I wasn't sure if I wanted to weigh in on the whole steroid issue mainly because I was so beaten down by the whole thing that I didn't want to pass down that beating to both of the people that read this thing. I really didn't have plans to listen to the House committee investigation (after all, it was the first day of the NCAA tournament), but I wound up listening anyway. And I'm glad I did.
There are those out there who have the opinion that this whole deal was just a grandstanding event by Congress to get things out there, but I think that it was a bit more than that. For those of you that don't know, Mark McGuire, Frank Thomas (whom I do not think was there live), Jose Canseco, Curt Schilling, Rafael Palmeiro, commissioner Bud Selig, and player association chairman Donald Fehr sat before the House of Representatives yesterday to address the issue of steroids in baseball. The players were first in the mid-afternoon, and the executives were in the hot seat after dinner. My first impression was that this was going to be a number of hours of softball questions, and Canseco pimping out his poor excuse for a book (from a poor excuse for a man). At first, it was, because each individual person got to make their own opening statement.
For added pressure, the parents of a few students whom have died from steroid-involved complications were sitting right behind them. By the end of the opening statements, I was still debating whether or not to stick with this. Needeless to say, I'm glad I did.
Once the questtioning began, it got ugly. To the credit of Congress, they asked the tough questions about steroid use and abuse and what the players thought it would take to fix the problem. For the most part, the players were on board with stricter testing, tougher punishment, and even a completely independent company conducting the test. Curt Schilling and Frank Thomas have both volunteered to head up a players' campaign to educate and prevent steroid abuse.
Then, there was Mark McGuire. I can honestly tell you that I have never been a big fan of Big Mac (although I'll take him over Barry Bonds any day of the week), but any shred of respect I had for him disappeared last night. When asked about anything that MIGHT incriminate him, he would respond with, "I'm not here to talk about the past". Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that we were here to be a convention of clairvoyants and predict who and who not will be taking drugs down the line. Last time I checked, we were all convened to talk about the problem that has gotten out of control UP UNTIL NOW and how to fix it.
McGuire also said that he was going to refocus his foundation to address this issue. Now, his foundation benefits kids whom are homeless and abused. I'm not sure I would refocus the whole thing; I might redirect SOME funds, but not the whole shooting match. The guy came out looking like an idiot.
Sammy Sosa came out a little on the fence for me. The language barrier will probably affect some people, but you could tell he understood what was being said, and was responding to the best of his ability. The corked bat incident probably won't help his image in this arena, but we shall see.
Frank Thomas really didn't have much to bring to the table to me, but I appreciate him answering the call.
Jose Canseco? Not even going to dignify this moron. The only thing good about him is that he and his twin brother have my birthday.
Rafael Palmiero came across very well. He took the hard line under oath for stiff consequences and spoke both strongly and elequently as a professional to denounce steroid abuse.
The big winner, to me, was Curt Schilling. I have always respected Mr. Schilling as both a player and a person. By speaking as strongly as he did, with a great amount of conviction, I gained even more respect for The Schill and hope that his commitment to help get the message out reaches well beyond these hearings.
As far as Selig and Fehr go... morons. Complete morons.
If you get the chance to see a replay of any of the investigation, please do. It won't necessarily educate you, but it will give you an insight as to how far Major League Baseball has to go to get a handle on this issue.
The other major sports? Another post for another time.
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