The U.S. government is taking a proactive approach in policy abroad and domestically. Nation-building in Iraq has proven to be successful for the president, and now Bush wants the nation to tackle Social Security. So it seems that Congressmen have enough to concentrate on, but wait, the baseball season is less than a month away.
Why not tackle the steroid problem? That way the government can have their hands in the national pastime, eradicating fear of 500-foot homeruns that sometimes pelt fans in the upper decks.
Building a better baseball game is not the government’s duty, and nowhere in the Constitution is there license for federal hands in baseball gloves.
“It’s not really the government’s job to handle the steroid issue,” said ETSU baseball coach Tony Skole, who played in the College World Series at the Citadel. “It should be handled through the commissioner’s office and through Major League Baseball.”
It is estimated that only 4 to 5 percent of major leaguers use steroids, but numbers at this point are rough estimates.
The possibility of the government finding exact percentages is wary at best.
Jose Canseco’s book, Juiced, has made the government even more zealous to jump on the steroid problem. Canseco, a star outfielder and 40-40 man, names other athletes he knew were using steroids in Juiced. His testimonials are not exactly 100 percent truth.
columnist, George Will named two descrepancies in Canseco’s book in a column Monday. Will did some research into his book only to find that he could not even conversed with some players he accused of using steriods.
There is no way that the government can prove that steroid use is rampant.
“Unless anyone has seen players put the needles in, there is no way to prove it,” said Skole. “If it just took big muscles to play baseball, Arnold Schwarzenegger would be a third baseman for the Dodgers instead of governor of California.
“It still takes skill to take a wooden stick and hit a round ball.”
On the other hand, it takes very little skill to organize a committee to reform baseball. Today when the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform hearing on steroid use in Major League Baseball meets it is very unlikely that any new information will come to light.
What is for sure is that the government’s role in any athletic events is bound to set a precedent for intervention in private organizations.
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig should take responsibility for the MLB’s problems instead of turning them over to the government.
Here are some suggestions for the Major League Baseball commissioners’ office.
Test every player in baseball twice in a regular season. To stave off any home field advantages, test every player at an away game without warning. If the government has its way, those who will test might be federally employed. Bad idea.
Allow our nation’s illustrious think tanks to use their skills to study the problems within baseball.
Use the nation’s best scientists and mathematicians to test rates of muscle growth in players.
If players gain an unusual amount of weight and muscle mass, test them. If guilty, fine them and boot them from the league for a season.
The government should not test for any other reason than the fact that people just do not trust them.
Many people find the government suspect.
When it comes to baseball it’s best to leave America’s past time in the hands of it’s appointed leaders.

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