SteveSilver.net

Steroids Are Bad, Mmmmkay?

All I can say about today's Congressional hearings into steroids in baseball is, good for Mark McGwire. In the middle of an 11-hour grandstanding session, McGwire had the dignity to refuse to assist in the embarrassing charade put forth by members of both parties.

I can say two things about the House Government Reform Committee: They try to grandstand, and they can't even do THAT right: led by chairman Tom Davis and ranking Democrat Henry Waxman, the committee chose to convene 11 hours of testimony to coincide exactly with the first 11 hours of the NCAA tournament, on St. Patrick's Day. And for the first time probably ever, they got me to take Bud Selig's side. Murray Chass in the Times has it right: the committee "wasted hours and hours by grabbing hold of a phony issue and refusing to let go."

Yes, I agree that steroids are a problem, and should be cut down on. And both baseball and the union have taken steps in recent months to combat the problem, something that should have happened years ago. But comparing the problem to the Enron debacle? Please. No one lost their life savings here, and the senators' attempts to play the "victims' families" card was especially tiresome- as were the rantings of the sadly senile pitcher-turned-Senator Jim Bunning.

Even worse was how ridiculously ill-informed the members of the committee were about the game and its policies. My favorite part was probably when Chris Shays was interrupted mid-yell by a staffer, who very clearly pointed at one of the witnesses and mouthed the words "he's right!" Another lowlight was when one congressman attempted to invoke the death of former Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler in an anti-steroid argument, and couldn't even be bothered to pronounce Bechler's name correctly.

So I don't blame McGwire. Unlike his truly pathetic former "Bash Brother," Big Mac actually made friends in the game, and had a positive impact on it- so forgive him for not ratting out everyone he ever played with.