Jazz...
Let me ask you this, Larry? Was your loyalty to football rocked when the major player scandals erupted about them? And why is it when steriod abuse is discovered in football, it barely elicits a yawn but now the nation is going crazy about its use in baseball. Case in point:
I've been letting this one ferment for a few days. Short answer, I gave up on football, being really passionate about it, when free agency really got rolling and I had to learn the names of 1/3 of the team every year and deal with all sorts of guys from teams, especially, ex Cowboys, coming here. Now, it's just entertainment, no longer a real passion.
So, yeah, my loyalty changed, but not so much over something like steroids. I just assumed everyone was using something, be it baseball or football, from the era of the Hogs when Jeff Bostic put on 25 pounds one off season, to baseball when Brady Anderson belted 50 and looked like a pro wrestler.
My issue with baseball today is that an awful lot of people, writers, fans, owners, owe Barry Bonds a huge apology. They've all been calling him a whore and now we know they've all been yelling at Barry as they stand on the corner of Hollywood and Vine, so to speak. It seems intensely unfair he has been singled out so aggressively and for so long and allowed to take soooo much heat for everyone else.
In any event, a further part of the conversation delves into the players from this stand point; baseball takes more skill and the players have longer careers and their salaries are guaranteed. Football takes less skill for most positions, they have shorter careers and their union sucks compared to baseball never getting these guys guaranteed money.
So, what does this all mean? The bigger picture is that, I think, it's all gonna blow over pretty quick when you have so many people using. I think we're gonna start to hear from experts that things like hgh are harmless, especially in context of the horror stories of the Lyle Alzado type image most people get when they hear the word 'steroids'.
Baseball doesn't seem to have the psycho off field behavior of football, the shooting and associations with crime. I wonder if that is the nature of the beast or the type athlete or a deeper issue as to types of steroids?
I have no problem, really, with pro athletes seeking ways to stay healthy longer, recover from injuries and so forth, especially in baseball. As for football, I think there needs to be rule changes that de-emphasize size so much. I'd rather see 275 pound linemen, better athletes, running and moving and stamina counting rather than these 330 monsters whose defining characteristic is that they can stand in the way due to shear bulk and muscle.
I'd like to see football players get guaranteed contracts as well to reduce some of the meat market aspects that baseball doesn't really seem to suffer.
In summary, I understand baseball owners turning a blind eye to steroids. They're paying these guys $10 mil a year; they want them on the field. I understand players 'using' to get those $10 mil contracts. I think I hold the media, sportswriters, in higher contempt as they are the ones who said the truth is less important than access that they gain and keep for not exposing the truth. Media, the press are supposed to be the defenders of the truth.
As for fans, I'm not sure if they hold any responsibility or not. After all, they get to see a guy like Bonds and Clements play for 20 plus years. How bad can it be, really? No baseball players are dropping dead.
Football fans, maybe we are guilty of too much of a gladiator thing where we are the ones not objecting enough to the abuse football players suffer.
Hmmm...
and Jody Foster is mentioned,too.
