MLB Commissioner Bud Selig Should Resign or Be Fired
When I was just about out of elementary school, my (maternal) grandfather (who was one tough customer) took me by the hand to the bus, where we proceeded across town (I believe three transfers back then) to the Agrodome, on a very rainy Saturday afternoon, to watch Gene Kiniski and ‘Bulldog’ Brown have a go at one another (eventually they became a tag team). That’s right, ‘All-Star Wrestling’ hosted by Ron Morrier and featuring such young luminaries as a then unknown ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper and Dutch Savage (and his infamous coal miner’s glove), they were all there. The ‘Old Scout’ (his nickname for his ability to walk for hours without water or food) promised my Mum (his only daughter, who he adored more than anyone) he’d never take me. “It’s too violent for Alex’s age” she’d complain. “Don aworry, I no gonna take ‘em” he’d reply, always laughing with her. But I was glued to the couch every Saturday afternoon watching “wrasslin’” with my Grandpa, a former boxer when he emigrated, first to Lawrence, Massachusetts, then to Kitimat through the CNR and eventually back to Vancouver. One day, he just threw my coat and scarf on me, made a couple of sandwiches that we brown bagged and away we went. “This isa reel fightin’” he used to tell me. I didn’t care. I got to meet Gene Kiniski and all the others (still have all their autographs, Dutch Savage’s autograph boasts a big streak of blood that was dripping from his forehead when he signed the black and white). But the lesson I learned lasted my whole life: There is no gain without some, blood, sweat and tears. Sure there was some showboating, but let me tell you, the breaks, pops, cuts and bruises were real–I can still hear some of them. These guys came by the ‘Old Scout’ and they poured him another beer in his coffee cup and I’d get ice cream. It was wonderful. But it was REAL. There were no drugs or shortcuts or bullshit–yet.
Years later, he’d take me to boxing in the same building and I grew an appreciation for doing it “old school”. “See how harda thees guysa work? You gotta move you ass like a them” When I started to mature, he pulled me aside and reminded me of the lessons learned. “Youa big guy, very strong, you no needa the fuckin’ bullshit pills and drinks okay? Justa work hard…one day boy I gonna die and you gonna rememba me”
I never forgot him.
When I eventually played rugby in high school I started to lift weights. And I got big. Very. But for as much as other guys at the gyms I worked out at looked strangely too cut and beyond ripped, I never asked but always suspected. Drugs. There was no other answer. But being one who never did them (or recreational narcotics) I didn’t want to spoil my body or my promise. In later years, after a back injury ended a very promising career in rugby, I boxed (I know, I was nuts), and I always remembered the Old Scout. Never take drugs, no steroids, nothing. I took amino acids once as part of a shake and spent the night throwing up.
Roll forward to today, and what can we say or do? Sports is a fraud. The needle has replaced the incline bench; the blood doping has supplanted hard work.
A few days ago, when former baseball great Mark McGwire admitted to taking steroids–effectively CHEATING, I took my boy aside, and I told him the lessons I learned from my grandfather. Then I took my McGwire memorabilia and I burned it.
Drug in sport is the greatest offense. There should be NO excuses tolerated. Offenders should be stripped of all records and awards. They should be banned from the sport they have disgraced, PERMANENTLY. Gone, period. See ya later, for good. First offence, doesn’t matter. Don’t care about your lawyer or your contrition. NFL Hall of Fame running back and all-round great guy Hershel Walker put it best earlier this week, “Who cares why they did it. I played through very bad pain at times. They should all be banned for life from the sport they disgraced”
But do you know why it’s now all glossed over? Because of complete morons like MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. For a guy who gets paid such a RIDICULOUS amount of money (he’s obscenely overpaid) his brain sure doesn’t operate very well. (Salary info here).
Below, read and weep for every kid with a bat and a glove dreaming of one day entering the major leagues. The message from the game’s high priest? It’s okay to cheat as long as you’re, one day, contrite. We’ll welcome you back, with no issue. And then the spinning about the MLB farcical testing program, and I think Mr. Selig is a runaway lock for ‘Moron of the Year’ and it’s only January.
Read the shame of a man who is so far removed from any moral code, bereft of any decency, that it will leave you speechless.
What a disgrace.
Mark McGwire doesn’t belong in baseball. But neither does Bud Selig.
Poor kids, sitting there thinking they’ve got a fighting chance to earn the big bucks without needles in their asses; pills in their protein shakes. All because of jerks like Messers. McGwire and Selig.
I am pleased that Mark McGwire has confronted his use of performance-enhancing substances as a player. Being truthful is always the correct course of action, which is why I had commissioned Senator George Mitchell to conduct his investigation. This statement of contrition, I believe, will make Mark’s reentry into the game much smoother and easier.
“While we, along with all sports organizations, continue to battle the use of such drugs and continue the intensive search for a valid test for HGH, I believe our drug testing program is the toughest and most effective in professional sports. Last year in the Major Leagues, we had only two positives for steroids out of 3,722 tests. We have banned and aggressively test for amphetamines, substances which club doctors and professional athletic trainers have told me had presented serious problems for the sport for decades. Our minor league program will begin its 10th year in 2010. We conducted 8,995 tests in the minor leagues last year of which less than eight-tenths of one percent was positive.
“The use of steroids and amphetamines amongst today’s players has greatly subsided and is virtually non-existent as our testing results have shown. The so-called “steroid era” – a reference that is resented by the many players who played in that era and never touched the substances — is clearly a thing of the past, and Mark’s admission today is another step in the right direction.” (Bud Selig, MLB Commissioner, January 2010)
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NOTE: I’m away doing a hand-gun seminar this weekend, so I’ll be back Monday with a piece on the Court of Appeal ruling with respect to Insite, the place povertarians and grief pimps hail as a success, when it’s just a place where they commit slow murder. What else do you call a place where junkies and dope fiends can go and fill their veins with what’s killing them?
But I’ve given you quite a few topics this week, which you can think about and discuss over the weekend. Feel free to comment at will.
Laugh, love and be safe out there.
Bless you.
Dutch Savage’s autograph boasts a big streak of blood that was dripping from his forehead when he signed the black and white
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You sure it wasn’t ketchup. Haha
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Nope, not at all. He was hit in the head with barbed wire. I’m sure some of it was a little entertainment, but there was no question that the breaks and blood were real. If you talk to any of those guys from that era (and I used to speak to Kiniski in Point Roberts all the time), they’ll tell you that they earned very little and there were no drugs around except the odd joint for a very few–all the while, the fighting could get quite vigorous.
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Remember the days when the Ryan Express threw 100 mph without roids and Reggie didnt hit 60 HR a season but get him to october and it was lights out at Yankee Stadium, ya baseball still had its jerks and characters but they were real men the George Bretts and even Pete Rose they just flat out played hard as they could thanks great article takes me back to those days we all wish we could have back just one more time.
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I sure do. Those were the good ole days. Sad…they’re long gone.
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as an add on Alex i avoided Selig and Mac i played ball kept up at comepetitive mens fastpitch till almost 40 and the likes of them being in charge and icons of the sport are a sign of the greed that rules all in our world now sad state of affairs .
and all star wrestling wow i hate to admit i remember saturdays on BCTV .
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They were GREAT Saturdays with my Grandpa. He was a gem of a guy. Gave me my first cigarette and then proceeded to tell me if I wanted to die before my time, keep doing it. I smoked for a year when I was in college in the US (funny that I gave up cigars for that year) and then went back to cigars after I gave up cigarettes. A wise decision I must tell you. Although, contrary to popular lore, I’vegiven them up mostly as well. Maybe a couple a month…too bad the old guy isn’t around to share one with…he loved his malodorous Old Ports!
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By now you will have heard that the Feds failed in putting an end to InSite, and the usual freaks are celebrating and talking about opening a site for sniffing cocaine or angel-dust or whatever it is one sniffs (glue?) to get high. Of course the usuals include Robertson and Philip whatshisname, and must include several judges (no doubt appointed by Liberals). If we ever get to vote for senators, do you suppose the feds will include local judges too? Anyhoo! Let’s hope the Conservatives take this to the Supreme bench, though I’m not too hopeful about some of them either.
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Heard all about it and I’m going to give you a magnum opus on Insite, Monday…stay tuned…
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The sad part about the steroid era in baseball is that Bonds, McGuire, Clemens,et al may have their records put into question by the baseball purists, but no one can claw back the millions they made before they were they were exposed. They may never see their names in the hall of fame, but the excess dollars they commanded by cheating have insured that they will never have to get a real job.
It was gratifying to see Barry Bonds shunned by all of the teams last year. Major League Baseball should also refuse to list Bonds as the all-time home run leader period. No asterisk, no recognition. One also has to remember that in the era of Ruth, Mantle, and Aaron the baseball parks were cavernous. After the 1995 strike, many teams began to downsize their parks to make it easier for the hitters to hit homeruns in an effort to entice the fans back to the parks. I believe that Selig and the owners turned a blind eye to many of the players getting juiced up because they were creating excitement with the “big fly” for the same reason. The owners and the players shared in the spoils, and that was all on Selig’s watch.
I do find it grossly unfair that Pete Rose has thus far been barred for consideration of entering the hall of fame only because he wagered money on baseball games after he retired as a player and became a coach/manager. I was never a fan of his, but he laid it all on the line every game, and his gambling after he retired as an active player had nothing to do with what he accomplished on the field.
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I thought of that! Isn’t it funny? Betting now seems like such a minor infraction, regardless of when along the career path it was created. Good to hear from you as always.
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Speaking of wrestling, I remember watching Maple Leaf Wrestling every week with my dad. It was broadcast every Friday or Saturday night with the stars being Whipper Billy Watson, Gene Kiniski, Kenji Shibuya, the guy with the claw whose name escapes me, Don Leo Jonathan and a host of others. In those days I thought that it was all on the level and couldn’t wait for the next week’s broadcast. I was so into it that I bought a wrestling magazine every month just to keep up with what was going on.
Anyway, my grandmother was visiting us from Saskatchewan and my dad decided to take her to the Garden Auditorium at the PNE for their weekly wrestling show. She spoke only Russian and had never seen wrestling either on TV or live. Well to make a long story short, she got so wrapped with the goings on that she was yelling for one wrestler to basically beat the crap out of the other in Russian. She had a blast.
Another episode that occured was much later in life. My eldest daughter was in the gifted programme in elementary school, and they decided that they would like to take a field trip to a wrestling card which was being held in Cloverdale. This was in the era when the World Wrestling Federation was reaching their pinnacle. They were hotter than a pistol. Anyway, I volunteered to drive some of the students(this was before one had to cleared by CSIS or whoever as being trustworthy enough to provide transportation to a group of students) to see this spectacle. We were treated to the usual fare expected, bad guy versus good guy until the unexpected occured. One of the wrestlers miscued and took a header out of the ring opposite to where we were sitting and all we heard was a sickening thud. The unfortunate participant had landed head first onto the cement outside the ring. Fortunately the ambulance service arrived in short order and tended to the unfortunate young fellow. As far as I can recall, the injured wrestler survived his mishap and the kids in my car realized that even though the show they saw was scripted there was still an inherent danger involved with the wrestlers vocation.
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Oh there were a few of those for sure. But as Kiniski had always told me, the theatrics didn’t really start until the money got bigger. When he was over at All-Star, the blood was real, as were the breaks.
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