Tuesday, February 10, 2009

No more...

I move that we, as a body of sports fans, issue a "cease and desist" letter to all those who are witch-hunting for steroid users.
I just don't want to know anymore.
There is a policy in place to help prevent future use, and necessary investigations against those who have committed perjury have taken place.
Just stop.
Why can't media members see that stories like "Oh yeah, A-Rod was using in 2003" and "Hey my brother, Big Mac, was using" only hurt the game further?
First of all, everyone knew the "Great Home Run Chase" was fueled almost exclusively by 'roids, at least in retrospect.
Sammy and Mark were literally larger than life, and there's nothing we can do about it now.
Furthermore, baseball fans everywhere took solace in the fact that Barry Bonds' records would not stand long because Alex Rodriguez, who surely was not a steroid user, would eventually save the day by crushing 800 or so home runs.
Alas, the national sports media can never really tell when enough is enough.
So, when four sources revealed that A-Rod had tested positive in a supposedly sealed survey test in 2003, before steroids were banned, of course Sports Illustrated ran the story.
As Kenny Chesney said, "Never sure when the truth won't do."
What I have realized is that baseball was way more fun when we didn't really know what the ugly truth was.
1998 was magical.
We all watched while McGwire, Sosa, and Griffey dueled it out for Maris' home run record.
Everyone had their favorite, and so many of my generation were sad when Griffey, ironically the only seemingly clean contender in that race, was knocked out of contention by injuries.
Then we started caring.
We wanted baseball to be clean again.
Now, the game is arguably cleaner, or we at least know who the cheaters were/are, but we can't enjoy it.
The man who was supposed to clean the home run king's crown off will only further tarnish it, and who will save us then?
Even feel-good story Josh Hamilton has shown up on HGH lists.
I hope there is someone out there who can do so, a superhero with a 'roid-free record who can challenge the marks set by the steroid-era's inflated superstars.
There's only one problem with that hope.
The bars may be set too high for a natural human to reach.
Let's hope our own curiosity didn't kill what was once our national pastime.