MLB gives its dirty work to Congress

Breeze Perspectives

As most Americans know, this past weekend marked the beginning of one of the most popular and well-known college tournaments, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. This past Thursday, the same day the tournament began, another momentous event occurred in the wide world of sports — the House of Representatives held a hearing looking into the problem of steroids in baseball.

As many well-informed sports fans know, a recent rash of players have come forward admitting to having used steroids — famous players, such as Ken Caminiti, Jason Giambi and the catalyst that sparked them all, Jose Canseco. Canseco recently published a book, pointing fingers and naming names of players with whom he used steroids, or had seen using steroids.

The big issue here is this: Should our government be using valuable time debating whether or not there is a steroid problem in baseball? Should we as taxpayers be funding a government that will take hours debating an issue that is not pertinent to national security? Or the war in Iraq? There are just so many questions coming from these recent trials that they seem to make no sense at all.

Baseball has always been known as America’s national pastime. Does that fact make it okay for our government to dedicate resources to Major League Baseball because they can’t govern themselves? The only valid argument for why this should happen is because of younger children, who are growing up looking at these famous players, such as Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and so many others, and thinking that to make it in this sport they need to look like they do.

Now there are players who have never used steroids and have dedicated their lives to getting in such pristine physical shape that they do little else. Most Americans, including myself at times, are impatient, and want results. Taking steroids could make their rise and success in sports much easier. However, that is completely unfair to the people who work as hard as they can to get where they are. That is why steroids need to be banned.

It is not, however, the responsibility of our Congress to govern Major League Baseball. It is an organization that should be able to take care of itself and watch over any issues that America has — issues that could have a negative social effect. The players are held under a microscope in the public eye, and many young children look up to them, what they do and what they stand for. That is why it is necessary for the MLB to keep strict watch over its players, but our nation’s government needs to be left out of it. They already have enough on their hands, and plenty to deal with.

Travis Clark is a sophomore English major.