The A-Rod poll

[JohnU]

Those who know the Onion will get a chuckle out of this one.
They did a poll to determine what America thinks ought to happen to A-Rod.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Really ? Someone got paid for that you know.

You can't punish A-Rod, cause he's already been paid nearly $200 mil, he earned cheating, they can't get back. They can stop it from continuing though. Might be a good idea. It's a message to others- not the one they portray, but rather, if you do the crime, better keep dancing to the music MLB wants, and stay out of Federal investigations, cause we won't know you then. At least it's a deterrent.

 

[JohnU]

Onion is one of the least reverent online entertainment sources ever.

Here's a clip they did on Calipari a couple of years ago that is a sidesplitter.

Kentucky Violated NCAA Rules While Recruiting Basketball-Playing Dog | Video | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

 

[Redsfan1507]

Some mistakes can't be undone, and PEDs are one if them. It's quicksand, fed by a massive amount of money. Back in the infancy, Lyle Alzado, Ken Caminiti days of injecting lethal doses of Dynabol didn't scare people off, it just created an opportunity for "biomedical science" to fund R&D on designer drugs, doping techniques, and ever "safer", more dynamic "conditioning"...Millionaire pro athletes of every flavor, billionaire franchise owners, Olympics, MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, TV revenue, advertising dollars, created a mountain of demand, and unlimited funding. Profits and salaries skyrocketed, as endurance and performance did. Ratings increased.

Athletes and the manufacturing and distribution entities were the easiest and most obvious targets for Federal investigation...any time that much money is flowing, the Feds notice. Like the illegal drug trade, unscrupulous entities arise. Unfortunately, that much money also entices "legitimate" businesses and people, like Franchise owners, Commissioners, and some legal, judicial and executive representatives to look the other way, cover up their knowledge and/or involvement, to keep the profits rolling.

It isn't just the users or producers or distributors of PEDs at fault. It's the businesses paying the salaries funding all if this, and they get their income from you and I...consumers and fans.

Banning A-Rod isn't going to stop the machine.

 

[JohnU]

I think you're missing the humor here.

 

[RegentDenali]

NYC votes for public execution?

Thought they were against guns and capital punishment?

 

[JohnU]

I think a lot of people in New York own guns.
Dude, it's the Onion.

The Onion.

 

[JohnU]

I also see Washington and New York think alike.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Now A-Roid wants a deal...and is dilusional enough to believe if he retires he still gets his contract paid. He IS right that it's a conspiracy to allow the Yankees to welch on the contract...he needs to spill the beans on Selig and MLB owners knowing full well and condoning PEDs, but he has a small problem- the same one Canseco had when he told nothing but the truth...he has no credibility, therefore no one will believe him...it doesn't help when your judge (Selig) is in on the crime, somehow had kept HIS credibility, and has the backing of all owners, and is opposed by a weak union, with not much to gain from defending a repeat offender.

 

[JohnU]

I just think he should be forced to listen to the MLB.tv commercials for the next 4 years.

 

[Redsfan1507]

He'll probably be doing them soon.

 

[JohnU]

Throneberry made a career out of being terrible at baseball.
McEnroe made a career out of being a jerk.
Jose Canseco has the right idea. Just con everyone.

 

[redsfan03]

I just think he should be forced to listen to the MLB.tv commercials for the next 4 years.

Nah, I think forcing him to watch the Reds would be a much more severe punishment.

 

[JohnU]

Did you ever notice that the more Welsh and Kelch go on about how great the Reds players do, it's almost like ... the very next play, they do just the opposite.

 

[Scorpion14]

I don't know how baseball can punish those like Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, McGwire and others when they knew darn well these guys were juiced up. Selig acted stupid like he had no idea but he would have to be a total idiot not to be able to see it. Those running the sport were making tons of money off all this hitting which created softball game scores. Now these same scheister's are trying to throw the players under the bus. Selig is nothing more than a lying sack of crap in regards to this issue.

 

[JohnU]

I guess this thread turned serious instead of the obvious satire that Onion presents.
Half the league is on the DL, out for 60 days, or in rehab, getting cut on, stretched, rebuilt, fixed or plotting to quit and sell insurance.

The PEDs are what kept these guys on the field. The team doctors knew it, the trainers knew it, the managers, the coaches, the players ... their agents ... the only folks who didn't know were the fans.

And Selig.

 

[Redsfan1507]

The Black Sox scandal damned near killed baseball. then along came Babe Ruth.

60 years later, the baseball strike damned near killed baseball. Fans were sick of millionaire crybabies and bad baseball. It was slow, boring, ho-hum. Then along came PEDs. Records fell, and attendance increased. Revenues, and salaries skyrocketed. New stadiums were built...along the architecture of small old parks when men were mortals and 350 feet was a long fly.

Of course Bud Selig condoned PEDs. They helped save the game, right ? Except he can't say that now that he's supposed to be policing the game. What if Keensaw Mountain Landed had made money on the Black Sox, or Bart Giamati had got a percentage from Roses bookie ? Ok, that may be a bad comparison to Selig... what if they kept THIER own jobs while doing nothing to players for THIER crimes ?

So, how does Selig keep his job ? The owners are in on it too, that's how.

 

[chico ruiz]

that's a oversimplified explanation of a century worth of cheating in baseball history 1507. there are a lot of moving parts in this mess. it took a long time to get to this point, and it will take a long time for it to unravel. i don't know that i would go as far as saying selig condoned the usage. of course, it's about the money. it's also about the lies and their persistence. pete lied for over a decade about the true nature of his betting. he's clown-like. palmeiro is a clown. clemens is a clown. rodriquez is a sick rich clown. this is the real "moneyball." they used ped's. i can forgive that. it's the lies and disingenuous things i read and hear that are screamed from an ivory tower that i'm taken aback by. zero self awareness and honesty in the face of adversity. it's not how you fall; it's how you get up. you did it. you got caught. now, take your lumps. and before you get more indignant with mlb, riddle me this 1507. would you have done ped's to get from pensacola or shelby to cincinnati? of course you would have.

 

[JohnU]

What happened with PED's was similar in a strange sort of way to a lot of changes in social rules.
When the players started using them, they were scarcely illegal because nobody thought much about it. It was like getting loaded and driving home. Back then, it was just 'be careful not to smash the garbage cans.'

Comparison to PED's? Yes, kind of ... it was after the players started using them that society turned on them ... society turned the players into monsters after a decade of really not much caring about the topic. HGH was actually legal. If a player used PED's in 1995, and somebody asked, he'd say ... it makes me quicker and I don't get hurt as much. Head nod ... yeah, good idea.

Then somebody said, PED's is cheating. Huh? Oh, yeah ... I guess it is ... and all of a sudden, the rules had changed.

The problem really wasn't a big deal until he PED's guys started screwing with the records of our revered baseball saints. Then and only then did mainstream America start caring about it.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Chico- in the early 80's I was already a used to be kind of low minor league catcher because of knee and shoulder injuries that took away 2 tools I needed-power and arm. There were PEDs then, although they were usually using them to gain those tools, not heal them at the time. To be honest, my fear then was more liver failure than having to find another line of work, but I chose to try to play with what my momma gave me. Ken Caminiti didn't, and he died. John Kruck had testicular cancer in the early 90's, a prime justified candidate for testosterone. He chose not to take it, and was lucky enough to have been ok with the money he already made, when he was done. It's a choice. Every criminal and good citizen make them, but they make different choices. Everyone is doing it, doesn't make it ok, until the rules say so, and you gotta question it then too.

I'm a baseball purist, and this whole mess is like taking a dump in the water supply. Credibility is hard to earn, and easy to lose. Bud Selig has none, and that can't be in the best interests of baseball. I think MLB either needs to address the issue completely, or not at all. MLB entities appear to be exempt, but they aren't without guilt, IMO.