Selig Causes Flatline, Pulls Plug on MLB

Well Major League Baseball , it looks like you have run out of options. You are dying and there isn’t much left to be done. The doctors have left you for dead, the only question now is when to pull the plug? Dr. (Commissioner) Bud Selig has been monitoring your status for several years now, but he seems unable to stop the bleeding. But before we say goodbye to the sport that helped us dream about game-winning grand slams and pitching the perfect game, lets examine exactly how we have gotten to this point.
Once the most popular sport in the United States, baseball is barely on the radar these days. At this point, it is beginning to look like a part of America’s past as opposed to its pastime. How though, could a game of such mental and physical toughness, grace, power and beauty suddenly end up flat lined on the gurney of public opinion? Well, it happened quickly, before anyone knew what was going on. In less than a decade baseball went from being on top of the world to six feet under it.
The year was 1998 and Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa took sports fans everywhere on a storybook ride it won’t soon forget. As the summer drew on the two were neck and neck in homeruns, the winner seemed poised to pass Roger Maris’s single season record of 61. As you may recall, McGwire shattered the record hitting 70 homeruns that season. Youngsters everywhere loved the two larger than life figures and were considered role models by Little Leaguer’s everywhere.
Things seemed alright in the years that followed the epic record chase. However, in 2002 things began going down hill. At the All-Star game in Milwaukee, commissioner Bud Selig’s hometown, the game went into extra innings and was eventually declared a tie. A tie! In baseball! This prompted the genius idea of giving the league who wins the All-Star game home field advantage in the World Series. Baseball then went on a huge “This time it counts” kick, which, surprisingly, no one bought into. In fact, in the six World Series since the All-Star game has begun to “count” the team with home field advantage has only won three out of six World Series’. Thus prompting the question, “Does it really count?”
While this single blow would not have been nearly enough to kill baseball, this was, sadly, only the beginning of the end. In the years following the All Star game debacle, baseball was hit with another set back; steroid use. In the mid-2000’s Bud Selig hired former United States Senator George Mitchell to investigate steroid use in Major League Baseball. The findings were astonishing. Among other things, former and current players were found guilty of using steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. While some players you have never hear of, some of them were making headlines as the investigation was going on. Barry Bonds was in the midst of chasing down the most hallowed record in all of sports. Hank Aarons 715 homeruns was a record that had stood for over 30 years. As Bonds got closer and closer to breaking the record he was forced to deal not only with pressure from the media, but fans as well. Fans at opposing ballparks made signs, jeered him, and one fan even through a syringe onto the field in Bonds’ direction. Other superstars such as Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa are also suspected (or proven) users of performance enhancing drugs.
Then, the blow that may have done baseball in for good. This weekend it was revealed that Alex Rodriguez was guilty of using a performance enhancer. Not only is Rodriguez a baseball superstar, he was many fans hope of bringing dignity back to baseball. See, at his current pace, A-Rod is on pace to break Barry Bonds’ homerun record in four or five seasons. This, to many fans, would bring respect back to the record, as Rodriguez was thought to be clean. Now that he has admitted to using banned substances, it appears that the record will remain tarnished for many years to come.
So Dr. Selig, it seems as though it is time to face the music and finish what you’ve started. While you certainly haven’t done this damage on your own (players, owners and other must be blamed as well), you have been the largest single hand in destroying the game we all once loved as kids. It’s sad that you must take this blame on your shoulders, but while all of these atrocities happened under your watch, you must carry most of the blame. So ask your patient if it has any last requests before you pull the plug for good on America’s past pastime.

Back When I Was A Kid....

As someone in their early 20's I can hardly recall "The Good Old Days" or "The Old School". I do, however, remember the early 1990's. I remember it as a time when sports were pure, at least more so than they are today. It was a time when the only things that mattered were wins and losses. The day after a big game you could open a newspaper (for those of you younger folks a newspaper is an ancient method used for acquiring information about the world and read about the key plays which decided the game. Today, however, you are more likely to read about the player who yelled at his coach for not giving him the ball enough or the player who got arrested at the strip club after the game. It may not be until halfway through the sports section until you find out what the score of the game was! This type of information just doesn't sell.

Which brings me to my next point. I understand that sports is a business and business' are out to make money, but wouldn't it be nice to do stories on things that actually pertain to the games being played on the field? Most television, newspaper and magazine companies are far more likely to cover off the field issues than breaking down a teams defensive scheme or something of the like. There have been more segments dedicated to off field topics such as Terrell Owens doing sit ups in his drive way than I can count on both hands and feet! For about a month I thought "SportsCenter" had changed its name to "The Bromance of Donovan McNabb and Terell Owens." Believe it or not, there was once a time when ESPN employed more news anchors than legal analysts. It was a magical time long ago before players named Tank, Pacman and Cinco, before referee scandals and before Mitchell reports.

It seems that these media outlets choose an issue that they are going to turn into a big story and henceforth discuss for a few weeks until another "newsworthy" story appears for them to beat into the ground for the subsequent few weeks. Again, I get it. It's a business and people, for whatever reason, seem to enjoy hearing about what touchdown celebrations were performed that weekend and whether or not Jose Canseco is either the biggest snitch in the history of pro sports or the biggest liar. Some of us, however, enjoy sports. You know, the game part.

I still hold out hope that one day, like a bad cold, this will all just go away. I won't, however, hold my breath.