The Baseball Scandal
It may never reach the notoriety of the Black Sox Scandal of last Century (say it ain't so, Joe) but it probably should. The latest reverberations through the hallowed fields of dreams are all about "performance-enhancing" substances. Does Barry Bonds record need a footnote: "All records done under artificial assistance"? DOes Jason Giambi get to add a tag line to his name: "Better performance through chemistry"? Does it really matter?

I for one think it does. And it matters a lot. The message is clear- if you can get away with it, do it. Just because the powers-that-be in Major Leage Baseball were afraid to take a stand on steroids, etc. - do it even though it is supposedly illegal. If it wins the game- hey, that's what it's all about, isn't it?

It is a matter of ethics and morals and honesty and finding ways around the rules and a lot of other things that are the results of greed or strong desires or feelings of entitlement. It is a matter of whether there can be integrity in what our "heroes" tell us about themselves and their sports.

Does it make Barry Bonds an inferior athelete? No. He has amazing talent and gifts beyond the imagination of most of us. Did he need to use these substances? No. Neither did Giambi or many others. They may have wanted an edge- that millisecond of response or muscle that makes them more than average. But he has now raised questions in a lot of people's minds. Can we ever be sure?

Baseball must do something now. This is not going to go away. This is a big issue, perhaps as big in our day and age as the betting scandal of 1919. Baseball brought in Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as its great commissioner. For better or worse he ruled with an iron fist and banned those involved. We don't have a Landis (nor should we have one as strict as he was) who can be tough. We need, however, Selig and the still entrenched owners to take a stand for honesty. The NBA has just done that (again, for better or worse.) Let's see what MLB can do.