THE SMOKE SCREEN

American society is largely based  on entertainment.  Distraction.  I am not equipped to compare our way of life with those of other nations.  Like many of us my scope of the rest of the planet thus far has been limited to second hand accounts along with what is seen on television and in film.  So, for this example I'll stick to speaking on a subject of which I am well informed; American interests. 

I was nine years old when Ben Johnson was stripped of his Olympic gold medal for using an unfair advantage to beat Carl Lewis in the 100M final.  The guy was a physical specimen looking more of an NFL running back than an Olympic sprinter.  This was my, and many others' introduction to performance enhancing drugs.  Of course this was not the first case or even the only obvious case of Steroid use in our society.  In retrospect, Sly Stallone displayed their use just three years prior in his fourth  Rocky film.  On screen, Ivan Drago is shown "doping" with the assistance and encouragement of his trainers.  In reality, by his own admission, Stallone has been a proponent of "responsible" use of Anabolic Steroids as well as the controversial Human Growth Hormone (HGH) for decades.  Now you must bear with me . . I have been, and shall forever be a huge supporter of Sylvester and most of his work.  His impact on cinema at large and specifically my generation is unparalleled.  However, this Rocky IV case serves as an excellent metaphor for the core of this address.  Cheating is okay so long as you don't get caught.  This is not my policy, and I'm sure it's not yours.  However, media history teaches us, recent history more so than ever before, it is the policy of the powers that be.  A recurring theme that will hopefully resonate with us all before long is the inextricable connection between government and mass media.  Stallone, American, long time user behind the scenes.  Drago, Russian, using for all to see in a movie rated PG.  Coincidentally, the same year Balboa KO's the Russian(s), Stallone's Rambo single handily re fights the Vietnam war (and comes out on top).

Now for the featured theme; The Smoke Screen.  Major League Baseball is one of my favorite institutions on the planet.  The grand game is perfect in most respects.  MLB is the highest echelon of the sport.  It is in fact the only top tier American corporation which holds my utmost respect and loyalty.  But, just like all institutions of the capitalist market based on profit, you will find skeletons in their closet.  Of course without transparency of government, you aren't likely to find them demanding it of one of their prized profiteers.  How then, can we take some of our champion corporations misdoings (lemons), and make lemonade?  Following the release of Jose Canseco's book, it was clear that a disorganized mess of information was well on its way to the public.  Far from a historian at the time, there was no way for me to predict just how far they would take it.  I'd always felt there was some kind of "safe list" out there . . a list of people so profitable and good for the American image they had an umbrella protecting them from any harm.  Though I still believe the list exists, I'm not so certain anyone from this era in this sport is on it (except Cal Ripken of course).  So here's how it breaks down as well as I can see it . . When attendance and profits (advertising, endorsements, marketing, etc.) are up, we'll look the other way, ask no questions, administer no drug screenings.  The most obvious example of this is, of course, Sammy Sosa versus Mark McGuire.  Just in case you missed it, in 1998 these two men made a mockery of Roger Maris' long standing single season home run record with physiques that had WWF wrestlers scratching their heads.  Just for good measure check out highlights from the '99 Home Run Derby from Fenway Park.  Dan Duquette, GM of the Sox at the time, said that even the baseballs were juiced by Rawlings.  Take a look at the speed and distance of those blasts and tell me if anything in the equation wasn't juiced!

"Oh wait!, Canseco wrote a tell all book, we have to do something.  I got it, get a slew of these guys to come to Washington in suits!  We'll pack the room with cameras and reporters!  Perfect timing!  They seem to keep asking about Guantanamo, Iraq, and Afghanistan . . we can turn the cameras around except instead of examining our own wrong doings, we can point fingers at these muscle bound morons! And check this out, we'll sick a former senator on the whole league with no parameters, no structure, and no ultimate goal in mind!  That'll teach 'em!"  Neither George Mitchell, or anyone else should have received such an assignment.  Of course at the end of the day you've got a well researched and documented list with the end result; "Okay we've got the list, Roger Clemens will take most of the heat, then we let things die down, talk about the tough testing and punishing needed in today's game, then drop the whole thing".

Flash forward, every body's hero Barry Obama is at the helm.  White Sox fan.  No arm.  Wars continue, economic turmoil, Fed up to their old tricks, climate in crisis, running out of oil . . .

"A-ROD CHEATED TOO!"  The day Alex Rodriguez faced the press to address the accusations, the president was busy sending 30,000 more of our boys to the middle east . . Why are we at war over there again?

"BIG PAPI AND MANNY RAMIREZ CHEATED IN 2003!"  How bout this one?  Testing of countless ball players that year revealed over one hundred failed screens.  All men tested were told the results would be kept confidential, and punishment would be handled accordingly.  Instead, the powers that be (in control of D.C., the media, etc.) have a new magazine of ammo ready to be fired at will on the other side of town when things are getting hot around the real issues of the day.  The greatest smoke screen in modern media.  Drugs are good when they promote spending and profit (check the stats on what the government makes on tobacco and alcohol), and bad when a cultural icon "cheats" and can provide a convenient distraction.  Good when the powers that be can profit in the billions of dollars, bad when a famous actor or athlete gets busted with Marijuana internationally.  Insiders know that in the MLB, for years, if you weren't cheating, you weren't trying.  I often muse on the tobacco use in baseball . . . there is no greater display of drug abuse on television yet not one word is written or spoken of it's danger.  Why?  This steroid fascination looks like it will hold a captive audience for a decade or so to come.  Watch for the hammer to drop on chewing tobacco around 2020.