As most know, I fancy myself a football guy. That is, football is my favorite sport; to me, football is more than a sport, football is a way of life. With that said, I would be denying my childhood if I did not stay loyal to baseball. Football may be my passion, but my first professional game was baseball.
That being said, I cannot understand baseball’s, Major League Baseball at that, ability to look the other way when dealing with their steroid problem – and it is a problem! The most recent suspension of Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro really does rub me the wrong way. Was it not just a few short months ago when Palmeiro testified on Capitol Hill that he “never” used steroids? According to my research, he waved his finger at those congressmen and responded: “I have never used steroids. Period.” This means, according to my scorecard, Palmeiro is not only a liar, but he is a cheating liar.
This is not to suggest Palmeiro is the only professional baseball player I have these feelings for. More so than he, I despise Mark McGwire. You see my children were growing up when McGwire was doing all those things he was doing; he is their first memory of baseball. That is terrible! When I was growing up they argued about Roger Maris’ single season home run record. Ultimately they decided to put an asterisk next to the number 61. Even as a child I thought that was an injustice. Sure, living through the McGwire era was exciting. Some even suggest the battle between he and Sosa was single handedly responsible for the rebirth of baseball in this land. On the other hand, I knew McGwire was not really “Cardinal Nation” worthy in the way he chose to retire. Remember that? A fax! That is not the way St. Louis Cardinals retire, Mr. McGwire. We have a tradition here. I was too young to remember Stan Musial’s final game; and I really regret I was serving over-seas at Bob Gibson’s. Lou Brock’s and Ozzie Smith’s both were almost like Holy Days. Maybe it is a good thing McGwire slipped out the back door. He barely belongs in the same article, let alone same paragraph as Musial, Gibson, Brock and Smith. And how about his grand return to St. Louis. Anyone remember that? It of course was a media frenzy, but ultimately it was a commercial for a hamburger. Even that was kept a secret until the last minute. Originally it was billed as the farewell for McGwire that he never received. In reality it was the farewell that lined his pockets with hamburger money.
Riddle me this Batman: do you think there is any coincidence in mandatory steroid testing and Barry Bonds failure to make it out of the gate? I for one think they go hand in hand.
As long as I am on this bandwagon, why isn’t Roger Maris in the Hall? Bonds, Sosa, McGwire and Palmeiro are all “shoo-ins” from what I read. At worst they are going to be punished and not elected on the first ballot. Ladies and gentlemen, they are liars and cheaters!
Possibly the biggest injustice of all is that Pete Rose, possibly the greatest player to ever play the game of baseball has been banned for life. His original sin was gambling; his mortal sin was lying. Can someone point out for me the difference between his sins and those of Palmeiro, Bonds, Sosa and McGwire? To the casual observer, like myself, there are none.
On a positive note I would like to thank those who contacted me about last week’s column. It is easy to write stuff like that when you are writing from the heart – and anyone who knows me knows you cannot get much closer to my heart than baseball and my daughter.
Things around the McMurran house are about to become very hectic. Maggie, who will be entering the fourth grade will continue her weekly rehearsals with Patt Holt’s Just Kids, will also be playing soccer for her fifth consecutive year. Both Joe and Dee will not only be playing for ASH, but both decided to try out for a local select team, which practices for 1 ? a week, in addition to their weekly contest. Yes, they both made the final cut – they get their athletic ability from their mom, who ran the 300 meter hurdles, which most will tell you is the hardest race there is, while in high school. In addition to my continuing cutting edge coverage of the high school sporting scene here in St. Charles City, I will be the offensive coordinator of Trinity High School’s rebirthing season.
Welcome to Mike Thompson of the River City Rage, who starting this week will write first hand stories on coaches and players of the Rage. It was Thompson’s idea, to keep the Rage in the News during their off season. All I had to do was run it by Tony Brockmeyer, whose only question was, “Doesn’t he like your writing?” That Tony, always fooling around. Tony agreed, and now Rage fans will have their weekly dose of Rage news.
Week number one of the high school football season will present an interesting match-up. Saint Charles High School’s new head coach, Corey Nesslage, will host Jennings and their new head coach Ryan Wallace. Nesslage is a graduate of St. Charles High and Wallace is a resident of St. Charles City. Both Nesslage and Wallace are fine young coaches and will do well with their respective programs.
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