By: John Saflarske

John Saflarske — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:46:47 +0000

Selena Roberts is a joke. How does someone who abused her journalistic license so flagrantly in her condemnation of the Duke lacrosse players ever get air time on ESPN and MLB TV? Do you want to be a journalist? Report the goings-on in those behind-closed-door meetings between congressmen and lobbyists. Better yet, I’m still waiting for a friggin straight answer to explain exactly what our troops are doing in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr. Rake’s ridiculous falsehoods, like the terms “brave patriot” and “prophet”, are not only over the top, they’re around the world and over the top again. Get a clue or up the medication.

By: John Saflarske

John Saflarske — Fri, 08 May 2009 01:18:19 +0000

To all of you bandwagon jumpers and hypocrites, it’s too late now, steroids cannot be considered cheating. I’m so sick and tired of seeing the hacks all over the media who are now taking their firm stance against steroids. The cry of “cheater” is so prevalent when there is a steroids discussion that I am forced to take you all down a few pegs. Let me start with a hypothetical scenario to demonstrate my first point.
Seeing that I’m a Met fan, lets imagine that Luis Castilla makes a sweep tag at Jimmy Rollins, who is attempting to steal second. It’s a close play and the umpire calls Mr. Rollins out. Luis walks up to the umpire and says “Excuse me, sir, but I’m afraid Mr. Rollins was safe. I missed the tag.” Do you believe that anyone; Luis’ teammates, the Mets organization, the media or the fans, would commend Luis for his honesty? On the contrary, I can practically feel the ripples of outrage running through the baseball community, even though this is only my imagination.
My point is that in team sports, one is expected to do WHATEVER it takes to win. So much so, that the simple (and possible) situation I just described is completely unimaginable. There is only one way to cheat in team sports, as we all know, and that’s to take a dive. Fudging an at bat, or throwing a ball into the stands purposely (Mr. Sheffield), is what should be considered cheating. All you Johnny-come-latlies who are now plastering “cheater” all over the media are acting like spoiled schoolhouse losers out on the playground, trying to distract us from the fact that you got your butts whooped by a better team. It’s pretty pathetic.
My second point of contention is the implication that steroid use is comparable to narcotics use. The common terms such as “banned substances” or “controlled substances” do a great disservice to suspected steroid users, although I don’t think the media minds this at all. The mention and images of hypodermic needles are being used over and over again to establish this link. As a former drunk and drug addict, I must insist that using narcotics is a much greater act of selfishness than using steroids. Going back to my previous point, I can picture unscrupulous agents saying, “Come on, do it for the team” or members of the team organization sending a borderline player to “certain” physicians who are a little too knowledgeable about steroids. The use of narcotics is detrimental to both the individual and the team. There should be no true comparison or innuendo.
Finally, the abuse of one’s Hall of Fame vote to make a value judgment. These men should not be judging a player’s character. It is not up to the Hall of Fame to levy punishments. How many of them are going home and smacking their wives around or doing lines of blow? If they want to start judging character, let them start by removing players like Ty Cobb and Mickey Mantle from the Hall of Fame. I’d rather let a steroid user watch my kid than a drunken bastard. It’s a little late to develop morals and scruples after we’ve turned our back on the dishonesty involved in team dynamics for well over a century. Can you imagine an honest player refusing to do steroids in the 1980s and his teammates goading him on with jeers of, “what are you, scared?” and “you don’t have what it takes”. I certainly can. Where were all these pillars of morality back then?

Comments on: Manny Should Be Ashamed Of Himself

By: John Saflarske

By: John Saflarske