There is an article by Mike Celizic for MSNBC. Essentially, the article deals with the use of drugs in sports. Mr Celizic questions whether the fans care any more about the drug issue:

“…But if there’s a chance that it can help a player’s performance and it can’t be detected and doesn’t have all the nasty side effects of steroids – so far, there’s been no mention of “HGH rage” — you can bet that a whole lot of players are using the stuff. And not just baseball players, but football players, basketball players, hockey players, golfers, tennis players, swimmers, runners, cyclists, skiers — the list is just about endless.

But the only sport anyone really gets outraged about in this country is baseball, and then only when it’s linked to someone who hits home runs. That says it all. It’s the sacred homer we really care about, not the drugs.”

link: Did Ankiel take HGH? Fans don’t care

Sports are supposedly a reflection of the cultural zeitgeist. Baseball, especially, has been the mirror of the American culture. What does this say about us? Is the end result the only thing that matters - and by whatever means possible? In days gone by, using drugs was cheating - plain and simple. Now, it is called ‘performance enhancing’. Perhaps Mr Celizic is correct - most people’s priority and attention span are on the performance.

Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster:  http://flyinghamster.com/

[tags]sports, drugs, fans, performance, mike celizic, zeitgeist, baseball[/tags]