[nanwynnfan]

bedir/kflo/zen:

During this entire messy collision among MLB, players, agents, trainers, owners, Congress and lawyers, I have repeatedly argued, ad nauseam, what I consider "givens," that many here have challenged, but none [as I see it] has refuted:

1. MLB has some very clearly defined [and understood by anyone literate] rules that have been enforced, at some considerable cost to known violators;

2. MLB is a business, profit oriented, that has undergone within a single generation, strikes and diverse player headline stories that have been less than praiseworthy [Canseco, Belle, Bonilla], resulting in a recession that need an economic stimulus to get fans back to the game;

3. Home runs put fannies back in seats, eyes back on tv sets [often on paid services], cars in the parking lots and lines at the concession stands; renewed product endorsements; in-house media networks, and an aggregate sacred cash cow that would make a Hindu evaporate in awe;

4. MLB players, having survived, LL, parents, wild-eyed coaches, college dorms, minor league buses, and whimsical trades, make it to the Big Show for decidedly limited openings and into decidedly brief career longevity;

5. MLB is ultra-competitive for open slots in this very restricted universe; and competition is unrelenting;

6. Training, conditioning, nutrition and supplementation are all aids to give a competitive edge in strength, resilience, healing and overall physical "soundness," with physicians, nutritionists, trainers, and pharmacists expected to "do no harm" to therir clientele ... some items having side effects that couls abbreviate or end already limited career opportunities;

7. Fans, being human, love the guy who tries, and adore the guy who excels [if he's playing for the fan's team]; and, historically, fans have always flocked to guys who are, like them, human, flawed, and given to getting an edge by whatever means - on, or off the diamond: Ruth, Rose, Stanky, Perry, Ford ..... up to a point McGwire and Sosa];

8. Referring back to #1 and #2 above, MLB has also had a "wish list" of rules, memo distributions [heeded or not], inspired by headlines in other, individualized sports, drug and supplement categorization laws [in flux and ever-changing], NOT OFFICIAL and therefore not taken much to heart, in a climate of spinning turnstiles and tremendously improved cash flows;

9. We moralize over [essemtially] a generation of play [1988-2007], 20 year span, wherein Congress, MLB, the law, the players, the tests, the RULES became formalized @ 2003; and human nature and implementation being what they are, could reasonably be enforceable starting in 2004.

My bottom line: Start with April, 2004 and do not look back for retroactive penalization of activities prior to that date for any kind of retribution or penalty exacted for behaviors during the preceeding periods. You have no legal or moral leg to stand on.

Bringing in Congress, witnesses, players, studies and lawyers to nail "criminals' for perjured testimony for anything prior to April, 2004 is a massive Siberian cluster#$@* that is tragically laughable.

One more human time: I'd rather support a player with a Spartan workout ethic, who supplements those rigors with enhancements [vitamins, minerals, chemicals, muscle enhancers, mixed supplements - name it] than a sleazeball administrator who wants credit for "cleaning up the game;" an owner who "exacts proper penalties from cheaters;" a trainer who turns on his client when he should have been protecting him in the first place, and any others [including rabid fans] whose heroes are noe felons.

Even Mitchell exhorts us to move on.

You want to punish these guys? Here's my penalty: 360 logged community service hours of talking to kids [and prospective athletes], 10-21, on the issue of illegal supplements, the dangers, penalties, and risk-reward involved. the 360 hours is based on 2 academic years, 180 days in session/year, an hour being determined by standard length of a scheduled class [40 minutes, 50 minutes, etc.].

I would think that a tour, where two such classes per day were covered @ 10 hours/week, could be satisfied within a year.