I know what you’re thinking, how many times can we banter back and forth about steroids before we realize it goes in continuous circles? Steroids have become an STD to the sports world, fast spreading with no solution. So far, the MLB has taken the biggest blow (Did the 500 foot homeruns or the constant record-breaking seasons tip someone off?). Canseco is writing a book while simultaneously going insane before our very eyes. Raffy P. (his rapper name derived from P Diddy of course) is wondering if he still has a shot at a full time career doing Viagra commercials. Bonds (gotta love this guy) conveniently misses the 2005 season due to a sudden physical breakdown, just as the ‘roids controversy reaches its zenith. To top it all off, every record that has been broken, or shattered, in recent years is now in question. So, that question that still remains: Who is to blame for this mess and, more importantly, who is responsible for cleaning it up? The majority of sports fans and baseball fans are quick to point their fingers at the players. “Shame on you! How dare you disgrace the American Pasttime! Don’t play dumb with us! After all, it’s not like someone held a gun to their head, right? They’re big boys and have the ability to make their own decisions, don’t they? My answer: Absolutely! Nothing could be closer to the truth. But hold that thought for just a moment. Maybe further investigation into this issue needs to be done. Maybe we were a little quick to shake our head in disgust at the players. Maybe there is more to this controversy than meets the eye.
Think about this for a moment: Back in the day (early 90’s let’s say) when Palmeiro was well on his way to joining the 3,000 hits club, was he following all the rules that baseball required him to live by? Yes. Did he do anything out of the ordinary during that time that would suggest a possible breach of those rules? Not that we know of. Was there any controversy surrounding Raffy that would lead us to believe he cheated in some way, shape, or form. Um, definitely not. To sum it up Raffy abided by every rule that was required of him and lived by the Bud Selig “Guide- to-A-Successful-Baseball-Career” book. But wait just a minute. The tables have turned now. All of a sudden, out of left field (pun intended), Selig, his cronies, and the entire Northern Hemisphere are taking a firm and strict stance against steroid use. Is this the same stance that existed when Palmeiro first came into the league? Or how about when he was doing his thing with Texas? Heck, how about when he joined the O’s in the not so distant past? The bottom line is that baseball is changing the rules mid-way through the game. Our own government is taking an interest in whether or not sports are being played fairly. Wondering if these athletes are impressing us with their natural abilities or with some pill with a fancy name. Therefore, baseball came to one conclusion: either we keep our guys under a microscope 24/7, or we will be answering to the top dogs in D.C. As a result, baseball is punishing some of its players (not all) for choices they made in the past that were perfectly legal (from a baseball standpoint) at the time.
Now, before you scream and holler at me, I am in no way supporting steroid use. It’s cheating, it’s a bad influence for young athlete’s, and it’s ruining sports as we know it etc. etc. All I’m saying is that the wrong people are being blamed. Don’t tell me that baseball was oblivious to what was going on right in their own backyard. Example: the ’99 All Star Game at Fenway Park-Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were both basking in the glory of potential career years at the midway point of the season. During the ever popular Homerun Derby, “Big Mac” decided to put on a show for the fans. 13 homeruns later, McGwire was in the record books. But tell me this: was there honestly one person in that entire stadium that didnt have that nagging thought in the back of their head: “Hmm, this guy has to be on the juice.” Come on, Boston fans aren’t retahded! The point is that McGwire hit a record setting 13 jacks right under the nose of Major League Baseball and they turned a cheek to it. In order to place the balme properly we must go to the source of the problem (Drum roll please…). That’s right, you guessed it: Baseball! Hate the game, not the playa.
10 replies on “Roids- Roids- and more Roids”
a little more length its good, i like it a lot but it needs some more length to it.
comment Pretty good article, but it’s kind of hard to read. You could try spacing it out more, separating it into more paragraphs maybe.
Eagles2k0 what the hell are you talking about, “need more length”. There is no set rule that says an article needs to be a certain length, and anyways it was over 750 words. That is long enough for me.
Anyways I liked the article and thought you had good ideas, I normally would not have voted for this article becuase of the spacing, but i think that by me voting for it you will end up doing it anyway.
help me out here… ok so do you want me to double space the article or space out the paragraphs or what. give me more feedback, im a rookie
i give up for some reason it wont let me space it out, it just returns to the regular form. my apologies
here All you have to do is chage the format to Auto Format, and then space the paragraphs out on the editing story setting
like this
see
how
my words are spaced out
thats all you gotta do, anyways im glad you joined the site
Steroids talked-about And the prize for the most over-talked about topic goes to…..
Great article, man, but this topic’s been beaten to death.
not too sure about saying baseball should shoulder all the blame. last time i checked, they weren’t handing out juice at batting practice. if that is your argument, blame the endorsements, their mothers for not giving them a good clip around the ear hole and last, but not least, we the fans. i’d argue the over-inflated sense of fan expectation may also have something to do with it. no fans, no interest, no moolah. i, too, love over-simplifications
Innocent Until PROVEN Guilty…? Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence? We put athletes on a pedestal for doing the things that bring us to the stadium, while crying about them being paid handsomely for the same performances.
Who knows for a fact that steroid use will make a hitter who would otherwise strike out hit one out of the park? Better yet, who knows for a fact that a singles hitter would become a home run hitter simply by using steroids? Barry Bonds was right when he said that steroid use will never improve a batter’s hand-eye coordination or timing. Will steroid use enable a hitter to distinguish a 95mph fastball from a 90mph changeup in time to react from 60 feet away? I think these are the main ingredients to home run hittings.
I’m not for steroid usage by any means, but I’m not sure it’s cheating…in baseball. For it to be cheating, there would have to be a tangible benefit from it’s usage and I don’t see that. I’m against steroid usage because it’s unhealthy, plain and simple.
And someone tell me how a professional athlete’s using steroids will influence youngsters when those same youngsters don’t have any contact with the users in question. Are we accusing Barry Bonds and Rafael Palmiero of distributing steroids on the school yard?
beat a dead horse Definitely a played-out topic, but a pretty well written article. At the end however, instead of talking about the 13 derby homers, why not the record setting season of homers? that would’ve been a better example. But good job.