Comments on: Cardinals minor matters: November 1

By: bigchieftootiemontana

bigchieftootiemontana — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:00:45 +0000

Nice for the establishment sportswriters to have something to write about during the scheduled off days of a World Serious held in November.

Actually I am surprised MLB didn’t object to the timing of the McGwire hiring announcement, there were so many rumours tho and it is just a hitting coach hire!

It will be good if MM talks and answers questions as soon as possible (later in November) so that the issue will not be hanging around come Opening Day 2010.

By: blingboy

blingboy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:09:07 +0000

CC, your comment inspired me to check Bob Ryans d.o.b., 1946, putting him in his 60′s. His childhood heros fall squarely in the Maris era. The younger generation’s vices are always an order of magnitude worse than those of our own, and always represent a denigration of values, erosion of character, etc.

By: CariocaCardinal

CariocaCardinal — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:03:09 +0000

Does Ryan know whether Maris used PEDS – possibly amphetamines that were in vouge at the time? No he doesn’t. Nuff said.

By: blingboy

blingboy — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:43:43 +0000

Let’s not overlook those bigs chaws of addictive carcinogen. How many kids emulated that to their detriment. How many ‘heros’ in the HOF are to blame for how many deaths. How many families are owed an explaination. Where is the rage Mr. Ryan, where are the hearings.

By: WestCoastbirdWatcher

WestCoastbirdWatcher — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:35:06 +0000

Nice BB. Nice article Brian. There is some moralistic altruism in the Bush administrations campaign against steroid abuse……………………….. Its about as genuine as the invasion of Iraq. There is a profit motive. The Saudi’s, using Haliburton specialists, will be drilling in S.W. Iraq in 3 years. They are laying pipe as we speak.

By: JumboShrimp

JumboShrimp — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:07:39 +0000

I might not use BB’s words, since everyone has their own voice, but I like his wisdom. I do not need to hear some expression of contrition out of McGwire for something being done by so many others of his generation and that I do not think has caused physical harm. Intstead, PEDs have seemed to influence statistics among older players, extending their careers. It easy to see why the Union wanted to look the other way, because salaries tend to be highest for the longest serving players.

If Roger Maris were playing in the 1990s, it is quite possible he would have pumped PEDs, in keeping with his times.

For his service to the Cardinals, Maris was rewarded with a Busch beer distributorship. There are many studies that document that alcohol causes health problems, especially at high doses. Maris could be said to have been a purveyor of a substances that injured health. Was Maris a spokesperson against the perils of over-drinking?

By: blingboy

blingboy — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:31:45 +0000

I still think you are off a bit on this Brian. I agree that we don’t consider contrition genuine unless it involves pain. But it is only public pain that is counted. No one knows, or cares, what private pain MM or any of the others have endured. It may well be far greater than the pain extracted for public consumption, but it doesn’t satisfy our voyeurism, so it doesn’t count. Pain which is private is no less genuine, nor is it any less ‘honest’. Those who suggest dishonesty are just upset that their own need to see the pain has not been met. In other words, to them, it really isn’t about MM, or respect for the game, or the kids, or Mr. Hooten or the Maris family, its all about satisfying them. Mark could blow that off without offending me.

By: Brian Walton

Brian Walton — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:58:05 +0000

It is relatively quick and painless for a multi-millionaire to slip a few $25K checks to quiet a squeaky wheel. That is far different than becoming a national spokesman against steroid abuse. Some people wash away that pledge as having been made under pressure. Others consider it another example of being less than honest, in contrast with those who believe being “not dishonest” is good enough.

By: blingboy

blingboy — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:46:42 +0000

Bob Ryan says MM owes the Maris family an explanation. What he really means is a public explanation. If MM has already spoken privatly to them, Ryan would feel cheeted, just as I think he and others felt cheeted when it surfaced that Mr. Hooten was not fuming because MM had been generously, and privatly, supporting his foundation. It is the ritual Mr. Ryan values, not the reality.