You know there are problems when Australians start writing about baseball
Short post tonight because I'm a little short on time. Soon, I'll begin a look back at the 2002 negotiations that led to the current CBA, the contentions issues from the CBA (and the last three seasons), and some critiques of Bud Selig's term as commissioner.
Tonight, I want to focus on the steroid issue. Steroids in baseball seems to be a very divisive issue. For the mainstream media (a term I hate, by the way) and many bloggers, the steroid scandal has given us many reasons to be self-righteous about the game. We may have cheered Mark and Sammy in 1998, but in 2005, they were the immoral enemies of the game! For others sick of the hypocrisy and unclear just how the drugs affect the game, steroids are just another over-blown, over-played story the media is using to sell papers.
No matter how you personally look it, it's hard to ignore though that there is a problem and something must be done. Whether that something comes from Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and hisdrive toward the presidency efforts at ensuring federally-mandated drug penalties in sports or if that something comes from Bud Selig and players' union representative Donald Fehr (um, yeah, right), something is going to happen.
Meanwhile, as nothing happens, and Donald Fehr's promise of a new agreement by the end of the World Series slowly fades from memory, new stories are surfacing in this week's issue of ESPN: The Magazine that suggest maybe those in charge of the game knew about the steroid problem for much longer than we've been led to believe.
It seems that back in 1991, when baseball still had Fay Vincent, the last impartial commissioner, Vincent knew about and tried to ban steroids from the game. The Australian News summarizes ESPN's reporting:
I plan on blogging more about the ESPN reports as it relates to Selig's effectiveness as commissioner once I have time to read the articles. Right now, the demands of a real job have kept me fairly busy. But if an Australian newspaper finds the MLB steroid scandal newsworthy enough to print a story fraught with enough cross-cultural references to make it nearly comical, I think it's time for those in charge in baseball, both from Selig's office and from the Players' Union to step up and take charge.
At the very least, fans deserve the facts. We should know which players have long been setting bad examples as drug-using role models for the millions of children who have desired to be in their shoes. Self-righteous indignation or not, the game must be purged. If the Commissioner's office cannot reach out to the Players' Association, it's time for someone else to do so. Is that a failing of Selig's? That really depends upon if he knew years ago about steroids and did nothing to stop the spread of the drugs because it would have cut down on the game's popularity and revenue stream in the years following the 1994-1995 work stoppage. But for now, MLB must solve this problem. We can point fingers later.
Tonight, I want to focus on the steroid issue. Steroids in baseball seems to be a very divisive issue. For the mainstream media (a term I hate, by the way) and many bloggers, the steroid scandal has given us many reasons to be self-righteous about the game. We may have cheered Mark and Sammy in 1998, but in 2005, they were the immoral enemies of the game! For others sick of the hypocrisy and unclear just how the drugs affect the game, steroids are just another over-blown, over-played story the media is using to sell papers.
No matter how you personally look it, it's hard to ignore though that there is a problem and something must be done. Whether that something comes from Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and his
Meanwhile, as nothing happens, and Donald Fehr's promise of a new agreement by the end of the World Series slowly fades from memory, new stories are surfacing in this week's issue of ESPN: The Magazine that suggest maybe those in charge of the game knew about the steroid problem for much longer than we've been led to believe.
It seems that back in 1991, when baseball still had Fay Vincent, the last impartial commissioner, Vincent knew about and tried to ban steroids from the game. The Australian News summarizes ESPN's reporting:
ESPN's Who Knew? story found that MLB tried to banish steroids as early as 1991 and again in 1997, long before record-setting home run levels by star sluggers that sceptics now see as tainted by drugs.
The report said that in 1991, a steroid supplier claims to have had as many as 20 baseball clients and former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent wrote about the growing problem and what had to be done.
I plan on blogging more about the ESPN reports as it relates to Selig's effectiveness as commissioner once I have time to read the articles. Right now, the demands of a real job have kept me fairly busy. But if an Australian newspaper finds the MLB steroid scandal newsworthy enough to print a story fraught with enough cross-cultural references to make it nearly comical, I think it's time for those in charge in baseball, both from Selig's office and from the Players' Union to step up and take charge.
At the very least, fans deserve the facts. We should know which players have long been setting bad examples as drug-using role models for the millions of children who have desired to be in their shoes. Self-righteous indignation or not, the game must be purged. If the Commissioner's office cannot reach out to the Players' Association, it's time for someone else to do so. Is that a failing of Selig's? That really depends upon if he knew years ago about steroids and did nothing to stop the spread of the drugs because it would have cut down on the game's popularity and revenue stream in the years following the 1994-1995 work stoppage. But for now, MLB must solve this problem. We can point fingers later.
posted by The Commish at
12:05 AM
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