To the poster regarding this subject earlier; yes, there are much more important and pressing issues facing all of us from Iraq, the borders, the ports, education and the economy ad-nausea….
But, going to comment anyway.
I agree with your last comment…all or nothing.
I wish we, (the ones who enjoy sports period) and somebody with balls in the media would point out the complete hypocrisy of the entire argument.
ALL of professional, amateur and collegiate sports have performance enhancing drug issues. HGH, steroids, greenies etc.
Olympic athletes, Baseball, Football, Hockey, Cycling….basically, any sport where strength/endurance, long and brutal seasons with short recovery time and a high dollar income at stake (with 10,000 guys behind you willing to do whatever it takes) comes into play…..it’s there. Not everyone, but certainly not just a few.
How come no one is mentioning football? Yes they have a policy and testing. These guys are pros at masking what they are taking. You’re going to sit there and tell me that a 6’-4”, 265 lb guy can run a 4.5sec 40 clean???.....come on, that’s the standard! Everyone turns their head and high fives when their team wins.
Owners, coaches, agents, trainers, team doctors, sports writers……silent.
No mention of what these guys put themselves through to play at that level.
How come no one is mentioning Cycling? Lance…..the “sources” that chronicled much more damaging facts as the recent book that’s coming out were NOT anonymous.
That is one of the most drug-riddled sports….all seems to be quiet. Oh right…he never tested positive…..
The bottom line for me is recognizing it’s all around. I can’t compare Rose vs. McGwire vs. Bonds vs RACE…..I don’t know how you can.
It’s a personal decision/choice for any athlete. If it’s against the rules….then it’s cheating. If they do it and get caught…they pay the price.
The only thing I feel responsible for doing is educating and steering a son away from the easy route.
Just don’t sit back in your crumb invested couches and act all high, mighty and surprised saying the stats/records aren’t valid.
AND to all the CRITICS
If we have any common sense and were honest…..we knew it all along………………….
Bonds, McGwire, Pete Rose, and Race
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Reply to: pers-140781609@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-03-10, 1:03PM PST
When Pete Rose was banned from baseball, many including myself wondered if the punishment fit the crime. All I got in return was the explanation that what Rose did "hurt the integrity of baseball" and therefore he did not deserve to be enshrined. To this day, nobody has changed their stance on Charlie Hustle.
Now we are watching the game of baseball in the shadows of a steroid scandal that doesn't just finger Barry Bonds, it points to guys named Canseco, McGwire, Sosa, Caminiti, Palmiero, etc. To be honest, it's clear cut guilt by association. The biggest name of course is Barry Bonds. Afterall, he's the one chasing down the most historic record in all of baseball.
So now the question becomes, does Bonds deserve to get in? You see, Giants fans can hide behind the, "he never tested positive" excuse all they want, but that cop out doesn't have a leg to stand on considering BALCO not only distributes steroids to athletes, they also create masks to prevent athletes from testing positive. Whether he tested positive or not, Barry Bonds was guilty in the court of public opinion the second his name was tied to BALCO.
In my opinion, the guy who gets lost in all of this is Pete Rose. It was Roses' gambling that set the standard for what constitutes "destroying the integrity of baseball." Are you gonna sit there and tell me that what Rose did hurt the integrity of baseball more so than Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, and a host of others? Are you kidding me?
Pete Rose earned his 4,162 hits. He didn't cheat them. To me, a player enters the Hall Of Fame based on his achievements as a player. When you are achieving thanks in part to the use of performance enhancing drugs, you are destoying the integrity of baseball much more so than a manager with a gambling addiction. It's not even up for debate. What Pete Rose did was take pop shots at the integrity of baseball with a bee bee gun. Barry Bonds strapped an M-80 around integrity and blew it all to hell! Point being, if baseball is going to let Barry Bonds in the Hall Of Fame, then Pete Rose gets in as well otherwise this game stands for nothing.
I guess we'll get our answers sooner than later wont we? Afterall, isn't Mark McGwire up for election within the next year or so? If the baseball writers let McGwire in, Barry Bonds makes it with ease. If McGwire gets in and Bonds doesn't, it no longer becomes an issue of steroids or integrity, it becomes an issue of race.
MLB has two choices. Either they let them all in including Pete Rose, or none of them get in.
JR
Burlingame
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