Other than trying to get attention, is there any good reason why the U.S. Senate is dealing with steroids in baseball?
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig and players association executive director Donald Fehr that their sport “is about to become a fraud” because of questions over the accomplishments of some of its leading stars.
“Your failure to commit to addressing this issue straight on and immediately will motivate this committee to search for legislative remedies,” McCain, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, told Fehr. “I don’t know what they are. But I can tell you, and the players you represent, the status quo is not acceptable. And we will have to act in some way unless the [players’ union] acts in the affirmative and rapid fashion.”
If the legitimacy of baseball is in question, then let baseball deal with it.
For a century the federal government has been giving baseball special treatment because it’s the so-called “national pastime.” Well, it’s not the most popular sport any more and we don’t need Congress acting like they’re the guardians of a sacred national institution. If Major League Baseball can’t controll itself, tough.