mongo_jones Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 well i'm not quite so dewey-eyed about the integrity of this or any other sport. some might say the obsession with the home-run may also be hurting the game by itself--actually, didn't ty cobb say this? and this whole pinch-hitter business seems highly corrupt. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robert Schonfeld Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 If playing by the rules is dewey-eyed, so be it. I'm as cynical as the next person, but I'm not quite ready to toss the entire idea of integrity into the trashbin of anarchy just yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mongo_jones Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 cheating is cheating. but i don't think the "game" is some pristine thing that is only now being besmirched by these particular cheaters. it is being besmirched by their activities, yes, but it has been corrupt for a long time (in many ways). even on these issues of chemical enhancement mlb has looked the other way for a long time--my understanding is that even this scandal isn't coming to light because mlb is cracking down or is it? this is more like a public relations nightmare for mlb. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robert Schonfeld Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 Agree it is not a game only now being besmirched. It, and about everything else in life, is corrupt and cheatridden. MLB requires five positive tests before suspension. And get this: MLB allows just one punishment as the result of a test per year, so it takes five years to get suspended for drug use. So is MLB cracking down? The game is corrupt. The Game is something else, with mythic implications for many fans, especially young ones. Thinking about it, perhaps it's the case that the NBA, with its in-your-face, phi slamma jamma 'tude, or the NFL, with its kill-capable units in uniform, dancing in the end zone, that have led the way. Even better, how about the NHL, which overtly sanctions a kind of bare knuckles fighting that the sweet science itself outlawed a long time ago? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hollywood Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 Ironically, they are called professional sports. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ranitidine Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 Some random thoughts. If it's okay because everyone's doing it, then I think us lawyers should be allowed to bribe judges to influence the outcome of cases. How does that grab you? I thought so. NFL linebackers don't get that way by overeating. They take illegal steroids, and should be thrown out of their game. Grand jury testimony is sealed unless there is a subsequent trial, at which point it is admissible. People accept offers of immunity before they testify at grand juries not because they want it to be kept secret but because they don't want to be indicted. Rose gambled, but that didn't give him or his team an unfair advantage in winning games. I consider the current illegal activity far more serious than Rose's for that reason. On simple, practical grounds, if a practice is illegal in a sport then those who use it to win games or set records improperly should be punished by having their records expunged and perhaps by being banished from the game. I've also been wondering why the MLB players' union is the most powerful in America. I've come up with two reasons. Each team has 25 players. Each player is a cog in its team's rather small machine. Firing one auto worker won't make much of a difference. Firing 4% of a team's workforce will. Each player also makes a lot of money. Messing with him hurts the team as well as the player. The players will fight fiercely to protect their millions. (This money is also a major motivation for using steroids.) Finally, it's easy to divide and conquer those assholes known as the owners. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hollywood Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 Pretty much everything you said makes sense. Guess that's why it's not gonna happen. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rail Paul Posted December 5, 2004 Share Posted December 5, 2004 (edited) According to the Washington Post, Senator McCain spoke with Bud Selig, and conveyed to him that Congress will have a bill on the President's desk in January if the owners and the union don't have a workable drug testing and disciplinary policy in place very soon. This is exactly the kind of feel good legislation Congress loves to pass, and there's no doubt McCain would be happy to oblige. WCBS Report edited for content and to add the link Edited December 5, 2004 by Rail Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ranitidine Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 I understand Olympic testing is the most stringent. If true, that's what baseball must adopt. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hollywood Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 According to the Washington Post, Senator McCain spoke with Bud Selig, and conveyed to him that Congress will have a bill on the President's desk in January if the owners and the union don't have a workable drug testing and disciplinary policy in place very soon. This is exactly the kind of feel good legislation Congress loves to pass, and there's no doubt McCain would be happy to oblige. WCBS Report edited for content and to add the link Funny. How many years ago was it the Supreme Court granted baseball an exemption to antitrust law in the Curt Flood case? And now Congress may have to tell baseball to clean up its act! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ranitidine Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 No, Hollywood. It was the Supreme Court that held baseball was exempt. I believe it was in Toolson v. New York Yankees. What Congress has done is to leave the exemption untouched. By holding the threat of repealing the exemption over Baseball's head, it can usually get Baseball to do what it wants it to. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ron Johnson Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 The hardest thing to do in all professional sports is hit a baseball thrown by a major-league pitcher. Michael Jordan was one of the greatest athletes of our time and he was unable to do it. Steroids may make one faster, stronger, bigger, and more aggresive, but they will never aid one in making contact with a pitched baseball. It's all about eyesight, timing, and hand-eye coordination. Barry Bonds is a great hitter because of his ability to see the baseball and refuse to swing at anything but a strike. Steroids may have made him faster and enabled him to continue playing left field, and they may have enabled him to hit the ball a longer distance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
guajolote Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 It's all about eyesight, timing, and hand-eye coordination.Barry Bonds is a great hitter because of his ability to see the baseball and refuse to swing at anything but a strike. real sports on hbo had a story about a year ago about how a high percentage of mlb players (>50%) use ritalin to improve concentration. has anyone brought up hall-of-famer gaylord perry and his use of the spitball? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wilfrid1 Posted December 6, 2004 Author Share Posted December 6, 2004 Ron makes a good point. Use of steroids and growth hormones are clearly going to help strength, and they are also going to help when it comes to endurance and swift recovery from injuries. But they are not going to make a player a great hitter. The question whether use of steroids has influenced the outcome of games is beyond imponderable: first, in any case, you have to figure out who in each team was taking steroids. But I think the records question is tricky too. How much worse a hitter would a clean Barry Bonds have been? As for "it's okay because everyone's doing it", I am afraid life is full of examples. What about all those herb jokes we had the other day? Some laws, and some rules, come to be held in contempt - rightly in some cases, wrongly in others. Incidentally, Jose Canseco - now retired, so what does he care? - is about to pump some new life into the scandal with his forthcoming book, Juiced. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hollywood Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 No, Hollywood. It was the Supreme Court that held baseball was exempt. Isn't that what I said? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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