Give Me A Break

Hello sports aficionados. I know, the Crystal Ball NFL season wrap up is long overdue, but fear not. Very soon it will be coming your way. Watching your team capture a championship will indeed keep a person thoroughly distracted. But progress has been made, to the point that the wrap up will be a bloated two part post. But before I spread the icing on yet another delicious NFL season, I’d like to take a moment and turn attention to baseball, and the current scandal rocking MLB, A-Rod and the dreaded steroids.

The details of Alex Rodriguez’s transgressions are well known at this point, so I shant rehash them here. No, what I want to talk about is personal responsibility and the lack thereof that permeates MLB. As this story exploded, we saw that A-Rod lacks any responsibility for his actions much like the now vilified Barry Bonds. These two are not in an exclusive club when it comes to that particular character flaw, but being the most visible, famous and possibly talented ball players of the past 10 years or arguably ever, they are the public face of the problem.

In this latest version of I’m the victim, Rodriguez had a myriad of excuses with which to deflect criticism and shift blame from himself. He started with the initial inquiry from the press, stating they would have to talk to the union regarding any steroid information. Nice. He followed that up with several interviews and press conferences, each seemingly disconnected from the previous and the excuses differing each time. Some of these are just classic lines of manure.

He stated that he only experimented with them. While the time period he used was over several seasons, it was only on occasion. Experimented? How dumb does he think we are? I had a cow when Bonds tried the “I didn't know what I was putting into my body” excuse. Note to all athletes, do not try this excuse, we are much smarter than you think. We know you guys are professionals and that your livelihoods rest on your body's ability to function at the highest levels. I know of no one that would take an unnecessary risk or ingest something unknown if their career hung in the balance, and no one I know uses their body to make a living.

In the same vein, in one statement he said it was only an energy booster that his cousin talked him into taking. I ask again, do you honestly expect us to swallow this? I do not think my cousins could convince me to swallow a multi-vitamin let alone allow them to shoot my rump full of some unknown substance. I reiterate, no one who makes their living based upon their physical abilities and well being would ever, EVER, unknowingly ingest or inject something into their bodies unless they knew 100% what it was and what it would do. This quote sums up my point best.

"Do I believe that Alex Rodriguez, who won't have a Snickers bar or a cookie, let his cousin inject him with something that he didn't know what it was? I find that really hard to believe." - Yankees radio broadcaster Suzyn Waldman.

He blamed his usage on the pressure of living up to the huge contract he signed with the Rangers. Oh really? Well, you had no problem soliciting said contract, or squeezing every penny out of free agency that you could, or signing said contract. You obviously felt it justified to match your otherworldly talents, so why would you suddenly feel it necessary to take steroids in order to live up to this contract? Did you go through a crisis of confidence?

One of my favorites though was when he blamed his usage on naïveté and the stupidity of youth. Rodriguez tried to blame his behavior on such teenage adjectives as naïve, young, curious, silly and irresponsible and of course stupid. If he were a 17 year old minor league prospect trying desperately to make the show, I might buy that excuse. Might. But a 25 year old man, one who has played professionally for years and already made millions of dollars? Not a chance. Using youth, silly and naïve as excuses dies at 22. If you're doing something you know is wrong and illegal at 25, it’s because you're devious and a cheat, not young and dumb. Although the stupid adjective surely fits him now.

He blamed his lack of a college education as a reason he doped. This one blew me away. Rodriguez is obviously a very savvy businessman, perhaps as much as those in which he entrusts his image and brand. And let’s not fool ourselves, with how smooth and polished he is at all times he is a brand, one in which to be marketed to corporations and businesses. He knows his image as a clean cut uber player can bring in tons of endorsement deals as well plenty of financial and media opportunities long after he leaves the game. He knows baseball is a stepping stone, one that if he uses it correctly will keep him popular, in the limelight and rich well into old age. And trust me, just the fact that he hired a consulting firm to help him get through this crisis tells me exactly how intelligent he is. He knew what he was doing when he shot up, and he knows what he’s doing now to spin the situation in a positive way.

Trying to blame his “mistake” on the fact that he never acquired higher education is not only asinine, but also insulting. You do not have to go to college to be intelligent, or know right from wrong. I know many savvy, intelligent people that never attended a day of college. And they all know right from wrong.

He called the injections with his cousin amateur hour. I feel amateur hour applies to his lame excuses and sad explanations.

So why do these gentlemen like Rodriguez and Bonds feel they can do whatever they want and get away with it? Mainly because they do get away with cheating, although Bonds’ ship looks as though it may be taking on water as of late. There is no real punishment for using these illegal drugs either legally or professionally. You never hear of athletes busted for doping getting tossed in the clink. Heck I hardly hear about guys getting fined. And in their leagues they’re never severely punished. Maybe a fine, some lost game checks and a few games off and it all goes away. They never face serious punishment like say getting tossed for the season, having their contracts revoked or cancelled or even what should happen have their records tossed out the window.

And why does this attitude and stance continue to hold, despite protestations otherwise? It continues because lack of personal responsibility comes directly from the top of MLB embodied in one Bud Selig.

Mind you, I know Selig is far from the only one in the power hierarchy of baseball to take the blame. Donald Fehr and the players union are just as culpable for the mess that is MLB as Selig. I mean they’re the ones who worked to make the drug policy currently in place not worth the paper on which it’s printed. And they maybe even more to blame if those reports I’ve read that stated union officials would tip off players before drug tests are true. But Selig is in a class by himself.

Selig kept his head buried firmly in the sand for many years, no doubt knowing exactly what was fueling the 1998 home run chase. But he said nothing, as he knew he needed those ratings so very desperately. Baseball was still reeling from the disastrous strike of 1994, and anything that could save a ship he actively punched holes into was fine by him. But after his head was forcibly pulled from the sand and his eyes pried open, he acted as though he knew nothing of his behavior that had infected the game. Please. So with damage control in mind, he went on the offensive. And it was indeed offensive.

He dragged his feet admitting there was an issue. He waffled when it came to the Bonds situation. He piddled around installing a drug policy and drug testing, but thanks to the union and his spinelessness the plan put into place had about as much teeth and bite as an octogenarian. Now that his big program has only caught role players, and that we find out his biggest star was a user once too, Selig bristles as though his good work has been undermined.

When suggestions arise that Selig and his office are to blame for the Steroids era, Selig becomes defensive, talking about how he hates criticism of his office and of himself. He lays obviously difficult to prove claims that his office tried to institute change regarding performance enhancing drugs in 1995. Well I call shenanigans. If that were true, if he thought this issue was serious enough, he could have done something about it. The game was in a shambles already in 1995, perhaps Selig trying to be the white knight and save the sanctity of baseball’s records could have been just the thing to turn the tide in favor of ownership instead of players and maybe even get Donald Fehr’s pasty can tossed. He would have won it all and maybe even revived baseball in a way where questions still do not abound to this day.

Did the owners know about the doping? I have no doubt. Did they think it could be a problem? Most likely. Did they care? Absolutely not. They knew that baseball, if ever to recover from their horrible infighting-caused strike needed fireworks. What brings fireworks? Home runs. So what if a few guys shrunk their balls and swelled their heads, as long as they were powering the long ball and putting fannies in the seats, what’s a little cheating and soiling cherished records? So what if you tarnish the bedrock on which baseball stands; their records. Who cares, let’s get those turnstiles moving!

But if Selig really wants us to believe he tried to affect real change to a growing drug culture, he's full of the cream and the clear. And why shouldn't his office be held culpable and have criticism heaped upon it it? You’re in charge! Baseball, all it has been and will be, is in your hands. You shape the future and tend to the past. If something destroys either of those on your watch, you are the one responsible. That is the price that comes with being in charge. That may seem obvious to ordinary folks, but not to Bud. He just stands back, shrugging his shoulders as though he has no idea how we got here. But since public opinion seems to be against steroids, let’s make sure we condemn them. And he has been happy to condemn from his ivory tower, even going so far as to say in the press that A-Rod shamed the game. Mr. Selig, there’s a Mr. Kettle on line two he says you two have something in common. If Bud wants to play the shame game, fine we’re on. How about we look at the ways in which Mr. Selig has shamed baseball over the last 17 years.

- In collusion with other owners, he staged a coup on the commissioner, effectively ending true independent leadership within MLB.
- He proceeded to then run MLB under the guise of acting commissioner, a station he humbly took with zero sincerity. During this period, he claimed his executive council was searching for a new commissioner, a search which seemed about as in depth as O.J.’s search for the real killers. By being a team owner running baseball, questions abounded as to whose interests he served most, the game or the owners. By their full confidence in him, I’d say the pendulum leans in a certain direction.
- Because of owner and player greed and poor leadership at the top, Selig officiated over the first World Series cancellation due to a strike in MLB history.
- He instituted a revenue sharing plan and salary cap, long after the NFL had left MLB in the dust by doing the same thing that has resulted in the Yankees toting a $209 million yearly payroll for 2008 while the Marlins rock out with a $21 million payroll. Two thirds of MLB teams carry a payroll that sits under $100 million, and most of those have been losing clubs for some time. So much for competitive balance.
- Has turned the league from 30 teams into the Yankees, Red Sox, 4-6 potential contenders that rotate each year and 22 also ran teams that act as a farm club for the other 8.
- Turned a blind, and knowing, eye to the steroid situation in a desperate attempt to resurrect flagging attendance, plummeting ratings and low fan confidence and interest. Then when the drug situation hit the fan and the impact of these tainted records on the history of the game began to be questions, Selig blustered mightily regarding testing but enacted ineffectual measures. Although claiming to be proactive during the steroid allegations, his actions were merely reactive and sub par.
- Claims to have raised MLB revenue 400% during his tenure, but refuses to acknowledge that much of that increase came from heightened fan interest brought on by a prolific era of home runs fueled by steroids. If he’s going to claim big monetary gains, he had best say exactly how that revenue poured in.
- Despite the outrage by fans and the media, he acts as if his hands are virtually tied when it comes to the tainted records and their impact on the history of the game. Ford Frick certainly had no trouble slapping an asterisk on poor Roger Maris and the worst that could be said about Roger is he smoked.
- Actually acts in this manner during any crisis big or small. The most visible example was during the ridiculous tie during the All Star game. As officials went to Selig for advice and a ruling, Selig just looked out on the field exasperated, shrugging his shoulders as if to say, why are you asking me, how should I know what to do? For a man who claims to be in control and intimate with knowledge of the game, he certainly acts like a temp employee that derailed an assembly line, then when called on the carpet about it, acts like, what do you want me to do? I was just a temp and it's too much for me, you should have never given me this responsibility.
- Has let super star players and agents dictate salaries, the players union assure guaranteed contracts that have hamstrung small market teams control an ineffectual drug testing program, and ridiculous owners to kowtow to skyrocketing player costs and a sham of a salary cap and allowing a creation of a class system amongst the teams.

Now tell me who's shamed the game?

I’m not going to sit here and say I have the answers to fix baseball. Wait until July for that post. Right now I would settle for a real, honest step in the right direction. All I want is for A-Rod, Selig and the rest of the cheaters with ridiculous excuses, Roger Clemens I’m looking in your direction, to just be honest with us the fans and general public. I want them to stand up and take responsibility for their actions. I want them to act like men and have the buck stop there, instead of being overgrown boys trying to get away with sneaking cigarettes behind 7-11. I know, I'd have a better chance of wishing for a million dollars and getting it, but I can still wish. Santa never brought you everything from your Christmas list when you were kids, but that never discouraged me from adding the GI Joe USS Flagg aircraft carrier to my list for several years in a row. Here’s what I want them to say.

A-Rod – “I was the best player in the game possibly even better than Bonds, and I figured if this stuff was giving lesser players an edge, then I wanted that edge too. I wanted to be beyond the best. Both to stoke my massive bank account as well as stroke my narcissistic ego.”

Selig – “I didn't like not getting my own way, so with other owners we destroyed the commissioner and for a while the office of the commissioner to get what we wanted. Then when my ineptness almost destroyed the game I professed to love so much I became desperate. When I saw there was a way to bring the fans back, even if it risked the integrity of baseball, the long term health of those who play it and the trust of the fans and players who came before me, I never hesitated. I turned a blind eye to the steroids. And now that it’s biting me, the players and the game in the ass, I've done my best at spin control and make half hearted yet showy attempts to "clean" things up. Although nothing will truly wash this stain away short of full disclosure, erasing tainted records, reestablishing the office of the commissioner by appointing someone outside the fraternity to properly manage MLB and my resignation in shame.”

Everyone knows these things to be true. Considering how many times both men, I’m sorry boys, have changed their stories, backtracked on what they said and blatantly lied the only story left is the truth. Of course, even that would be subject to massive amounts of spin as to why it never came out before.

But fear not gentlemen, I can help both of you. Here’s what you do. Just come out, admit the truth and when asked what took you so long to reveal to the world what we already knew, just say "because like any child getting caught, I did not want to get in trouble or suffer punishment. Plus I have a severely underdeveloped sense of personal responsibility because as you know, I am a massive douche bag.” Now would that really be so difficult?