Baseball might be as American as apple pie. But greed is as deep as a bottomless pit. That is the only explanation for subjecting fans to another baseball lockout.
Baseball is already the least popular among America’s major professional sports. Not least because it is so intrinsically boring that Tiger Woods made even golf more exciting to watch.
Now greedy billionaire owners and millionaire players are engaged in yet another game of chicken. This, because each side is hell-bent on getting more of baseball’s revenue pie. And neither side seems to care that their standoff will cheat fans out of many games this season.
I stand in solidarity with the players. But, truth be told, I wouldn’t be the least bit bothered if baseball, as a professional sport, goes the way of the dodo bird.
Recall that Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds resurrected fan interest after the last lockout by using steroids to bat home runs that were too exciting to miss. But baseball thanked them not only by making them social pariahs but by denying them entry into its hallowed Hall of Fame.
Therefore, baseball won’t even have that freak show to draw fans back to the parks this time. And that, despite this:
Steroid use has flourished in baseball and other professional sports pursuant to an open conspiracy among players and team owners. This, to feed the gladiatorial lust of fans who want to see stronger, faster athletic cyborgs perform for their atavistic enjoyment. And, of course, the more fans revel in their steroid-fueled feats of athleticism, the bigger the players’ contracts (and even bigger the owners’ bottom line) become.
(“Barry Bonds Is a Steroid Junkie … Duh,” The iPINIONS Journal, March 8, 2006)
And yes, I prefer pecan pie to apple pie any day, not just on Thanksgiving Day.
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