Mariotti Too Wishy-Washy on Common Sense

You're not smug if you're always right.

Did I say wishy-washy? I meant clueless. For some reason, just before midnight last night, Jay Mariotti published a story about President Obama needing to take a stand on the steroids in baseball situation. The fact that someone could even imagine taking that stance kept me from sleeping.

Our economy is dying. People are losing jobs. Our new President should surely ignore these issues to make sure that baseball players aren’t too big. Mariotti truly believes this garbage. He suggests that Obama is “soft” on the steroids era because he’s a White Sox fan. No, seriously, it’s in the column.

So might this hometown connection be one reason why Obama, facing questions about Alex Rodriguez’s confession and Major League Baseball’s never-ending steroids crisis, is expressing no interest in confronting lingering mysteries about the sport’s sleazy past?

Told you.

If the president is so keen on investigating something as relatively benign as college football’s Bowl Championship Series, why wouldn’t he boldly explore the particulars of the Steroids Era, Selig’s pathetic lack of leadership in that period and the sinister role of the union?

Does he really think, with our country in its current state, that Obama should actually be focusing on the BCS? It’s nice to imagine a world where I get to see an extra college football game, but really, I’d rather have a job. Then again, I’m a Michigan fan so I don’t really need that extra game. I guess I’m biased. How selfish of me.

Did I mention the part in Mariotti’s column where he referred to Peter Gammons as “an ESPN interviewer?” Always willing to take the high road. I really had no intention of going all FJM, here but once I started, I just couldn’t stop.

Wouldn’t Obama want the blanks filled in about MLB and the “loosey-goosey” steroids culture to which A-Rod alluded?

Yeah, sure. Why not? Why don’t we raise taxes, have some senators work overtime and sort this whole mess out!? That’s what’s really important here.

I realize this country has more issues than any five commanders-in-chief could handle. We ache for Obama to fix the economy, end warfare, make people happy. But sometimes, the presidency also involves voicing harsh, aggressive statements about secondary problems.

I know that being a dad means changing diapers, playing catch and making sure there’s food on the table, but sometimes a father needs to go out drinking and voice harsh pointless criticisms that don’t do anything to help his child grow up. If you can keep track of the number of times he contradicts himself, I’ll give you a dollar.

And when he committed to a sporting agenda

That’s why Omaba won! If Sarah Palin had been wearing a t-shirt that said “45-35″ during the Katie Couric interview we’d have a different administration in office right now.

Does Obama really care more about the BCS than a steroids mess that has eroded our trust in baseball? That’s how he came off when asked about A-Rod and the game at his first prime-time news conference.

Shouldn’t we be more outraged that a reporter asked the president about steroids at a press conference? I mean, really. When you think about it, what bearing does this have on our actual lives? “Oh, Alex Rodriguez used steroids to hit home runs just like hundreds of other baseball players! I won’t be able to work tomorrow.” Assuming of course the fictitious person I just quoted still has a job!

Conspiracy? YES!

Here’s Obama’s actual answer to that completely inappropriate question.

“I think it’s depressing news on top of what has been a flurry of depressing items when it comes to Major League Baseball,” Obama said. “And if you’re a fan, it tarnishes an entire era to some degree. And it’s unfortunate, because I think there are a lot of ballplayers who played it straight. And the thing I’m probably most concerned about is the message it sends to our kids. What I’m pleased about is that Major League Baseball finally seems to be taking this seriously to recognize how big a problem this is for the sport. And our kids hopefully are watching and saying, ‘You know what? There are no shortcuts, that when you try to take shortcuts, you may end up tarnishing your entire career and that your integrity’s not worth it.’ That’s the message I hope is communicated.”

Wow, that sounds like a rational answer to a question that didn’t need to be asked at that point in time. Then again, we’d already burned through How I Met Your Mother’s timeslot, so why shouldn’t the President take 10-15 extra minutes to lay out his plan for cleaning up BASEBALL!?

That’s all? What about the other 103 names on the dirty list and whether they’ll be made public? And did the union tip off Rodriguez about a test that was being administered? And was he told by Orza in 2004 that he may or may not have tested positive, only to never hear back? Is A-Rod simply telling another pack of lies?

Yeah! Where were the followup questions? That’s irresponsible journalism! Come on Barack! Quit sidestepping the issues!

In October, Obama made it clear that he doesn’t want Congress involved. “Congressional hearings around steroid use is not probably the best use of congressional time,” he said. I disagree, even in tough times.

Are you serious? AOL, what were you thinking? I think I had read 1 column this man had written before he signed with AOL. Now he pops up on the FanHouse homepage almost every day. Why? This is what I want Barack Obama to look into. What would bring more pleasure to sports fans – A college football playoff, MLB getting cleaned up, or Jay Mariotti not writing for a prominent publication anymore.

Without the government push, McGwire probably would be in the Hall of Fame, Clemens would be riding high as the all-time pitching machine and Bonds would be the untarnished holder of the home-run record.

God forbid! Maybe its because I’m young and don’t care about history, but who gives a shit? Steroids or not, Clemens will be remembered as a major league asshole. McGwire will be remembered as a giant of a man who swung a telephone poll. I’m sick of people acting like we were all clueless when McGwire and Sosa were hitting all those home runs. Was Mariotti some wide-eyed kid when this was going on?

Then he goes on to post this gem from GWB:

“The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message — that there are shortcuts to accomplishment and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now.”

Now that’s the kind of action Mariotti can get behind. “You guys should do something. I’m calling on you.” Does Mariotti think that sports are clean today? Does Shawn Merriman not count?

That’s what I wanted from Obama, a get-tough speech. Instead, I got a sports talk-show host, commenting instead of demanding.

Shut up. Just shut up.

The new chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is Edolphus Towns, a Democrat. For now, he wants no part of hearings. “The American people need leaders who will focus on stemming job losses and getting credit to flow in the marketplace before hearing from yet another person who cheated both himself and the game of baseball,” Towns said.

For now, I agree.

Nice of him to wait 800 words before contradicting himself.

But what about later? Towns says he’ll keep tabs on the steroids situation and that he’s dismayed by the A-Rod news, yet why not at least alert Selig and Fehr that the new chairman isn’t happy and that everyone will be summoned to D.C. in due time?

And make sure Jay is CC’d on every one of those stern warnings.

And for all of Selig’s claims that MLB has steroids under control, we’d be naive to believe that vast numbers of major-league players still aren’t juicing to some degree.

More proof the “get tough” speech he talked about above worked.

The sport has been too dirty for too long, with the same people at the top, for any reasonable person to believe everything is cool now. I’m disappointed that the President of the United States didn’t voice the same conclusion.

Because despite the proof and what we all believe, it worked the last time!

Next time there’s a steroids crisis — and it’s coming, as sure as beer at the ballpark — Barack the talk-show host needs to be President Obama.

Basically, whatever happens during the Obama administration means nothing unless we have definitive proof that baseball players are hitting home runs naturally.