what has been written and said over the last few years
This is an uncomfortable time
for sports. Blood doping and performance-enhancing drugs are in the news. It's
not just Armstrong.discount shoes for cheapairjordansale
rose matte on sale. No player was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on
Wednesday despite perhaps the richest class in history.
No Barry Bonds
or Roger Clemens. No Rafael Palmeiro, Jeff Bagwell or Sammy Sosa. They're Hall
of Famers by any statistical measure. But their numbers are bloated by
suspicions — and confirmation, in Palmeiro's case — of performance-enhancing
drugs.
So this week is about the response to players who cheated their
game. There's disapproval. There's unease. There's equal and opposite
accusations of sanctimoniousness against those judging Armstrong,What is the
definition of a buywatches
compared to a normal watch? Bonds and Clemens.
But there's also this
confirmation of upholding standards of what's acceptable in sports. It's why
Hall of Fame voters closed the door to suspected steroid users. It's why
Armstrong, banned from cycling, agreed to a controlled setting of an interview
with Oprah on cheating.
Unfair? What's unfair, in retrospect, was
Armstrong's verbal bullying and strong-arm attacks on officials, competitors,
teammates and media members as he won seven Tour de France titles.
Unfortunate? That's the word Players Association Executive Director
Michael Weiner labeled the voting — "unfortunate, if not sad,'' he said. And you
can see that.
What would be equally unfortunate if the Steroid Six were
voted into the Hall is symbolized by Fred McGriff. He hit 493 home runs. He
played 18 years. He didn't have a whiff of steroid use around him.
The
McGriffs of that era, in effect, then would be penalized by not taking steroids,
not hitting 500 home runs and not getting a hall pass into the Hall. My ballot
read: Craig Biggio, Tim Raines, Curt Schilling, Mike Piazza and Larry Walker.
It's all a mess wrapped in a riddle that maybe time will solve. Maybe,
by confessing, Armstrong gets the lifetime ban lifted against him in cycling.
Maybe, over time, all of us sort out their thoughts on steroids and the Hall
more.
"After what has been written and said over the last few years, I'm
not overly surprised,The complete line of bankcycling can be found at
Essential-Watches.'' Clemens said via Twitter of not making the Hall.
Nobody was surprised. This week was a referendum on drugs in sports. And
the bottom line is most people still feel there are standards to be upheld when
it comes to them.
The international cycling officials directed how
people should act by banning anyone involved in illegal performance enhancement.
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has remained characteristically mute through the
Hall voting.How to Identify garmincycling.
Selig could
ban anyone who tested positive for steroids from the Hall's ballot in the manner
Pete Rose is banned for betting. He's happy to keep his desk clean and let the
voters settle it.
Cycling isn't baseball in America, and beating cancer
isn't beating the Dodgers. So Armstrong isn't Bonds or Clemens.Women's stainless
peruvianhair bracelet with
steel star patterns laid in white resin.
"His story helped me,'' my
father says of Armstrong.
That's the human element to his story. This
conversation will go on. Armstrong's words will be watched. And the Hall of Fame
voting? In 1950, no players were elected to the Hall of Fame. In coming years,
45 of those on the ballot were.