blah blah steroids in baseball blah blah Clemens blah Barry Bonds blah blah blah

i am so thoroughly over hearing about steroids in baseball, and really all sports, at this point, that it really isn't even funny anymore. we get it. we all know it's a problem. and not just in baseball, but in sports across the board. yes, i think we should put a stop to it as best we can, but it's a problem that was generated, in large part, by the media & was embraced, even if indirectly, by the fanbase.

to say that it has so badly smudged the reputation of the game, and blemished its integrity to the point that it will so irreversible damage, is ludicrous. that just implies baseball's reputation was pristine before that. hello, Pete Rose gambling? and Black Sox? and substances being found on bats & balls? i really think PAPEL-BLOG nailed my feelings on it with this statement:
You really think the same players who threw spitballs and corked their bats and stole signals and bet on their teams wouldn't have taken HGH if they'd had the chance?

there have been issues & scandals throughout every era of sports. as far as i can tell, people are still watching baseball & football & even basketball (sorry... i know some of you are fans) in droves. the ::cue ominous music:: Steroid Era is only going to be beaten like a dead horse discussed ad nauseum until the media drums up the next Big Scandal.

i think there is so much we don't know & won't ever know, because we can't go back in time, that we just need to consider this a wake-up call, clean up the mess that's been made, and move forward. as the wise PAPEL-BLOG has stated:
if the steroid controversy has proved anything, it's that most of the time they don't even work that well and when they do work, it's only for a little while and then you suffer a bunch of painful and ultimately career ending injuries and the league should dedicate itself to reducing future use of steroids through an independent testing program as well as prevention education (perhaps by hanging a poster of Jason Giambi in every clubhouse, with the caption "Do you really want to end up looking like this?")...

seriously. that part about Greasy McSquarehead being the poster child for "this is your body on steroids"? freaking hilarious. and probably the most effective deterrent possible. because, really, who wants to look like *that*.