Illegal Rocket Fuel?
Steroids in baseball. Who would have thunk it a few years back? Wealthy people cheating? I've never heard of such a thing have you? Today's blog is about "Rocket" Roger Clemens . It's also about steroids in general. I grew up in the Boston area. Roger was the best pitcher in baseball. Roger can me named in the same breath as Cy Young, Nolan Ryan, any great who ever hurled a ball. Roger was a diva but he was great.The Red Sox as a team and the fans of Boston were willing to put up with his attitude. Roger complained about carrying his own luggage. Roger complained about the crappy facilities at Fenway. Roger complained. A lot. For many of the die hard Boston faithful it didn't matter. I'm a Toronto Blue Jay fan. When Clemens arrived in Toronto from Boston for the 1997 season I was a little torn. I had seen Roger at his worst and best. Toronto had fallen hard from its days as a world champion. I had hoped this was a sign that the team was on it's way up. I also remember reflecting to myself, "Clemens? That guy is on the downward side of baseball hill." He was going to be thirty five that August. Pitchers tend to star tailing off at this point. Roger went on to have two fantastic seasons in Toronto. In each of his two seasons with the Blue Jays Clemens won the pitching triple crown, leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Two Cy Young Awards. It is also at this point where people have speculated that "Rocket" may have started using steroids. Clemens went on to play for The Yankees and Astros racking up impressive numbers as the birthdays came and went. There seemed to be no stopping the ageless wonder. Before 2004 MLB did not look for steroids. One could make an argument that since steroid tests weren't mandatory until 2004, any use of steroids by a player should be forgiven. If major league baseball wasn't too concerned why should the players? Potential treasure troves of money are involved. Who among us could look ourselves in the mirror and say they would let such stakes rise and fall on pure talent and chance? I have had discussions with some of my friends on Clemens and his allegeded use and one commented "if something ain't outright looked for how can you blame a guy for getting an advantage?" Everyday we see examples of people who cheat and become successful. On your ride to work or school how many of us have seen the guy who skips a long line of traffic going forward, by hitting an open right only or left only lane and cutting off everybody? How many parents reading my blog, have done a project in it's entirety for their child? How many parents have done homework for their kids? If cheating is an everyday occurrence among us mere mortals, how can we expect the supermen above us not to cheat also? They are after all ordinary men in personality. It can be speculated that Roger's rocket arm would have crashed to earth a lot sooner than it did, and was only held in upper orbit by a "tainted" fuel. But due to the timing of his alleged use should Roger be forgiven?
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Image by Keith Allison via Flickr
