It's good to get steriods out of sports, but the whole story was incrediblyyyyyyyyyyyyyy boringggggggggggggggggggg. I got sick of hearing on sportscenter.

Until a staunch anti-steroid policy is enacted, I consider this a non-story. Just a lot of Capital Hill bluster and histrionics. But, in the final analysis, everyone is lying through their teeth, as demonstrated by Messrs. Sosa, McGwire, and Palmeiro. Congress can't do jack (they tried to lift the anti-trust exemption during the strike of '94; but to no avail. We have a Commissioner who can't even decide how to fairly end an exhibition game. And of course, the vile Union won't do anything that is not in accord with their collective bargaining agreement. The biggest loser in all this is Rafael Palmeiro. He will join Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe in Baseball Purgatory. I still hate ESPN for engendering a corporate climate in baseball that encourages steroid usage. Then they become Court TV and rake everyone over the coals once baseball got caught. P.S. - Who is the IDIOT who is giving me unfavorables for everything I write, even the innocuous. I could say "Jesus is Great" and give Jesus a 5 and this IDIOT would still give me an unfavorable. Come forward, IDIOT.

What drama. We got to sit there and watch baseball players claim they knew nothing with stupid grins on their guilty faces.

Silly story. But, here's what I find funniest. Bill Clinton can lie to keep his job, under oath, to a Grand Jury and to Congress, obstruct justice, defy congressional subpoenas, and be defended by nearly a third of the country, because, it was all about sex. But Palmeiro (arguably) lies to Congress to keep his job, and he's toast, they want that worthless perp in jail! Lie about sex? That's ok with us. Lie about BASEBALL!!?? Lock him up and throw away the key! What a country.

The Congressional Hearing on Steroid Use in Baseball was a big sports story- but for all the wrong reasons. Yes, (1) steroid use in baseball was and still is a problem; and (2) the focus ought to be eradicating the problem. But were these hearings necessary in light of far more important national issues? To call out past players to testify about alleged drug abuse made everyone involved losers (Congress and Major League Baseball). Try as they might, the moment these players were subpoenad, they were forever tarnished in the eyes of a once adoring public. It was nothing but a witch hunt. And guilty as some may have been, was this probe actually worth it? In the end, once-celebrated players like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were scrutinized and forever defamed- and once again put a black eye on the national pastime. What were these players supposed to say? They could deny the allegations, and yet they would have been called 'liars'. And if they admitted it, they would have been called 'cheaters'. It was a no-win situation which cheapened the game further. Perhaps most tragic, though, was McGwire's inability to rebut the claims of his former bash brother (now rat) Jose Canseco. McGwire's failure to respond directly stained his legacy and all but proved his guilt. But this whole hearing was just a fiasco (unbecoming of an otherwise esteemed legislative body) with no winners, whatsoever.

Frankly this whole escapade leaves me a little nauseated, both by baseball and by congress. A lot of cheap theatrical high minded posing by congressmen, some of whose behaviour wouldn't stand a lot of scrutiny. A lot of duck and cover by MLB. Leave aside the fact that congress just might have slightly higher priorities than micromanaging baseball.