Well not quite, but spring training is here. My local teams, the Giants and A's, both play their first spring training game today. Tim Lincecum is even pitching today. Very exciting!
Of course it's been an ugly time lately for Major League Baseball. Everyone is upset about Alex Rodriguez and his use of steroids in the past. I have mixed feelings on this. First, I don't care that A-Rod used steroids. I don't care who used them. I don't find any difference between a guy using steroids or using "legal" supplements or sophisticated weight training or getting a cadaver's ligament sewn to their knee when they tear their ACL. These are all examples of technology allowing athletes to be better athletes than has ever been possible before. They are bigger, stronger, faster, and they are able to play at a high level for a longer amount of time. Does this mean that as technology progresses, that the sports may change so much that it turns off fans? Yeah, maybe. Perhaps it has already started.
All of that being said, I hate dishonesty even when it is required. I don't blame A-Rod for lying about using steroids until evidence was surfaced that contradicted him. I just can't stand to hear the PR crap that he recites to Peter Gammons or at press conferences. How bad for A-Rod would it be if instead of saying "I was young and stupid" he said "I wanted to hit as many home runs as possible because the more I hit, the more money I made, so I took steroids." I know he's got to say that he's not using now and that he has to minimize the amount of time that he did use them, so I can live with these lies. But wouldn't we all be better off if people just said "I took it so that I could make more money, be more famous, see myself on SportsCenter more often."
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