baseball as a whole is at fault for this mess. Owners, players/managers, the system. This whole thing has been very predictable since the get-go. Now it has been politicized to the nth degree which means they’ll go nowhere very slowly. Enough talk, just play the games and clean up your act MLB!
December 19, 2007 at 8:21 am
I dont watch much baseball….all those bats and no one hits anyone with them…lol I really lost my tatse for Baseball back when daryle Strawberry popped positive for the 3rd time for cocain and was still playing! I thought it was a sick message to send to our youth! I also dont think there is a person alive…worth millions a year to play a sport…. when we have servicemen and women making peanuts a year to defend our freedom….. to even have such a game!
December 19, 2007 at 12:09 pm
It all comes down to being proactive, not reactive about the problem, right? I mean the media AND the organizations use all the focus, time, effort and money on hunting those that have already confessed to the use or the ones under suspicion. But most of the time that process will take many months and sometimes years, and in the meantime a dozen other guys have done the exact same thing. In Europe the Tour De France is THE topic when it comes to doping. Each year so many names get dragged through the mud being accused of using illegal substances (some with reasonable doubt). Last year there was this rider called Michael Rasmussen who was the inevitable winner of the Tour De France. But a few days before the last stage, he was accused of doping .. or more specifically he had not told his whereabouts to the anti doping authorities a couple of months before the race. Now this was a known fact before the Tour De France 2007 even started, but still the media made such a big deal out of it, his team didn’t feel they had any choice but to pull him out of the race. Now there you have a bitter man! He lost his gold medal (and yellow jersey) just because of some suspicion. In the aftermath he has had trouble entering other competitions as well because his name is smothered by rumors.
Instead of going on a witch hunt they aught to find out how to get the doping out of the sport. Giving severe fines or penalties to offenders won’t keep others from doing the same thing.
December 19, 2007 at 12:50 pm
How did it even come to this? How impotent are baseball’s leaders? MLB needs a NHL style shut down were all the issues get put on the table and corrected.
15 losing season and counting for my hometown Bucs!
December 19, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Sorry Big KM, but I would suppose 15 losing seasons for the Bucs is better than being a fan of the rebuilding since 1957, Detroit Lions.
December 23, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Well as for it not being against the rules I believe it was but the testing and penalty’s were nothing like todays policy’s being implemented. Are a lot of the names in the report those of former juicers? I don’t know and for most of the names we will never know since not all the players will have linkable evidence confirming it other than he said she said. The main reason why steroid usage is so big now is obviously because the major records in the game are being challenged and beaten by possible unfair advantages. I do not want to see a user in the hall of fame EVER nor does anybody else. It is not a surprise that big names are on the list but as much as I am a fan of Roger Clemens for example … somehow I would not be shocked if something came out. The main person who has caused bad feelings for himself though is Bonds because of how he treats people and I do believe he used some sort of performance enhancing drug.