Bud Selig says what everyone else already knows:
Commissioner Bud Selig said that baseball draws more attention and criticism for its steroid revelations than does football during a radio interview on Tuesday.
"We are held to a higher and different standard," Selig said during a 17-minute appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.
The Commissioner engaged in discussion of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, whose four-time Super Bowl championship teams from 1975-80 have been alleged to have conducted in widespread use of steroids and included players who later admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. "We have to be very careful that we don't overreact to a situation," Selig said. "For instance, the comment in football that came out about the great Steelers teams of the '. Should they take those Super Bowls away from the Rooneys? I don't think so.
I don't know that we should be surprised about the different standards, and I don't know that we should even be bothered by them. At least not too terribly.
It's a fact that baseball lagged way behind football in instituting its testing regime, and to large degrees was dragged kicking and screaming into the testing world. When that happens, you have to expect that you're going to be criticized. This is especially true given that, because of the delay in getting to where we are now, baseball caused itself to go through a series of high-profile reveals (Bonds, Clemens, A-Rod, Sosa, the whole of the Mitchell Report) that football never had to endure.
As for the criticism itself? I view it as akin to the difference between having a parent who's hard on you as opposed to having one that doesn't give a crap. Sure, neither is ideal, but there's something good to be said about people caring enough about the integrity of baseball, its records, and the health of its players to criticize the game, even if they go overboard about it from time to time. It tells me that baseball still matters to people, and that's important. As for football? I get the sense that people largely don't care about such issues. They simply want to be entertained, and it's far more entertaining to watch faceless, gigantic dudes bash into one another than to see smaller guys do it.
Given that they change the rules and the length of the seasons every couple of decades, there is little magic to the NFL record book. What's worse, given how short the average NFL career is, there is little opportunity for fans to get close to the players. I question whether a large number of NFL fans know or care just how damaging the sport is to the men who play it. I question whether they realize the alarmingly high mortality rate among NFL players from the 70s and 80s. If they did, one would think that there would be far more scrutiny of PEDs in football -- PEDs that almost certainly still persist no matter how long the testing regime has been in place -- than there currently is. But it isn't there, and that tells you something about the average football fan or writer's reltionship to the game.
So even if I, like Bud Selig, occasionally note the unfairness of baseball's heightened standard, I'm more or less fine with it, and Bud should be too. Baseball is a better game than football in my view, and the passions it provokes are merely evidence of its underlying greatness.
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Mr Selig, the owners knew what was going on & they kept their mouths shut when the players grew as well as their stats. The dollars flowed in from the fans after the 94 strike.The owners were scared of the players union. I wonder how many more Ken Caminiti's there will be, dead before they are 50 years old.The players and the union were not innocent either, they knew what they were doing !Mr Selig, be a man and release the other 102 names that tested positive, in this way I can count the number of dead players, just like the phony wrestlers. I feel like a sap wasting my money on this crummy sport, owners and players, I feel like i just have flushed my money down the toilet ! What will I tell my nieces about the people involved & how many games I attended or watched on tv were on the level ! sincerely, a fustrated Met fan & a SAP
Releasing names that you have no right to release is not "being a man."
This is the kind of sports-talk-radio-generated crap that hurts the sport more than any PED has. Save the sanctimony and just go watch a sport where they have never used steroids.
What? Can't find one? Huh...
(To Craig: keep up the great work. It's funny how people treat the NFL the opposite of how they treat MLB - they pretty much try and change the subject, as if PED are kind of a given and they don't want to rock the boat.)
The above posters view baffles me. I think we all know that nearly every football player takes steroids yet no one particularly cares. I'm sure there are good reasons for that (mostly because I don't think people really care about the actual "game" of football but are more interested in other reasons - their fantasy team, gambling, social reasons). Yet we rarely see anyone (and I suspect the above poster wouldn't either) talk about how they've wasted their money watching the NFL, etc. If it's accepted in one sport (in reality, strongly encouraged) how can it be so bad for baseball players?
However, maybe I'm reading too much into colonials85 post. Maybe it's satire?
Gentleman, I knew a high school football offensive lineman, who didnt play past college, did steroids & bounced at local bars. He was divorced with a son , and he dropped dead in his bathroom at 34, from a heart attack. Another steroid user who played against my high school before my time was Lyle Alzado and he died later in his life trying to make a comeback with the Raiders.
Yes I do bet on football but i'm not into fantasy stats. I know that i'm old schooled but I also know sports is a business, the owners make the money, and the players would rather jeapordize their lives to make the extra buck.
I rather enjoy watching sports and discuss these opinons with you, than be 6 feet under.
If you watch football (which I assume you do since you bet on the games) why don't you think you "feel like i just have flushed my money down the toilet" like you do with baseball?
Your 2nd post has a completely different tone than the first. Was the first just an overreaction and the second a clearer statement of your beliefs?
Those are my opinions, I have gone to many baseball games with my grandfather & parents over 40 years. I do care about the players and wish I could have been out there also. My dad asks me if the games are on the level. Is today the 1919 White Sox. There is always controversy in baseball and sports, I want a clean game.
I know Cobb was a racist, Anson kept the blacks outside of baseball for decades, Ruth & Mantle were alcoholics and you know the rest. Selig & Fehr
contributed to todays mess, how do you explain to children about roids & peds, my mom & dad didnt. I know baseball players on my team i root for were tainted by drugs & alcohol. Just think about an adults love for the game.
Is this article serious? Higher standard, Schmandard. You want a higher standard check out professional cycling. You get caught once it is a 4 year ban from the top tier, and "only" 2 years from the lower tier. A second offense is an automatic 8 year ban from the sport - meaning your career is over. Oh and you have unannounced tests throughout the year and during races at like 6am race day, you must inform the testing agencies where you will be at all times during the year and if you are not where you told them you would be when they come to test then that is a missed test and automatic 2 year ban. Oh and when you race if you win or are randomly chosen, you must give urine and blood samples immediately, before even going to clean up. Now they are saying they will keep the blood, urine and hair samples indefinitely and will test retroactively when new tests are developed. If doping evidence is found they will strip you of wins and you must pay back winnings and in some cases past salary. AND BASEBALL HAS THE NERVE TO SAY THEY ARE HELD TO A HIGHER STANDARD? Give me a break!
Yet for some reason every single notable cycling event is characterized by PEDs being the central story. Why is that?