Not My Problem

Back in the day, I truly hated the Cubs. It’s a South Side thing, and I won‘t even say the feeling’s mutual. Sox fans have never bothered to ask. But I’m a more mellow person now. So, I’ll try not to laugh at the show Sammy Sosa is putting on at spring training in Mesa. Yesterday, I read how he thinks players will listen to what he tells them because he has the career numbers to back it up. And, today, let’s just say things went from silly to absurd. The Sun-Times ran a column Bob Nightengale did for USA Today. Well, technically a column but in truth more of a puff-piece and trial balloon to get Sosa and fellow PEDs-ers into Cooperstown. To call it journalism would be a stretch. Nightengale also talked to Mark McGwire, who admitted to kind of feeling bad about taking PEDs, and Sosa agreed. You see, “There was no testing. There were no rules. We didn’t break any laws.” So says Sosa. Nightengale went on to write, “If truth be told, PEDs were nearly as common as chewing tobacco” in the time of McGwire and Sosa. But everyone looked the other way, and there were no rules. It’s called the honor-system, guys, or a conscience, or the ability to tell right from wrong. Maybe Nightengale wasn’t around then to point out how big McGwire, Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens had gotten, but other reporters were out there. Crickets. No rules, no testing. I guess for some people that means, anything goes. Enjoy your Sammy-la, Cubs fans. You can keep him.