Baseball's Steroid Abuse: Don't Be Too Quick to Judge

I, for one, have always wondered how so many fat arsed and otherwise unhealthy looking supposed athletes managed to propel their blubbery mid-riffs so quickly around Shea Stadium. With Popeye-like forearms some of these players are either performing way too much one-handed acrobatics (nudge nudge, wink wink) or are partaking of too much of the scrotum-shrinking elixir known as steroids. An interesting comment made recently during a CNN interview with Victor Conte (co-founder of the Bay Area Cooperative) revealed that only 30 of the 60 banned substances listed were recognized by the Major Baseball League. By not saying something is illegal apparently makes it open field day, especially in the land of big money Sports. So who should the majority of the blame fall on. Those who take advantage of a seeming loop-hole i.e.: the players or the governing body, who through a knowing inaction allowed it's players/members to participate in steroid use in the benign hope that no-one would notice, or care for that matter.

The Mitchell report should I feel be investigated in and of itself. How was this information procured and what was the credibility of the people from whom this information was gleaned. Who instigated the reports? Secret agendas perhaps. How much physical evidence or documentation is there to back up the claims? Merely stating that a physical therapy coach or coach administered drugs/steroids in the past is merely hearsay and as credible as it may be without documentation just isn't going to cut it in the court of law. Perhaps surprise on-the-spot dope testing should be carried out by independently appointed organizations during the baseball season much like Track & Field athletics. The more money involved and of course the more tempting steroids are going to become, especially if you are getting on in years and you have no other talents with which to support yourself and/or family.

Sensational news indeed. Names are named, careers are questioned, hall of famers are denigrated but as with any report does it hold up to scrutiny? Were some of the players aware of what they were being given, perhaps thinking they were being given medication of some kind but being drugged against their better judgment. Always be cautious with sensationalistic reports. I am sure there are many abusers but I am sure that many of the people named on this list are innocent and have merely been tainted with a large brush. The expression 'Don't believe everything you read' comes to mind.