Steroid Madness

So Manny apologized huh? Sigh....

Look: I'm a HUGE baseball fan. I LOVE America's pastime, but this steroids in baseball bit is beyond old. And honestly, I've stopped blaming the players. I've got to take a stand here - THE PLAYERS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM! Nope...the front office is the problem! The system that's in place today is practically encouraging players to make the same performance enhancing drug decision over and over and over again.
Everyone knows the long ball sells. Hit the long ball - make the CA$H. Nutrition research, workout regimens, and perfected hitting techniques can only take a player so far (about as far as everyone else). So aside from the few genetic marvels in the sport, the greedy players must result to performance enhancing drugs. And why not? The penalties for getting caught are a JOKE!
The root of the problem is an inverted risk/reward relationship. As it sits today, the reward for taking performance enhancers FAR outweighs the risk. They don't think they'll get caught in the first place, and if they do...so what? Do we honestly believe these players when they sit in front of a camera and apologize to their teammates, the sport, and it's fans? I don't buy it for a second!
Why? Because several million green reasons show up in their bank accounts each year reassuring them that steroids was the right decision in the first place. In fact...when they return to the playing field after their vacations (suspensions), those same green reasons start showing up again like nothing ever happened. If there is any integrity to a convicted player's apology, it's to his paycheck which we can only hope will take a hit in the form of lost endorsements.

But I'm not one to make a complaint without offering a solution...so here it is: MLB needs to quit encouraging roids and take a real stand on the issue (no more of these 10 game suspensions). Any player caught using illegal substances to improve their performance will have their pay capped at the US national average for the duration of their career. Not the MLB average; I'm talking - $40K a year like the rest of us. However, the team must keep paying the full contract. The $$$ above and beyond the $40K will go back to the team's season ticket holders (cause let's face it...the only ones really getting screwed in today's steroids boondoggle are the fans).


Leete


PS. Perhaps the money going back to the fans will help stimulate the economy and we'll get a 2-fer!