Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Hey Sports Fans

I'm going to keep this short and simple. I don't understand why the baseball people continue to tiptoe around Barry Bonds, while the suspected use of steroids makes the news. I just don't understand how someone can skirt the issue while challenging the standing records made by men that really achieved their accomplishments by pure stamina and strength. It makes me so sad that the record of Babe Ruth is supposedly or allegedly beaten and Hank Aaron's is about to be surpassed or at least challenged. Why is it, that Barry Bond's personal medication habits are continually in media question, yet unproven, while he continues to "beat" the records set by men that literally accomplished what they did, by pure human endurance and discipline? I heard a quote on the radio from one of the baseball "officials" that they are not there to judge. Now, how is it that Vick has been "invited" to not attend training camp? Vick is making the news everywhere, and although he has not been found guilty, I would hardly say he is presumed innocent.
Can anyone explain what is happening here, and what is happening in the professional sports arena? Barry Bonds is presumed innocent and awarded, until proven guilty. Michael Vick has been tried by public opinion without a jury.
I am not advocating animal abuse, it is a horrible thing. But I am also not willing to condone physical self-abuse. If sports figures are going to be held to account or esteemed to be above accountability, by whim, who is mandating the legal proceedings?
Remember, until the jury says "guilty" the charges are referred to as allegations, regardless of everyone's presumed opinion or in spite of the evidence. Whereas testing for steroids have resulted in one more way to treat everyone as potential drug abusers, except the one that caused all this stir. It would seem a presumption of guilt, regardless, for all those that would follow Barry Bonds, yet the baseball commission cannot judge him . . .
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of G~d, and ye are not your own? New Testament

1 comment:

Jeff said...

Excellent post as always and I agree with you one hundred percent. I was an avid baseball fan until I reached 15 years of age, that's when the strike happened and the World Series was canceled. To me, that was a sacrelige, but with time, I might have grown out of it. Then more changes came along that I didn't care for, and the steroid scandal just took the cake. This didn't begin with Bonds. Look back to '98, when not one but two players broke Maris's (or Ruth's depending on how you look at it) single-season HR record. I was naive enough that at the time, I thought the BALL was juiced rather than the players.

While my family are still big fans, the game of baseball has been tainted beyond redemption for me personally.

I think the reason why the Vick scandal has elicited such an outrage is because you don't have to be a sports fan to be shocked and provoked by animal cruelty. Whereas if you aren't a sports fan (or baseball as in this particular example), a few athletes juicing up and breaking records illegitimately isn't going to be a big issue to you.

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