Jemele parks one off Pettitte

Good column.

 

I think the columnists' take in almost every situation I have read is way too simple.

It's not just black and white and cheating. There are shades of gray and this thing is not as simple as cheating or not cheating.

Can we get a little more depth with our opinions here instead of going along with the conventional wisdom and sound bites?

This issue is complex. Do you differentiate between Pettitte (assuming he is truthful and this is a one time thing) and a habitual user like Clemens and Bonds?

Where do you draw the line?

To equate Pettitte and Clemens in the same breath is intellectually lazy. To call them all cheaters is simplistic.

These guys didn't cheat the game. That is just so simplistic. There is a moral argument here that is more nuanced.

What is an athlete supposed to do? If the difference between you being in triple a and the major leagues is using steroids, you would be foolish not to. Especially under the permissive conditions of the late 1990s.

Take the high road and keep your integrity? easy for us to say.

These athletes are under a lot of pressure to perform, and they are well paid. They need to deliver results, and no one complained when they did.

Now, it is against baseball rules to use these drugs and if they are caught they should be punished, and if baseball feels severely, then severely.

But, the amount of sanctimony emanating from the chattering class of sports journalists is a bit lazy. X = X. Not exactly.

If Pettite felt HGH could get him back from injury quicker, tell me why he shouldn't do it? He is getting paid millions and his team needs him. It is a tremendous amount of pressure to deal with, and I don't think many of the players thought it through enough and made the jump to using the HGH to cheating the sport.

He felt it was helping the team, which it is in a sense. By enhancing his performance and getting paid more money, with more accolades, and more wins...last time I checked that is what he is supposed to do, isn't it?

It's just pushing the envelope. Of course artificially enhancing your performance is pushing it to far. But, to not acknowledge that there is some gray area here is just lazy.

What should we do?

Take the records with a grain of salt. Bonds to me isn't the best HR hitter of all-time because of roids. Clemens isn't the best right hander ever because of roids.

The era is tainted. If at the time it wasn't a problem, then why is it now?

 

Did you RTFA? She isn't saying Pettitte is the same as Clemens or Bonds. She's saying his apology was insincere.

As to what he should have done to heal...as she says...most of us go to a doctor and receive legal medication.

 

JF: The reason Petitte shouldn't take HGH to help is because they are not prescribed by a doctor. As a high-salaried player, he can have access to the best medical opinions in the world.

Jemele has an interesting column, but there are a couple of points. Santangelo is retired so he can be more open. It isn't as if people haven't been open - Ken Caminiti and Jose Canseco were quite open.

A couple of things - most sports writers don't understand steroids and HGH and really aren't qualified to provide an accurate report without quoting experts.

What is worse is that many sportswriters seem to lack an understanding of legal rights. A player has to protect himself or herself and their familieis and their associates. You should never admit to a crime without talking to a lawyer. Were players shown the evidence against them before this was done?

There is a lot of high and mighty morality expected of baseball players, while US government officials are allowed to conceal information which should be public record and has a lot greater effect.

 

It looks like you missed some parts of her argument. For example, a large part of her premise is that she does not believe Pettitte when he claims to have used HGH only twice.

 

See us in twenty years, with raisins . . . among other destroyed organs.

We'll see who was f'n smart, then.

 

Someone who chooses not to use steroids and risk their longterm health is foolish? Wow.

And what about the triple-A player who takes steroids hoping to get to the majors but still doesn't make it?