Here it is, all 409 pages of it: http://assets.espn.go.com/media/pdf/071213/mitchell_report.pdf Buddha, I expect a full report by tomorrow. Do a search on "Clemens" and "Rondell White" and "Logan" as in Nook Logan.
Sheff is there too. Not sure I have enough to read through it, although if I need something to lull me to sleep I'll be sure to dig in.
Or a report on the Michigan economy and how they can help keep the rest of the country from a recession. Maybe that 20 million dollar budget could be put to better uses. Oh yeah; 20 million to the government is like a dime to the rest of us. You would look at it twice if you saw it on the sidewalk but probably not worth bending over to pick up.
Yeah, but what does it all mean? What will this do to the game - will it become the next version of pro wrestling? Can a fan really watch a game now knowing that some reasonable share of players are artificially inflating their skills? By golly what kind of example is this setting for our kids (those of you with them) anyway? To roscoe's question... In the end, it has to be a government investigation. The foxes clearly have had time to police the henhouse, and just as clearly have utterly failed to do it. These are the kinds of hands that senators love to be seen slapping.
Hmmm...let's see here... $20M divided by 409 pages comes out to....... about $49,000 per page. That kinda makes $600 hammers and toilet seats look like genuine bargains It's no wonder many people around the world scorn us...we're stupid!
But we have money. And if you have any brown people in your country, tell them to watch the (the F word) out, because we are going to bomb them.
Some general observations: I saw the original press confernce and it appeared that Senator Mtichell was running for congress again. In the Selig rebuttal/response it appeared that he had not read the report yet? Of course the Union boss denies everything...deny..deny..deny I wonder if Roger Clemens pitches another 2-3 years if this report is not released Does he and Bonds get asterisks next their names in the HOF snd when does a picture of one of his CY Young trophies with a needle sticking out of it appears in the papers... How come there was no mention of Sosa and McGuire in the report and are they at home gloating knowing that they should be in it If you look at the last 30 pages of the report in appendix D, it appears that some drug lorb by the name of Kirk Radowski made a mint off these players and finally..no wonder Halle Berry left David Justice
My rules would be... Every player going forward who tests positive for steroids/ HGH: gets a 1-year suspension without pay faces mandatory testing every 90 days for remainder of career disqualifies themselves from all future all-star games and HOF has to have an asterisk on their uniform directly after their number. If the penalties are meaningful for the player and their employer, then the testing will be less critical. The threat of being caught would outweigh the 80% likelihood of getting away with it on each individual test. I really don't see why the player's union doesn't want steroids out of the game. All these cheaters are taking huge amounts of money from the honest guys. Another thought would be to put a clause in contracts that invalidates them if the players ever tests positive. In a way, the player is committing fraud against their employer by artificially boosting their resume before signing a huge contract.
Sounds good to me. But the player testing positive should be submitted to a number of further testings within a reasonable time frame before an ultimate decision on whether or not to enforce the penalties.
Bear with me as I venture into sci-fi nerd land here. What happens to baseball in the event that genetic alteration, safe HGH, and other body enhancements (with no negative side effects) become common in the general population in 50 years say? Will baseball players be required to be 200 lb weaklings with circa 2000 bodies? It seems like we are rapidly approaching a date, certainly within 100 years, when this will be a reality. Will it lead to the death of sports? Will athletes be allowed to enhance, but only to a specified level, like race cars? I'm just interested in the threshold between forcing athletes to protect their health and preventing them from cheating. Right now they are equally important it seems. What if they are in opposition, i.e. preventing the cheating harms their health (like in my future scenario).