After literally sitting down and reading nearly 75% of the Mitchell report last night, (yeah, I REALLY did download and read about 300 of the 409 pages of it...I am either sick and deranged or completely insane...well, I guess a case can be made for all 3), nothing in this report is in any way revelation or new from what most of us suspected. Most of the information presented is either 2nd hand, 1st person statements, or circumstantial evidence. So, what is the big deal? This report, (even though it concentrates only on Major League Baseball), for the first time ever, has confirmed and quantified just how insidious and pervasive the abuse of drugs is in all sports at every level. Something all of us knew, but chose to ignore. We can no longer afford to ignore it.
Sure, several of the names mentioned might surprise us, but I do not care at ALL about the names of the individuals, which so many in the media seem to be focused on, as the overall message this report sends. And that message is not only shocking in its scope but also very telling about the culture we have created for our athletes and sports.
What many media outlets are seeming to completely overlook, or at least are not reporting as being highly disturbing, is the overwhelming depth that MLB has had with regard to steroid, HGH, and other performance enhancing drugs, (referred to in this blog as PED for brevity). According to this report, of the 30 or so teams in MLB not a SINGLE team in the entire league was left untouched by the use of PED's by players. And at EVERY level, EVERYONE knew about it. If this were an NCAA football or basketball program where money in FedEx packages where being sent to athletes, EVERY fan in the nation would be up in arms for the NCAA to issue the "death penalty" to that program for lack of institutional control. It is obvious that in MLB, when it comes to PED use there is NO institutional control at all, and by not having control, condoning such activity.
IMHO, there are several major issues with the use of PED's by athletes.
1) First and foremost for me is the lack of outrage by the fans of baseball. The "integrity of the game" is NOT the issue. The issue is that what this behavior says is that it absolutely "legitimizes" for every 8-18 year old out there, that it is "ok" to junk up as long as you do it for your sport, because you can make millions of dollars at it. Or win Olympic gold medals and national praise, (see Marion Jones for exhibit 1A). You may not agree, but I defy you to argue that point. Where are those sanctimonious MADD people over THIS issue, or other groups like them, huh? So much for this whole "war on drugs" issue. "Don't do pot or crack, Johnny those drugs can kill you! But it's ok to use PED's, because that just makes you bigger and stronger." And do NOT give me that crap that these are not "dangerous" drugs. Just this YEAR we already know of one football player and one former pro wrestler who respectively died of leukemia and of suicide and all evidence suggested that steroids played a role in their deaths. Not even to mention the VERY well publicized account of former NFL player Lyle Alzado who just before his death let the world know that his cancer could be directly linked to his steroid use, which he did not know at the time was deadly. How can any parent sit in the stands and say, "Hey, all athletes are doing are taking PED's. It does not make any difference, so who cares?", while at the same time telling their CHILDREN not to smoke pot? Parents of kids who play sports are hypocrits and enablers of this behavior as well, unless they take a stand.
2) This report is literally just the tip of the iceberg. I completely agree with Mitchell that should not take any punitive action against the players mentioned even those currently still playing, like expunging records, or HOF induction...because the issue is even DEEPER than that. As the report noted not a single team in MLB was uneffected by this, so if you only punish those mentioned in the report, based on pretty much circumstantial evidence, how do you go after and deal with those guys who have NOT been mentioned or implicated? If MLB just throws those 20 or so active players under the bus, they are doing NOTHING to address the problem. Only placating the media at best.
3) Selig said that this report was a "call to action", well, if the action taken is anything LESS than the action taken regarding gambling, (i.e. one violation and you are banned from baseball for life), then maybe they SHOULD cancel the entire season next year! If for no other reason that hypocracy.
4) This issue is FAR worse than ANYTHING gambling could do, and far worse that anything Pete Rose did. What Rose did was a SINGLE individual, what the Black Sox did was a singular team and event. The use of performance enhancing drugs effects EVERY team, and I still believe better than 60% of ALL current players today. That is epidemic levels.
The use of PED's goes FAR beyond Major League Baseball. This IS a "drug abuse" issue at the very core. And we, as fans, as coach's, as franchise owners, as MEDIA reporters, are ALL to blame for creating a culture that says it is OK to take drugs, as long as you just THINK it helps you play the game better. I do not want to get into the debate of whether taking PED's does or does not enhance an athlete's skill or talent. The point is they BELIEVE it does, whether that is true or not. You can argue about whether it does or not, that is completely a moot point. The fact is, as I stated, the ATHLETE believes it does. And is that not the essence of "addiction"? That you MUST take a drug to "keep that high", or more accurately in this case, "keep or gain that edge". The use of PED's is, IMHO, 100% equal to the use of crack or powder cocaine or even heroine. Drug abuse is drug abuse whether you are smoking crack or injecting yourself with HGH, if you believe you MUST have it, because you can not perform without it. And in the case of PED's, the pressure of athletes to compete, by being bigger, stronger, faster, is breeding a culture of addicts.
There are legitimate medical reasons for athletes taking steroids, as I said. I get that. But it is the abuse of that legitimate use that is the insidious part of the culture in sports that we have all been enablers to. Yet, there is NOT the public outrage over the use of PED's. And nothing like there is over the use of even something like marijuana. Think about it, suppose that your son or daughter playing a HS sport started to believe that smoking pot would give them a greater advantage to playing their sport. REGARDLESS of whether it was true or not. If they believe it will give them the edge, would you allow them to take it? Would it be "ok" for our professional athletes to do it? Again, do NOT give me that crap about how pot is WORSE than PED's. I have already given you several examples that these drugs when used to excessive levels WILL be deadly. THAT is scientific fact.
It seems that the media, MLB, and even many fans want to punish the "few" who were caught, instead of addressing the real problem, and facing the problem for what it really is. That problem can be stated very simply.
THE USE OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS IS DRUG ABUSE.
And we need to address it as such.
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