I'm Over It

Like any polarizing decision, the Ryan Braun hearing has brought out the best in people all over the internet. But racial slurs (check twitter if you don’t believe me) and straw men aside, the decision has led to many people to do one of two things: chastise Braun for cheating and dishonoring the game, or scream at the top of their lungs as to why policing steroids in baseball is an idiotic pursuit. So for all the discussion surrounding the issue, my question is this: who cares?

The relationship between steroids and improved play is a murky one at best. On one hand, it’s easy to see brick-shithouse players like Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds and Mark McGuire and assume that steroids can lead to massive improvements in player’s on field performance (usually, by way of increased muscle mass). These arguments, however, are far from scientific, and we tend to gloss over all the players in the Mitchell Report who didn’t see huge spikes in their numbers (hey look, another unscientific argument!). But again, this relationship a complicated one, and nothing would please me more than to refrain from adding another uneducated and unproven claim about steroid use to a cannon that is growing larger and larger by the day.

Maybe PED’s do improve performance and maybe they don’t, but after being treated to another week’s worth of analysis, I’m starting to think the discussion around steroid use is more ideological war than productive conversation. I’m tired of hearing how Ryan Braun has cheated the game, and I’m tired of hearing why people that think he cheated the game are stupid. The crazy part is that little of the discussion had to do with how the star leftfielder’s impeding suspension might affect the Brewers’ on field performance. I know this rant itself is an unfair generalization, but as the calendar turns to March, baseball itself is what I’m interested in. When it comes to steroids and Ryan Braun, or steroids and whoever, I’m over it.