There are a ton of posts that I want to write this week: Lauding the Spurs for their huge win over the Celtics, thoughts on the all-star game and my favorite niche competition the Slam Dunk Contest, sadly writing an obituary for the inevitable NIT berth of ND basketball, NBA trade rumor chicanery...just tons of options. Hopefully I will get to some of them. But right now the major story in sports is the realization that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and I can't get it out of my mind.
A little background is required here. While my mind is now far more concerned with NCAA Football and the NBA, I grew up loving baseball. I played the game from the age of 5 all through high school. Baseball was my first sports love. Maybe it's because the only game I was ever somewhat decent at, maybe it's because I looked forward to summer every year when I would be able to check off a few more ballparks on the quest my Mom and I had to visit all of them some day, it could just be because there are few things I enjoy more than just sitting in the stands on a nice day and taking in everything a baseball game has to offer. For some reason, growing up, I always saw baseball as pure. Maybe it was the history of the game. Maybe it was the meticulousness that everything from the field to pre game BP to everyone on the team, coaches included, being in the same uniform, was treated with. Many people rip baseball for being boring. Honestly I can understand why some people would think that. The game has a slower pace than the other major sports. I mean, ostensibly a single game could last for eternity. Much like James Caan at the end of Rollerball, 2 teams have to play until somebody wins, there are no ties in baseball (F you Bud Selig). At the same time, I can see the beauty in a 1-0 pitchers duel, a perfectly turned 6-4-3 double play, or the fact that for my money a well hit home run is still the prettiest thing in sports. Baseball, when I was growing up was beautiful because it was pure...
This is why I get angry everytime another player is outed as a steroid user. None of the players who have been outed were people I particularly cared about. As an Atlanta Braves fan, none of my favorites, so far, have fallen victim to this ever growing trend. I take that back, David Justice did, but it happened when he was a Yankee, and after he beat Halle Berry he lost most of my love cause come on....Halle Berry. One of the main names that has gone under, Barry Bonds, is in my top 10 of most hated individuals in sports (A list I plan on writing at some point, ranking them in a 1-10 order would be impossible tho). The fact that these players are risking their health doesn't really matter at all to me. It's their bodies, if they want to deal with backne and losing their manhood, that's their call. My issue goes to the purity.
I realize at this point there are a few arguments that could be used against me. 1) Shut up you whiny purist, it's just a game, why do you care? 2) It doesn't teach you how to hit a 12-6 curve that drops off the table. 3) Why not just let everybody do it? 4) Doesn't mean Congress should get involved.
These are just a few that I can think of off the top of my head that I've heard. So, let's look at a few of em. As for the 1st one...Some people who are baseball fans don't care. That's fine, if they can look past it, that's great. For me, I just cant. When I say I enjoy the purity of the game, I dont mean to say I'm a "purist" in the way the term has been defined. While I love and respect the history of the game and hate things like the DH rule and interleague ball, I also realize that things can evolve and made better. The Wild Card was a fantastic addition. While I'm not a huge sabremetric stat head, I can see the value in VORP, etc and if people get more enjoyment out of the game that way, more power to them. I'd love to see replay instituted in some fashion, at least for fair/foul because if you have the tech, why not use it? That isn't the debate I'm trying to enter. My issue is, while there will always be differences in skill between the players, I believe that the players should all be on an even playing field. Someone like ARod, who didn't start using until he went to Texas, was already one of the best players in the game. With that skill already, you dont need this unfair advantage.
2)This brings me to the next argument. Many writers and fans bring up the fact that an injection can't help you hit a curveball. In some ways that true. However, one of the main reasons players take these steroids is so they can recover quicker from a workout. These workouts arent just bench presses, this includes things like BP. Have you ever gone out and taken 150 swings? It wears on the body, now add a ton more, plus conditioning, over a period lasting from at the very least, spring training in early March to as late as early November these days for the World Series. More reps, just in BP, will make you better. Steroids can help you take more reps, so in a way, taking steroids CAN in fact help you hit a curveball. Now, aside from that argument...steroids easily help you get stronger. Those drugs could mean the difference in a 315 foot homerun and a leaping catch at the wall by an outfielder. They could make your line drive fast enough to just be out of the reach of an infielder. There is no doubt that this leads to an unfair advantage.
3) There are also some out there who throw up their hands and say f it, we all love homeruns, we want players who are bigger, faster, and stronger, let em all juice. I've got a few issues with this logic. 1st off, steroids are illegal. I dont just mean against the rules of the game, cause for a long time they werent. I mean they are literally a controlled substance and you could be arrested for them. So there is easy answer #1. 2nd, while some players may be willing to take the physical risks for the benefits, that doesn't mean that all of them are. By allowing it, in order to compete you almost require it. This has a trickle down effect that I think is the most dangerous part of all. Baseball teams are built through their farm systems, tons of these players being drafted out of high school. If we know that all MLBers are juicing, why wouldn't high school players do it too. In order to have a chance theyd damn near have to. I know that seems paranoid, and I'm not going to be one of those taking it all the way down to middle schoolers, but it is a genuine worry. A shot at the bigs could be the difference between 14 and 16 HRs, as an up and comer who had built his life around the game, I can see why steroids would be an enticing route.
4) I absolutely agreee. Congress tendency to get into sports issues the last few years is absolutely ridiculous to me. Do your freaking jobs, let the sports do what they need to do.
I'm not going to lie, 23/24 (that's weird to type) year old me doesn't care as much. MLB is 4th in my mind these days in terms of amount I care about sports. Part of the reason why is all of this steroid nonsense. The Home Run chase between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire was one of the greatest spectacles in sport I had ever witnessed. Back then I tuned in for every single at bat for WEEKS between both of them. Sadly looking back I can't just accept it for what it was. It quit being about who was the better home run hitter and now just feels like who had the better supplier/stuff.
Like I said, I hate Bonds with a passion, and always have (Sid Bream owns you) yet he broke one of the most prolific records in sports that used to be held by one of my all time favs in Hank Aaron. A-Rod was the one hope that fans had of "taking the record back" from Bonds. Asterisk or not, Bonds still sits at #1 on the All time HR list. Alex is the only guy right now that statistically has a good shot at breaking it...but now he is just the same. I appreciated that he owned up to it. One reason I hate Barry as much as I do is because he has lied for so long, so many times about it. Look at guys like Giambi or Pettite who admitted to what they did, showed some remorse...people practically gave them a free pass. On the other hand a story came out today saying that Miguel Tejada was going to be charged for lying to Congress about his Steroid usage. (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3896877) Rodriguez will be fine, he is still young enough to have plenty of time left to keep playing at a high level. If we are to take him at his word, he has been clean since 03 and still been one of the top 2 players in the game. This post really doesn't have anything to do with Alex Rodriguez. This post is me trying to come to grips with the fact that the game of my youth, when I used to stay up as late as I could watching Braves games only to have my parents write the final score and put it on my door when I had to go to bed, has become nothing more than a guessing game of who's clean. The problem is the media can't get past it, the players can't get past it, so how can I?
Maybe I'm grossly overblowing the steroid thing, I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on the matter.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
This debate rages because baseball is the antithesis of a one night stand, a hail mary, or a Slam dunk. It is a long lasting love, scoured through the box scores on a daily basis, and to be watched in the context of a season's entirety. Hence the "A," as in Batting Average, and Earned Run Average; that meticulous expansion and contraction of a player's worth verified over the course of a season, and the course of a career. The numbers, as they say, don't lie.
And therein lies the problem. Steroids make the numbers lie, and the purity of the competition--not simply between home and away, pitcher and batter, but past and present--has become incomparable. This variable negates this head to head, and places baseball in the same playing field of the rest of the sports--the here and now. No longer are we in the context of America's past time. Steroids make this another firework soaked, orgasmic celebration of the quick fix--the home run. What was once simply another shortcoming of the American League, a longball mentality offense, is now an epidemic of the sport.
There is a reason we are blessed with 162 games, and a reason why winning the division is still revered in the Bigs--its plodding season provides a sample size that is the truth. So no, while steroids may have done a part to kill the past, we have (hopefully) corrected ourselves in the present.
The only thing left to correct now is our expectation, sadly leaving behind those who came before us, and stay with us enshrined in Cooperstown, to a realization that our lens must be sharpened to the spring, and the simplicity of the season. It is a new day in baseball, and as it has been and always will be, with Spring--hope springs eternal.
It makes me sad.
I'm really split as to whether or not I actually care about this issue. At first, I did, and it really bothered me. Now...I guess I've just become inured to it and have pretty much accepted that so many players were doing it, on both sides of the ball, that it just isn't important to me anymore.
I don't agree with people that say they should just let them do it because the argument about trickle-down to HS and AAU ball makes sense but as to the illegality of them, I look at that aspect the same way I look at Phelps getting caught smoking pot. If the criminal authorities want to do something about it, they can but I don't think the illegality should be that important from a baseball perspective.
Obviously this is different since its an integrity of the game issue but considering the evidence only proves what has been done prior to baseball instituting a rule against it (I'm not stupid, I know people were still doing it but no proof is no proof for now) they weren't doing anything that was against the rules. Also, I have an issue with the outrage that comes up when discussing steroid-users and the HOF while there was no/very little outrage when Gaylord Perry was elected in 1991 with 77% of the vote. He was a flagrant cheater throughout his entire career while doing something that was actually against baseball rules.
Basically what it comes down to is that this really has no impact on me. I still love baseball (#1 at least in terms of professional sports) and will continue to watch it all summer long, without any concern over the steroid issue.
I also am clearly not as much of a purist as you since I love the DH (although I'd rather both leagues just play by the same rules, either way) and while I think interleague play needs to be scaled back/adjusted, I enjoy watching the strange matchups (although not watching my pitchers hit).
Wow, that was rambling, sorry.
I normally don’t comment on these posts and usually just sit back and enjoy Eddy’s and others’ infinitely better writing skills. However (emphasis on the ever), I do wish to speak my peace.
First off, Eddy I agree with almost everything you had to say. And will not be commenting on that because it would be nothing more than mental masturbation to simply rephrase what you have said and tell you how much I agree with it. What I do not agree with is your argument that Congress does not need to get involved.
This is a sticky situation, where you have several differing groups all pushing for their own interests. The Players Union in effect does not even want to test for PED use. The owners, although they say they do, actually benefit from this no testing policy. Even with the down economy viewer ratings are up and people in the biz are making more than ever. The Commish and those associated with him are really the only ones (besides the hoy polloy public & the occasional pissed off congressman) who really are pushing for these tests. I mean we wouldn’t have even known about the A-Rod story if it hadn’t been leaked.
There is simply no motivation to enact stricter guidelines or testing procedures for the players of baseball. And, since Baseball affects inter-state commerce it would clearly be within the powers of Congress to regulate this industry. They are in the best position to force a regime of enhanced testing, enhanced sanctions, and enhanced transparency. Enhanced transparency of the entire process is critical. By forcing enhanced testing you circumvent the powers of both the Players Union and the Owners. By enacting enhanced sanctions you have a way of punishing these individuals more than just an apologetic news conference or ESPN interview, thus increasing deterrence through both Federal Civil and Criminal sanctions. And by forcing the Players Union, the Owners, and the Executive operations of baseball to publicly abide by Congressional standards through some kind of oversight/reporting procedure then you in effect force the entire system to become more uniform, fair, and encompassing.
Otherwise I love the Post,
Gibson
How much longer can you really be surprised to hear anybody did steroids? I no longer care. Everybody did them, probably, at some point or another - or at least too many for us to be naming them by name.
You've got to end the witch hunt. Call it The Steriods Era (maybe not your marketing campaign), stop outing everybody and just move on. Promote it as a healthier baseball - everybody would be happy. Especially the naive purists like yourself.
Post a Comment