You can’t handle the truth!
by: Michael Riehn
Whiteyball Staff
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I’m entitled.
Col. Jessep: *You want answers?*
Kaffee: *I want the truth!*
Col. Jessep: *You can’t handle the truth!*
A Few Good Men
When Congress interrogated Mark McGwire on live TV for votes, er, I mean the TRUTH(!), they were prodding him for his Col. Jessep moment. Everyone was hoping that Big Mac would come clean and America would embrace him for his honesty. The whole steroid mess would have been broken wide open and the wrongdoers would be punished accordingly. McGwire would then spend the next 20 years behind bars, showing every young athlete in America that being a lazy cheater was wrong.
If congress had given him immunity, maybe we would have seen this, and the black mark on baseball would be a footnote in history. Instead, we got nothing from someone that may have wanted to help, but (like everyone else would have done) saved his own neck instead. Thus, we are still talking about steroids in baseball 4 years later. I often wonder what would have happened with different leadership in congress or baseball. What would Kenshaw Mountain Landis have done (WWKMLHD)?
I can’t stand the steroid debate. I mean, I’m all for watching the latest train wreck as much as the next guy, but the issue gets old. If you look at the newswire today, you’ll see the latest breathless report about Alex Rodriguez’s meeting about steroids with Major League Baseball or the new updates on Barry Bonds latest court proceedings. It’s everywhere you look, and enough to turn many casual fans off from baseball.
I know that steroids are bad for the body and I’m not saying that it isn’t a real problem. Anyone that thinks differently should have a conversation with the families of Pro Football Hall of Famer Lyle Alzado or former MVP Ken Caminiti. They paid for their mistakes with their health, and ultimately their lives. I feel mostly sorry for the PED users because their punishments will come by either being vilified or for many, health problems. I would much rather have my loved ones for another day than all the riches in the world, and I can only imagine what their families have gone through.
What I think is interesting to explore is a common misconception about these people. You have to take a look at their psyche to really understand their motive for using. This is how you attack the problem. Think for a minute about what Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte have in common. All of these athletes were not driven by laziness, but their quest to be better. These guys were workout warriors and weren’t looking for the quick fix, they were looking for ways to drive themselves harder. It takes a lot of ambition for a person to come to the conclusion: “Man I’ve been working out for 5 hours today, there must be some way I can get my sixth in.”
I can’t help but think that they didn’t fail the system, the system failed them. These are the kind of people that need tough guidance and strict parameters in order to live with their competitiveness. What made these players great was their drive and ferocity to get better. This is also their fatal flaw, and major league baseball and the union should have recognized this. Yes, these were big boys who should have known what they were doing, but you don’t turn a blind eye when athletes with competitive problems will do everything they can to improve.
Baseball players aren’t alone in their pursuit. From Gatorade to “greenies”, athletes have always looked to get the most out of their talent (unless you are Doc Gooden or Darryl Strawberry, they were basically destroying theirs). Football players, wrestlers, body builders, etc. are all on a quest to succeed. It is the organization that either keeps them in check (Football is now doing a decent job) to those that haven’t (Pro Wrestling is and has not).
Athletes are not unlike the actor that gains 50 pounds (or takes PEDs) for a part, or a musician that takes hard core drugs to get them to “another level” of creativity. They need someone or something to reign them in. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to romanticize this issue, but I don’t believe athletes should be villified any more than actors or musicians. The system or industry which let them down, and has got off with relative ease, should be the issue that is looked at with a harsher light.
Photo and quote courtesy of imdb.com
Filed Under: Baseball
About the Author: I am a Cardinal fan, from a small town in Missouri and grew up listening to the Whiteyball teams of the 1980s (but still love the Tony LaRussa version). Currently living outside of St. Louis, I am a partial season ticket holder with a great group of friends.
I hold the position of Director of Sales and Marketing for a hydraulic press manufacturer and serve on a local youth baseball board of directors. Follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/mriehn
I could care less about the health of the people that took steroids. They didnt take them to be better Heroes or better members of society, they took them to make more money, they didnt take them to save baseball (even though that is what did it) they took PEDs out of pure greed. It is the same greed that is destroying the financial system as we speak. They both took shortcuts that help themselves in the shortterm without regard for the longterm.
I didn’t mean this to be a defense for the people that took steroids per say, but I don’t think they should be as villified as they are. I don’t think these players JUST did it for the money though. That is too simplistic. These are driven people that took things too far in order to be better ballplayers. The real argument is how you compare them to the people that didn’t take things too far. That is where I have no defense for them.
These guys need to have a little personal resposibility. I doesn’t matter if MLB tested for or banned PEDs, they were illegal in the United States anyway.
Now that MLB (or any of the leagues) has a testing policy that works they should pass along the results to the authorities. If the threat of missing games isn’t enough to stop guys from using PEDs, maybe jail time is.