Free Ride For Ratner IT’S ONLY MY OPINION Blame Baseball Owners For Steroid Abuse?
America has become suspicious of people who attempt to make a point by wagging a finger. Everybody remembers President William Jefferson Clinton wagging his finger at millions of us saying that he didn’t have sex with whatsername. I listened and replied “Yeah! Right! I believe you.”
By Stanley P. Gershbein
Comment
America has become suspicious of people who attempt to make a point by wagging a finger. Everybody remembers President William Jefferson Clinton wagging his finger at millions of us saying that he didn’t have sex with whatsername. I listened and replied “Yeah! Right! I believe you.”
I said, “I believe you also” when baseball super-slugger and maybe someday Hall of Famer, Rafael Palmeiro, appeared with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa before a congressional committee last Spring. He wagged his finger in the air for emphasis and with a raised voice stated “Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids. Period. I don’t know how to say it more clearly than that. Never!”
To those of you that haven’t followed the story, Palmeiro was suspended from baseball for ten days last month. The charge? He tested positive for the steroids he never used.
Union head Donald Fehr said that the suspension “should serve to dispel doubts about our determination to rid baseball of illegal steroids, or the strength or effectiveness of our testing program.”
So now it looks like the union, along with the government, wants to clean up the sport. But do the owners? The owners of the Major League teams say they really care about players using steroids. Do we believe them? I’m not so sure. If a ballplayer uses ‘roids he bulks up and becomes stronger. A stronger player with a good eye will hit more home runs. Home runs make for a more exciting game and if there’s more excitement, we fans will buy more tickets. More tickets translate to more people sitting in the seats, more hot dogs, more beer, more souvenirs and, of course, more dollars. Follow the flow chart. More steroids eventually lead to more profits. Now answer the question. Do you really think the owners care if their players use steroids? Probably not. In fact, if they were able to do so legally and not ruin a reputation, (theirs, of course), there’s a pretty strong possibility that they would encourage it. That’s my opinion. What’s yours?
********
Way back in the olden days of the last century we played and listened to the music on both sides of a 78, 45 and 33 RPM recording. I’ve been wondering why music manufacturers don’t use both sides of a CD. They do now. For several months some of us have been buying something called “Dual Discs”- a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. The CD side naturally contains a full album of music. The DVD is filled with interviews, music videos, and just about anything related to the artist and the music on the CD side. Both sides are for home use. The CD side is for your automobile …unless you’re one of those dangerous drivers with lots of guts and very little intelligence to have a DVD player sitting on your dashboard.
Some time ago Jamie Patterson Jr. of Anchorage Alaska installed a DVD player INTO the dashboard of his pickup truck. It didn’t take long for him to crash into another vehicle while he was watching a movie. The thoughtless fool killed two passengers and is being tried for murder.
The evidence is clear. He was distracted by the movie and recklessly cost two people their lives. You’re on the jury. What do you think?
The case of Jamie Patterson Jr. sounds like an isolated case. Right? Wrong! DVD players have been used for some time to entertain children in the back seats while on long trips. They’re either strapped to the back of front seat headrests or in some vehicles installed hanging from above for viewing only by back seat passengers. The following comes to us under the heading “Accidents Waiting To Happen”. More and more the authorities are noticing DVD players attached to sun visors for viewing by those sitting in front. Last year the California Highway Patrol stopped nine hundred motorists for watching television while driving. Of all the things that can possibly distract us while driving can you think of anything more dangerous?
Yes? Keep it clean.
********
And while we’re talking about California I just learned that the Golden State’s Attorney General, William Lockyer, is asking for a court order requiring a warning label to be placed on french fries and potato chips. He says that fries and chips may contain acrylamide, a carcinogenic chemical. If he is successful and it catches on in the rest of the U.S., we’ll be seeing stickers, similar to the little labels on a pack of cigarettes, on products such as those from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Wise and Pringles. Hey. Most of us have been munching fried potatoes of one sort or another since we were old enough to chew. Little did we know that we were slowly committing suicide. And NO! This is not some sort of a gag. Go to your search engine and punch up the words ‘dangerous french fries’. You’ll find more than two thousand sites of explanations and opinions.
********
Back to the subject of CDs – both you and the gal at the next desk believe that CD players have been around for A) five years B) nine years C) fifteen years D) twenty-three years. Which one? The Sony Company released the first CD player in Japan. When? In October of 1982. So if you chose D you can take the trophy behind door number two or come back next week and try for a bigger prize.
********
I am StanGershbein@BellSouth.net reminding you that school is open. Please drive with a little extra care.
All correspondence is the property of this newspaper and may be used for publication. For verification purposes only you must include your name, address and telephone number.
I said, “I believe you also” when baseball super-slugger and maybe someday Hall of Famer, Rafael Palmeiro, appeared with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa before a congressional committee last Spring. He wagged his finger in the air for emphasis and with a raised voice stated “Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids. Period. I don’t know how to say it more clearly than that. Never!”
To those of you that haven’t followed the story, Palmeiro was suspended from baseball for ten days last month. The charge? He tested positive for the steroids he never used.
Union head Donald Fehr said that the suspension “should serve to dispel doubts about our determination to rid baseball of illegal steroids, or the strength or effectiveness of our testing program.”
So now it looks like the union, along with the government, wants to clean up the sport. But do the owners? The owners of the Major League teams say they really care about players using steroids. Do we believe them? I’m not so sure. If a ballplayer uses ‘roids he bulks up and becomes stronger. A stronger player with a good eye will hit more home runs. Home runs make for a more exciting game and if there’s more excitement, we fans will buy more tickets. More tickets translate to more people sitting in the seats, more hot dogs, more beer, more souvenirs and, of course, more dollars. Follow the flow chart. More steroids eventually lead to more profits. Now answer the question. Do you really think the owners care if their players use steroids? Probably not. In fact, if they were able to do so legally and not ruin a reputation, (theirs, of course), there’s a pretty strong possibility that they would encourage it. That’s my opinion. What’s yours?
********
Way back in the olden days of the last century we played and listened to the music on both sides of a 78, 45 and 33 RPM recording. I’ve been wondering why music manufacturers don’t use both sides of a CD. They do now. For several months some of us have been buying something called “Dual Discs”- a CD on one side and a DVD on the other. The CD side naturally contains a full album of music. The DVD is filled with interviews, music videos, and just about anything related to the artist and the music on the CD side. Both sides are for home use. The CD side is for your automobile …unless you’re one of those dangerous drivers with lots of guts and very little intelligence to have a DVD player sitting on your dashboard.
Some time ago Jamie Patterson Jr. of Anchorage Alaska installed a DVD player INTO the dashboard of his pickup truck. It didn’t take long for him to crash into another vehicle while he was watching a movie. The thoughtless fool killed two passengers and is being tried for murder.
The evidence is clear. He was distracted by the movie and recklessly cost two people their lives. You’re on the jury. What do you think?
The case of Jamie Patterson Jr. sounds like an isolated case. Right? Wrong! DVD players have been used for some time to entertain children in the back seats while on long trips. They’re either strapped to the back of front seat headrests or in some vehicles installed hanging from above for viewing only by back seat passengers. The following comes to us under the heading “Accidents Waiting To Happen”. More and more the authorities are noticing DVD players attached to sun visors for viewing by those sitting in front. Last year the California Highway Patrol stopped nine hundred motorists for watching television while driving. Of all the things that can possibly distract us while driving can you think of anything more dangerous?
Yes? Keep it clean.
********
And while we’re talking about California I just learned that the Golden State’s Attorney General, William Lockyer, is asking for a court order requiring a warning label to be placed on french fries and potato chips. He says that fries and chips may contain acrylamide, a carcinogenic chemical. If he is successful and it catches on in the rest of the U.S., we’ll be seeing stickers, similar to the little labels on a pack of cigarettes, on products such as those from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Wise and Pringles. Hey. Most of us have been munching fried potatoes of one sort or another since we were old enough to chew. Little did we know that we were slowly committing suicide. And NO! This is not some sort of a gag. Go to your search engine and punch up the words ‘dangerous french fries’. You’ll find more than two thousand sites of explanations and opinions.
********
Back to the subject of CDs – both you and the gal at the next desk believe that CD players have been around for A) five years B) nine years C) fifteen years D) twenty-three years. Which one? The Sony Company released the first CD player in Japan. When? In October of 1982. So if you chose D you can take the trophy behind door number two or come back next week and try for a bigger prize.
********
I am StanGershbein@BellSouth.net reminding you that school is open. Please drive with a little extra care.
All correspondence is the property of this newspaper and may be used for publication. For verification purposes only you must include your name, address and telephone number.
ADVERTISEMENT
 |
 |
|
| Letters To The Editor | Betsy Gotbaum For Public Advocate |
Reader Comments
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff after appearing on the Web site.
|
