This may be GQ or GD … I did a quick search but didn’t see anything addressing this question.
I am struck by the fact that our govt has now spent a good amount of time investigating the “doping scandal”. IIRC they are having more hearings this week.
Lots of questions…
I have only paid marginal attention at best to this whole deal (or sports at large for that matter) … To my understanding (which could be very wrong) most of these substances are not quite illegal, just banned by MLB/etc. So if players are “cheating” (debatable in itself), or if their industry is encouraging bad health habits … isn’t that MLB’s internal trouble? Even if the drugs are all illegal narcotics, do we need a major national investigation about the self destructive habits of our “entertainers”?
What is the govt’s main interest? Where is the line drawn in the govt’s interest in sports? I’m opposed enough to the drug war at large, but this seems absurd even in that larger absurdity. As a war on drugs issue, shouldn’t it be a more simple law enforcement deal? Catch the dopers, and lock 'em up like the rest of us heathens! Is that what congress is out to do? How many other drug investigations involve congressional/senate hearings?
Or is my labeling of athletes as “entertainers” too far from reality in today’s America? They are not just entertainers anymore, but role models and heroes even! (I wish that was sarcasm, but it’s so true it’s scary.) We must save them from doping to save our very way of life from doping! The doping domino-effect! So it’s not just a business with junkie employees, it’s Our National Moral Values at stake! … ?
And why do they not go after other businesses that encourage drug use … Hollywood? Transportation? (Or to really light it up … our military?) Heck, I’d bet people are killed every day by juiced up truckers, while Congress is talking baseball. WTF? (I know they do discuss trucker regulations, and even changed them in the last year or so, that’s just an example…)
I just can’t help but feel, “don’t they have something more important to discuss?”
MLB operates under an antitrust exemption granted by Congress. When Congress speaks MLB sits ups and pays attention. If they don’t Congress can take apart MLB likea tinkertoy by revoking the exemption. History of Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption
Interesting link. Mostly explains the factual answer to my question I guess. But also raises many questions about the anti-trust deal. By just skimming some info in that link, it seems to be based on a very outdated understanding of the game/business. And I assume the NFL was not good enough for such a deal. Thus Arena Football, XFL, etc. Strange that baseball is special. Any other sports with antitrust deals? Why should any of them have one in such a proudly capitalist country?
And I am sure Jonathan’s answer holds equal truth…
This whole thing is just for show, IMO, evidenced by the lack of subpoena for Barry Bonds. MLB and the MLBPA are now fighting it. But if it leads to Congress revoking the antitrust exemption, maybe some good can come of it.
These hearings are a load of canine poop (we’re not in The Pit … yet). Congressmen don’t have enough time to read legislation such as the PATRIOT Act*, but they have time to wring their hands over juiced up entertainers? That pisses me off to no end.
Nope. No other professional sports leagues existed in the US when the Supreme Court made that decision. And as carterba pointed out, nobody has been inclined to change a ruling which was clearly a mistake.
There is a real issue here, because anabolic steroids are a schedule III contolled substance , and there is growing evidence that Major League Baseball turned a blind eye to rampant abuse by its players. And while these hearings may simply be grandstanding, it seems reasonable for somebody to hold them accountable.
Our senators are not strangers to the facts of media life. If they can generate front page news by having sports stars testify, they can divert attention from other things they may be doing.
More time spent investigating drugged-up athletes means less time spent on less glamorous stuff, like how a gay escort model with false credentials got immediate access to the White House Press Pool, or who leaked the identity of an undercover CIA agent.
They’re illegal without a prescription. Yes, it IS a bad example for young athletes and dangerous for the athletes using in the long term. But mostly this is an opportunity for grandstanding by politicians.
I saw one writer on ESPN speculate that Bonds was not subpoenaed because it could compromise the larger BALCO case, so the Justice Dept. might have asked the Senate not to get him involved. (The Senate hasn’t really given a reason.) It makes sense to me, since there’s no other reason you wouldn’t serve him.