Send In The Clowns
By ThrowsLikeAGirl
Mr. Bonds ISN"T going to Washington this week. He wasn't invited to the Government Reform Committee hearings on steroids in Baseball because, well, after all, Congressmen Davis and Waxman don't want to make these hearings into a witch hunt, or a circus - or anything else that might get a lot of sensational news coverage a la the Canseco book. Nah...wouldn't want that. Wouldn't be prudent. This is serious U.S. government business. (Wait - I think that last phrase is an oxymoron.)
"Now we have come to this moment in baseball history, where a congressional hearing about drugs in baseball begins two weeks before Opening Day. And we will begin to see whether Congress is sincerely interested in how we got to this moment, or just getting headlines." says Mike Lupica this week in his NY Daily News column.
Scott Grey, Sports commentator for WTIC radio in Hartford predicted this scenario: "Selig will show up and tell congress they have a drug testing plan, where before they had none. He'll talk about positive tests being down. He'll talk about penalties for first offenses. He's got a litany of good news for congress. What Selig won't say is the new plan has about as much teeth as none, with the players union still calling most of the shots and a laundry list of drugs the testing doesn't take into consideration and, as long as the union has it's way, never will. He won't mention that positive testing is down because, with the players setting the parameters, by their own admission, it's nothing more than an I.Q. test. You'd have to be an idiot to fail, even if you are still rubbing something into your belly designed to enhance your performance on the field. Selig won't mention, in conjunction with that penalty for first offenses, that if offenders are publicly identified, which one would assume would be part of that penalty, the testing policy is voided. Selig will leave out the part about turning a blind eye to the steroid use that was beefing up his game in the late nineties, and beefing up the turnstiles at a time when fans were ready to turn away for good..."
Grey's entire commentary is worth a read. WTIC is the news/talk station of record in Connecticut's capital city. Down the road a piece, in the small but affluent community of Madison, six high school jocks have been arrested for possesion of a controlled substance with intent to sell. Read about it in The Hartford Courant. We're not talking a six-pack, here. We're talking steroids. We're not talking MLB here. We're talking your typical stupid high school kids.
Cheating in sports is now mainstream, admired, rewarded ($$ga-zillion contracts) and perfectly acceptable. So is a "win at any cost" attitude. Just don't get caught — you might have to make a vague apology. Good luck to Reps. Davis and Waxman with this one. Let's see what comes of these hearings - besides the entertaining moments of the next news cycle.
