Idiots Write About Sports

We are very hard on the media here at the Idiot Sports Weblog (and looking at their collective body of work, shouldn’t we be?). So it’s a good idea, every once in a while, to single out a reporter or columnist who contributes something unique to the discussion instead of the usual ill-informed gasbaggery.

Today’s honoree is Joel Sherman of The New York Post. Unlike many of his fellow writers — including lesser lights at his own paper — Sherman is not joining the moron chorus eagerly singing the praises of Congress’ phony-baloney McCarthy-esque hearings on steroids. Today’s column poses four questions for the congressional grandstanders which any competent, skeptical reporter should have asked. Among the highlights:

Bill Romanowski was among four Raiders ensnarled in the BALCO case. That gets forgotten. Perhaps the wise men of Congress can select, say, 20 NFL linemen randomly and ask, for example, how with that great testing program in place they keep getting bigger, stronger and faster. Wait. That would be unfair. That would be akin to calling someone before Congress because their name appears in a book by a disgruntled former employee like Canseco. How come bigger baseball players equal steroids, and bigger football players equal Wheaties? By the way, Canseco implicated a former Texas Ranger owner as having to know steroids were rampant on his team. I will just assume George W. Bush’s subpoena is in the mail.

And:

Why is baseball held to a higher standard? Three NFL players tested positive for illegal performance enhancers last year without a stir. But watch how talk-radio America storms through town with torches when the first major leaguer is suspended for 10 games. You’ll think a Congressional investigation is needed. Oh, wait. We’re told now baseball - after finally toughening its tests and penalties - needs to get still tougher, like the Olympics. Except Olympic athletes are more tied to BALCO than major leaguers. And, like baseball, the NFL only tests for urine (not blood). Which means its players can be using HgH with impunity.

And also:

If the HGRC were really interested in MLB steroid use wouldn’t it be better off summoning the 30 teams’ trainers and doctors? No one would be more familiar with the changes in body types and, perhaps, body chemistry.

The whole thing is worth a read, particularly if you’re tired of the hysterical, unquestioning mewings of hacks like Plaschke and Knapp.

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