manker
01-18-2005, 12:21 PM
MLB has introduced new 'zero tolerance' rules on steroid abuse. A player will get banned for 10 games if he tests positive.
This sounds good but as I understand it, the baseball season is something like 180 games long so the guy would be banned for a little over 2 weeks if he gets caught red handed taking drugs. Furthermore the ban is only increased slightly until he gets caught a fourth time, and then he is banned for a year. What!
What do the US members make of this debacle. For someone, who admittedly doesn't understand the dynamics behind the MLB, it seems inconceivable that someone can get caught 4 times before he gets a substantial penalty. Do the public not care that in all probability the winning team had the best drugs rather than the most talent. With no testing, as I understand it, previous to this year the MLB is more comparable to the WWE than the IAAF.
This is in stark contrast to a recent case in Soccer where Rio Ferdinand was banned for 8 months because he forgot to take a urine test, no matter that he offered to take it the next day. Having the mental capacity of a grapefruit wasn't an excuse either and his club had to pay his wages with no recompense for the duration of the ban.
I think the American baseball fans deserve better. These measures are a farce.
I'm sorry I don't have a source, it was 45 second summation I watched on Sky Sports News last night. It was reported as a panacea to drug abuse in Baseball :dry:
I think I got the gist of it but apologies for any inaccuracies.
This sounds good but as I understand it, the baseball season is something like 180 games long so the guy would be banned for a little over 2 weeks if he gets caught red handed taking drugs. Furthermore the ban is only increased slightly until he gets caught a fourth time, and then he is banned for a year. What!
What do the US members make of this debacle. For someone, who admittedly doesn't understand the dynamics behind the MLB, it seems inconceivable that someone can get caught 4 times before he gets a substantial penalty. Do the public not care that in all probability the winning team had the best drugs rather than the most talent. With no testing, as I understand it, previous to this year the MLB is more comparable to the WWE than the IAAF.
This is in stark contrast to a recent case in Soccer where Rio Ferdinand was banned for 8 months because he forgot to take a urine test, no matter that he offered to take it the next day. Having the mental capacity of a grapefruit wasn't an excuse either and his club had to pay his wages with no recompense for the duration of the ban.
I think the American baseball fans deserve better. These measures are a farce.
I'm sorry I don't have a source, it was 45 second summation I watched on Sky Sports News last night. It was reported as a panacea to drug abuse in Baseball :dry:
I think I got the gist of it but apologies for any inaccuracies.