Steroids and the American Past Time

   I remember the day when Big Mac hit his record breaking 62nd home run down
the left field line at Busch.  Like the rest of baseball nation, I watched with misty eyed
romanticism as he broke one of  baseballs most cherished records.  Yet,
if you fast forward to 2011,  McGuire is a virtual  pariah in the eyes of baseball purists.
Fine, he cheated.  But I say  this to all those fans at  Busch who cheered him on
and all of the baseball fans around  the nation who cheered him on that night.
You wanted a hero and you got it.  To me, all of the cries about purity and integrity
are nothing more than buyers remorse.

  You wanted baseball drama after a previous year of labor strife that nearly crippled
your beloved game.  Well, you got it.  Yes, I can hear the baseball purists screaming
for McGuire's scalp as they toss around words like cheater and liar.  Yes, Big Mac
cheated.  But baseball nation, you cheated yourself.  You cheated
yourself by simply not doing an eye test.  Wasn't it obvious what was going on
with McGuire when he morphed into a hulking mass of humanity?
Wasn't it obvious what was going on when his hulking frame turned
to glass?  Baseball and all of its fans conned themselves because
they wanted to believe in something that was simply a mirage.
There are no heroes in this life.  Athletes are people and people lie and they cheat
and they do dumb things.  You're mad at Mac because he fibbed.  Poor you, mister
and misses baseball.  Everybody fibs, there are no angels in this life.  And you Cubs
fans are just as guilty when it comes to your so called hero, Sammy Sosa.  Cub nation
was just as blind as Cardinal nation was.  Sosa didn't become a self serving
pariah after he walked out on his team at the end of the 04 season, he was always that
way.  Sammy, god bless em, just picked the wrong year to act like a self absorbed
millionaire.  Suddenly, an angry and disillusioned baseball city had buyers
remorse.  Suddenly, the very organization that enabled Sosa in the name of ratings
and ticket sales became the symbol of baseball justice.  Folks, Sosa was always a
ME guy.  ALWAYS.  That was before steroids AND after.   Ask yourself this, Cub nation?
Were you mad at Sammy for tainting your beloved game or were your mad because
Bud Selig and baseball manipulated you into seeing what you wanted to see.
You want to do your kids a service when you talk to them about the steroid era?
Tell them the truth.  Tell them that heroes don't exist.

  Grown men with declining skills take shortcuts when someone bigger
and stronger and younger threatens their place in the baseball food chain.
Tell me that you wouldn't sell your soul, tell me that you wouldn't do
anything to turn back the clock.  Bonds and McGuire and Sosa,
they were salesman.  Baseball fans, you brought what they were selling.
Sorry but there are no refunds and there are no exchanges;
you're stuck with some tainted nostalgia.  Your hearts lead you astray
baseball nation, deal with it.