SHOULD WE REALLY CARE?

OK. Roger Clemens. Guilty? Not guilty? A bigger question in my mind is.....who cares? Do you? Really? Is this something that Congress should be wasting their time and our money on? Everyone in MLB went along for the steroid ride and looked the other way, Owners, fans and players. Why? Because it was good for business, not the game, business. Not too long ago baseball was dead. What brought it back? The long ball. Sosa and McGwire slugging it out and hitting home run after home run after home run. Today the game has achieved a popularity never before experienced in the history of the game. Are steroids to thank? I don't know. I do know this, however: Everyone loves to see the long ball. Who doesn't like to marvel at a 500 ft home run blasted out of the park or feel the anticipation when a guy like Bonds, who you expect to hit it out every time, stands at the plate. The thing to remember is this: It's just a game. Now, I know (especially to Red Sox fans), to say it's just a game is paramount to sacrilege. Some may say that it's a business and they would be right. But to most, it's still a game.

The simple fact is that in America, and most other places on Earth, people have an inner drive to be the best. Show me someone who doesn't hate to lose and I'll show you a loser. We all want to be the best at whatever it is we do in life. With that said, if you had a chance to make millions of dollars this year, but you had to take some HGH or some steroids would you do it? Most people experiment with drugs during their life for no good reason at all, never mind when there are millions of dollars on the line. When a guy like Gaylord Perry was throwing a Vaseline ball or Don Sutton was scuffing the ball with sandpaper was that cheating? I think we all know it was, but was it better or worse than this? Should Congress have intervened then? I agree that rules are rules but I just can't look past the fact that everyone knew what was going on here and just didn't care until now. How do you respect a person or an organization that allows the cheating because it is good for business and then takes a holier than thou attitude towards the problem that they embraced? So, did Roger cheat? I don't know. Probably. Did Barry cheat? Most likely. Does this ruin the integrity of the game? Isn't that what all this fuss is about? If not, then what is it about? Is baseball any better off today after dragging Roger through the mud than it was a month ago? I don't think it is. But I do know this: steroids or no steroids, I don't really care because it has no bearing upon real life. Will your life change if the game is drug free? I'd love to hear from someone who thinks it would. To myself and millions of other passionate and devoted fans, baseball is entertainment. A diversion from the harsh realities of everyday life. It's us, the fans, who make the game what it is and it will be nice when Congress stops wasting it's time on this ridiculous witch hunt and gets back to doing what they are paid to do, and that is, make this a better and safer place to live. If you show me how pulling ball players in to speak to Congress will do that, then I'm all for it. Until then, like my good friend Roger once said "it's just hogwash"