Sports Random Musings January 30
Sports in general took another big hit in the past couple weeks. Every time we start to trust the credibility and integrity of sports, something comes along that puts huge doubts in our minds. No wonder participation in our sporting world by our youth has continued to go down. Anyone with a moral code has a hard time cutting through the scandal. It is far easier to take an interest in other things. It is sad because sports have so many positive things to put forth and influence our lives. Unfortunately the lesson our youth can learn from professional sports is that it does not make any difference how you win, as long as you win
The event bringing this up is the debacle associated with the cheating by the Houston Astros. They had a sophisticated system set up to steal the catchers signs to the pitcher. The Astros won the World Series that year. Finding that out was such a major disappointment. The Astros(Colts 45) have been my favorite Texas team from their beginning. If you were going to point to anyone that ran their program the right way, the Astros would certainly be one. They had taken their lumps, losing 100+ games but by drafts, trades and minor league growth, they put together a strong, competing team. It was a thrill to see them win it all because you were just sure they deserved it.
That revelation just takes the air out of your trust and when you lose trust, you lose everything. Like the New England Patriots, cheating college basketball and football teams, it just taints your entire thinking about sports. You cannot get past it. If this is the first time caught, you have to wonder how many times did they get away with it? The question also arises whether the success gained was because of the cheating and not ability. This stays in your mind. Think Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds and their Hall of Fame status.
Many excuse the event because everyone tries to steal signs. I have played a type of baseball all my life and yes, we tried to find some clue as to what the pitch would be whether from the pitcher or catcher. Why? Because of the advantage. But this was by human beings on the field and using their own eyesight. The digital system the Astros used made it possible for the batter to know the pitch before it came. Others say you still have to hit the ball but you know that is a copout. One has a tremendous advantage when they have to look for only one pitch, not three or more.
The Astros, I think, did handle the situation with class in accepting their punishment and adding to it. Of course they were caught red-handed, so little choice, but in our world today, there is usually vehement denial and blaming everyone else. Not enough manning up. What gets me is the Astros were noted for their cerebral thinking yet they apparently did not believe it would not have been found out with 25-30 people knowing and moving on in the league. Duh!
Sadly, these people are getting paid millions of dollars to give our youth examples of how it should be done and this is the reward we get.