Oh Marky Mark...
Do you think anyone was surprised to hear your most recent confession? Stop the presses! Mark McGwire used steroids / performance enhancing drugs while playing baseball! Apparently his usage dates back all the way to the late 80s and even includes his home run record setting season in 1998! Does this come as a surprise to anyone? Does anyone even CARE?
Not without coincidence is the fact that McGwire admitted this only days after the Hall of Fame voting took place, putting Andre Dawson alone into the Hall this year. This was McGwire's second year on the ballot and while his votes did increase compared to his first year on the ballot, he was nowhere near the 75% that is needed to be put into the Hall of Fame.
Did McGwire think that the confession would eventually get his name into the Hall? He claims not, stating that he has kept this "secret" inside him for far too long and was just bursting to tell someone. Um Mark, we were all in on the secret to begin with! After all, you will be forever linked as a Bash Brother and we know what happened to your partner in crime...
McGwire's teammate and Bash Brother, Jose Canseco, has always been in the spotlight when it comes to steroid talks. It was at Canseco's infamous party where apparently everyone besides George Mitchell himself decided to inject themselves with performance enhancing drugs.
Mark, I'm glad you were able to get this off your chest 20 years after the fact. It must have killed you to keep it inside for oh-so long. You can stop struggling with your demons and move on with your life. Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Willie Mays, and Hank Aaron never had these kind of opportunities and advantages that players have nowadays. Shame on the likes of McGwire and Barry Bonds to taint the name of home run hitters and records. To taint the name of baseball! Laughably, McGwire stated that he is a better home run hitter than Babe Ruth and would have been able to perform back in the 20s with the great Bambino. Ummm Mark? George Ruth hit home runs on hot dogs and beer alone. He wasn't injecting anything into his ass. You must be delusional.
I would never have cared if McGwire was put into the Hall. He was a decent player that could hit a baseball far. He certainly brought attention back to baseball with his chase for home run history alongside Sammy Sosa. And I'll be the first to admit that steroids do not hit home runs; players still have to have hand-eye coordination and swing a bat at a ball coming in at 90 miles per hour.
But Mark, when it comes to your confession, I think it is too little and waaaay too late. About 20 years too late.
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Enough about personal life! Does it matter if he took them? NO! Its all about what you do on the field and we as a society bread Mark into what he became.
ReplyDeleteWe wanted the harder hits and the faster pitching. We turned our heads to drug use and imperfection in sports a long time ago and now, when we, as a society, have changed our minds, we question all athletes.
And its not just baseball; its all sports. By paying our athletes rediculous amounts of money, we breed corruption and poor role models for our kids. Take Tiger Woods, he cheated on his wife for years and because of a freak accident we have doomed him for life. Until this accident, he was the highest paid athlete and looked up to by many. How about the kids in college who leave early for all types of professional leagues. What does that say about our educational system!?
As a society we have not only allowed this behavior to continue but we are constantly breeding more poor behavior.
As for Marky Mark, I think it is great he came out to talk about his past but I would like it some day if we could fully see just how many players and role models are imperfect just like you and me.