Remember Ben Johnson?

So many stupid laws, gonna have to break a few
Speed or run a red light - I might too!
When the man pulls you over, like it or not
You're just one of the many
Only you got caught

The roll of the dice says you're gonna do time
Guilty of being caught red-handed -"Caught," The Descendents

Here is an interesting article. In sports, everybody loves a whipping boy, and guys like Ben Johnson and Rafael Palmeiro certainly bear that distinct "honor." But the point is that you are only officially guilty if you get caught with the blood on your hands and outed by the commissioner, or regulatory committee, or judicial system, or whatever. Otherwise you get off free and easy.

Speculation aside, a miniscule, meaningless fraction of a percentage of the guys who cheat in professional and amateur athlectics have been officially branded as such. It's a worthless show put on by those who regulate their respective sports to show that they're "doing all they can" to keep the competitions (and the record books) clean.

At this point, I'm jaded enough to tune out altogether, but I love baseball too much to give it up cold turkey. I'm ignoring the media, the debates, the speculations. I've been around enough athletic trainers and guys jabbing needles into their asses to know when someone is clean or not. Records are just numbers, and numbers don't tell the whole story, and as an individual--for my own sake--I choose to acknowledge who I regard as the true home run champion.



I invite you to do the same.