Bah. I can't believe I'm sick when it's this hot out. It's 100 degrees and I have the fucking sniffles. It adds the element of ridiculousness to the runny nose/hacking cough cocktail I have brewing in my general face area. My legendary immune system has finally been defeated. It's time to start juicing.
Speaking of segues, I found myself in a little bit of a debate with some very cool baseball fans over at the Base Girl blog about steroids in baseball. It started out with a snarky comment by me about Gabe Kapler, which of course raised the hair on the backs of the necks of some of the die hard Sox fans.
While I find it interesting that we're finding out who is juicing and who isn't, the really entertaining part of this whole thing for me is witnessing the cascade of outrage and moral indignation of full grown adults. Like people won't cheat when millions of dollars are at stake. What - the CEOs of national corporations are cheating on their taxes? Noooooooooo! I love when the wounded inner 12-year old of the grown population rears its sad little head.
I've given it some thought and I have to look myself in the mirror and realize: if I were in the shoes of some of these players, I'd probably juice too. Think about it - there is a multi-million dollar contract based on your performance. You're competing against guys around you, who are openly using with NO consequences whatsoever. In fact, MLB is not only ignoring the steroid problem, but tacitly encouraging using by rewarding those who are hopped up.
Forget about the superstars. Say I'm a borderline, journeyman player. Maybe I'm a little older and it takes a little longer to recover from those nagging injuries. I want to stay in the game and compete with these guys. What's stopping me? It's "wrong"? "It's not fair"? Spare me.
The purity of the game only matters to fans and Ken Burns. Do you think Gary Sheffield cares about the sanctity of the record books? Of course not. If you were in his position, would you?
What are your thoughts, friends?
Speaking of segues, I found myself in a little bit of a debate with some very cool baseball fans over at the Base Girl blog about steroids in baseball. It started out with a snarky comment by me about Gabe Kapler, which of course raised the hair on the backs of the necks of some of the die hard Sox fans.
While I find it interesting that we're finding out who is juicing and who isn't, the really entertaining part of this whole thing for me is witnessing the cascade of outrage and moral indignation of full grown adults. Like people won't cheat when millions of dollars are at stake. What - the CEOs of national corporations are cheating on their taxes? Noooooooooo! I love when the wounded inner 12-year old of the grown population rears its sad little head.
I've given it some thought and I have to look myself in the mirror and realize: if I were in the shoes of some of these players, I'd probably juice too. Think about it - there is a multi-million dollar contract based on your performance. You're competing against guys around you, who are openly using with NO consequences whatsoever. In fact, MLB is not only ignoring the steroid problem, but tacitly encouraging using by rewarding those who are hopped up.
Forget about the superstars. Say I'm a borderline, journeyman player. Maybe I'm a little older and it takes a little longer to recover from those nagging injuries. I want to stay in the game and compete with these guys. What's stopping me? It's "wrong"? "It's not fair"? Spare me.
The purity of the game only matters to fans and Ken Burns. Do you think Gary Sheffield cares about the sanctity of the record books? Of course not. If you were in his position, would you?
What are your thoughts, friends?
7 Comments:
I am indifferent, to a point. I'd probably inject Gary Sheffield's sweat into my veins if I thought it would get me a $12 million per annum contract to play a child's game for a living, but I really wish the focus would shift to the NFL, land of 300 lb men who bench 600 lbs and run the 40 in 4.3. BASEBALL has a steroid problem? BASEBALL? Not FOOTBALL? BASEBALL? For some reason that bothers me.
How about track & field where no one can break a world record or win anything without being suspected of steroid use? I can't even watch it anymore and I used to be quite a fan. It's definitely taken all the fun out of the sport for me.
Football's crazy, because those guys are legitimately taking 10-15 years off their lives just by playing. When's the last time you saw an old former lineman?
After seeing how skinny Gabe looked last night, I also thought that he's probably off steroids now. I kind of see your point and don't get all bent out of shape at the thought of some players getting juiced up, but I would be really disappointed if I found out that Varitek or Ortiz or Papelbon or some of my other favorite players were juicing. I guess I like to think of them as honest.
I guess that's the part I don't get. Do you care if your favorite actor is a good person or your favorite band? Isn't it just their performance you're interested in? Why does they're like as a person matter?
I'm not being a jerk - I'm legitimately asking.
Do you care if your favorite actor is a good person or your favorite band? Isn't it just their performance you're interested in? Why does they're like as a person matter?
I give you Tom Cruise and the gross of Mission: Impossible III.
It warms my heart to hear a Sox fan ask that question. As a Yankee fan, I've never had the benefit of actually liking or having any interest or affections whatsoever for the players on the team I back. Eff Dave Winfield.
And let's not even start on the Knicks.
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