Why is Congress so fixated on steroids in sports?
PITTSBURGH – The Gulf Coast is a disaster area, gasoline costs $3 a gallon and this country is engaged in a war that seemingly has no end. Yet the issue of steroids in baseball had the attention of our elected officials last week.
Yes, it was another image-buffing, made-for-TV scold session wherein members of the Senate got to wag their fingers at the commissioners and union leaders of the major sports leagues (and the NHL).
Steroids are illegal without a prescription. There are laws covering their use and distribution.
But that apparently isn’t enough.
Polls say people are disgusted that baseball players may be using steroids, yet attendance figures and TV ratings indicate interest in the game has never been higher.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey said, “I have a 9-year-old grandson. He loves the Yankees. He looks up to the players. To him, they loom larger than life. I’d hate to have to explain to my grandson that this respect and admiration has been misguided.”
Memo to Sen. Lautenberg: Better sit the little guy down and explain some things to him before it’s too late. Tell him it’s OK to admire the skill of the baseball players, but a mistake to assume that athletic ability includes character.
Tell him about Mickey Mantle, a Hall of Fame Yankee, whose deathbed message was a warning not to duplicate his destructive, alcohol-fueled lifestyle. Mantle, hero to millions of kids, sadly admitted he’d failed as a father to his sons.
Tell him about Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich, the Yankees’ pitchers who made headlines in 1973 when they announced a “life swap” that involved wives, children and pets.
Tell him about Billy Martin, who was simultaneously married to two women during one of his Yankees managing stints.
Tell him about Luis Polonia, the Yankees outfielder who spent time in jail for a liaison with a 15-year-old girl.
And tell him why you made baseball’s trivial records a priority in a time of genuine national crisis.
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Fox Sports Pittsburgh’s Stan Savran is being courted by the Democrats to run for Congress against incumbent Tim Murphy.
Savran campaigned for John Kerry in the last Presidential election.
Maybe KDKA’s John Steigerwald, loyal advocate for the Good Ol’ Days, will be drafted by the Whig party.
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In a full-page newspaper ad, Pirates CEO Kevin McClatchy writes, “(GM) Dave Littlefield accepted the challenge of improving our minor league system and producing players from the system …We have seen the results of those efforts …”
He then lists nine young players. Six of them, including Zach Duke, joined the organization when Cam Bonifay was GM.
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Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown signed on to provide a web log for the team’s official website.
The most recent entry was on July 17.
It was that kind of season.
John Mehno can be reached at johnmehno@lycos.com