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Dad, sports writer, ATM machine... Did I mention Dad?More By Mlnsports
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Baseball Fans are Hypocrites
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I do not want to hear any baseball fans tell me what a problem drug use is in MLB. I also don't want to hear anyone carp about Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, J.C. Romero, or any of them. Hell, why is Pete Rose stuck out in the cold? Let him in too.
None of it really matters.
The rules of the game have been compromised. Badly. I just finished the 2-1/2 months of plowing through the Major League Rules (MLR), the MLB-MLBPA Collective Bargaining Agreement, (CBA) and the Joint Drug Treatment & Prevention Program (JDA).
What is clear is that Bud Selig not only shaves suspension games to keep teams and the union happy, violating even his own loose interpretation of the rules and programs against anti-doping that are in place, BUT the rules are moot, void, over and done with.
Largely because every last one of you could give a damn.
Sure, you'll sit over a beer at a ballgame and complain about how the game is being ruined, but, bottom line, you still keep coming, and buying your tickets, and your MLB Network packages, and the rest of it.
Then again, people pack the WWE, which is equally theater, not sport.
If you care about the game, you should read our in-depth piece on the joke that anti-doping in MLB has become, and the huge mess that Commissioner Selig has made of the game of baseball.
Ramirez, Romero, Cameron, and Mitre should all get a year or more. Dozens of minor league prospects in the Pacific Coast League, Florida State League, International League, and California League are all on suspension, or at least they should be, if umpires read the MLR and the Commissioner put the game over the happiness of Don Fehr and the PA.
The full story is " At What Cost Peace..." in SZ's current issue:
Of course, most of you won't read anything like that because, as much as you protest, the numbers prove that guys like Barry Bonds can cheat away (allegedly) and you'll endorse it. 'Roids are fan friendly, and owners hear the big ka-ching at the cash registers in their ballparks, so why give a damn?
But everyone already knows the outcome is predetermined (written) beforehand. It is entirely show. Baseball is entertainment (all sports are) but based on a game rather than the WWE, which in all honesty, is, as you said live theater.
How those are equals...I don't know.
But you're just equating them because of a steroids issue. Beyond that and some athletic prowess, they're really not even close to the same.