Monday, February 17, 2020

The worst sports scandal since Sandusky and Nassar?

It's been nine years since authorities charged Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky with 52 counts of sexual abuse on boys - horrific acts over a 14-year period, beneath the cloak of Joe Paterno's once-sterling reputation. The NCAA would fine the university $60 million and ban it from four post-seasons. Its president would be convicted of child endangerment and sentenced to prison. And Paterno would die before his time, desperately seeking to defend his tarred honor. 

It's been five years since the sex scandal of U.S.A. gymnastics coach Larry Nassar, a convicted serial child molester, who abused hundreds of young women during his career. Dozens of officials at Michigan State and the U.S. Olympics team have been ousted and/or charged, the university has paid $500 million to settle lawsuits, and Nassar has been sentenced to prison for the next 175 years.  

In our sporting lives, let's face it: There's been nothing like these scandals, and let's hope there never is. (I wouldn't bet on it, though.)

Over the last decade, we've seen sports scandals about steroids, bounties, deflated footballs, concussions, college recruiting and even saluting the flag, though that was actually more of a controversy. Now comes probably the worst non-sex-related scandal in this generation, and it's expanding every day.

Anger about illegal sign-stealing by the Astros (and maybe this week, the Redsocks) continues to explode, fueled by a sense that Houston cheated and got away with it. And, really, how can we NOT feel that way?

The Astros face a $5 million fine, the loss of some draft picks, and a few managers tossed under the bus. The owner skates. The players skate. The franchise skates.

Seriously, a $5 million fine? 

Forbes values the Astros at $1.775 billion - (billion, with a "b.") Its annual revenues stand at $368 million. A $5 million fine? Wow. Why didn't they throw in a pink-belly? 

Anger at Boston has yet to emerge, but with each passing day, it looks more as if the Redsocks will skate. Commissioner Rob Manfred's toothless decision to grant immunity to players in exchange for their testimony must have seemed like a grand shortcut three months ago. Now, Manfred looks like a miner in a coal shaft holding a dead canary. 

Every day, new accusations emerge, now being fueled by fans. The latest: photos show Jose Altuve in the top of the ninth of the Yankees' final game, wearing a t-shirt beneath his jersey. Before coming to bat in the fateful bottom of the ninth, Altuve removed it. WTF? Why? I've always assumed Altuve - a great player, no question - didn't need to cheat. Now, I wonder if he'll go down in history as Houston's Shoeless Joe. But why did he take off his t-shirt?

Lately, critics are taking aim at Manfred's investigation. For years, teams had accused Houston of cheating. Why didn't MLB launch a probe? Whistle-blower Mike Fiers, whom some Astros have the gall to blame for their problems, told MLB about the problem months before he talked with reporters. It almost looks as though MLB sat on the issue until media reports forced its hand. 

I think Manfred will lose his job over this.

The Commissioner seems to have completely misread the players' reaction to this scandal. Yesterday, Phil Hughes suggested that players should consider a work stoppage to protest the Astros' weak punishment. There's been so much talk about retaliation than Manfred has found himself in the worst position possible: Defending Houston, and warning other teams not to take action.  

The Astros have closed ranks, (as Boston surely has done), claiming it didn't cheat last fall. But here's the rub: They are known cheaters. Thus, nobody believes them. There is a consequence to squandering your integrity. Once gone, it doesn't come back. 

This is also a good time to recall how close Houston came to winning the 2019 World Series. In game seven, they led 2-0 going into the seventh. The bounce of a ball, and they could be the third World Championship team in a row to be tainted forever.

Officially, it will cost Houston's owner just $5 million?

Nope. This ain't over. Oh my God, no. It's just spring training.

9 comments:

  1. Death to Smoochy.

    The rest, ban them for life.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Boston, in the immortal words from the amoral aughts, is "too big to fail."

    Too much brand recognition, too much money involved, too many emotional man-boy assholes and jackasses with caps that have the letter "B" stitched into them.

    The Astros were caught with their pants down, in flagrante delicto, dick up the donkey's ass, all documented on somebody's Kodak Brownie. The Sox, well, my memory gets fuzzy...let's just look the other way...hey, let's just move on here...I mean, EVERYBODY DOES IT...I mean YOU all did it...I mean, just give us a break...I mean, hey! let's play ball!

    We all know it's a heaping steam shovel bucket's worth of elephant shit, but people are suffering outrage burnout. They/We are suffering bad news burnout, hypocrisy burnout, destruction of everything holy burnout. Let's just let Boston be Boston. Isn't it enough that we slapped the ASStros on the wrist and broadcast their FAKE apologies?

    Come on, guys, this is America. LET'S PLAY BALL.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "IT'S NOT OVER UNTIL I SAY IT'S OVER..."

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hope this does cost Manfred his job. He's been so concerned with changing long standing rules for the sake of shaving an extra 3 minutes off of the game times instead of actually looking into the worst baseball scandal since the blacksox. I hope the players keep speaking out all season, the Astros deserve no quarter in any ballpark this year. Everywhere they go they should feel uncomfortable at the absolute minimum. For Correa to come out and blast Bellinger like that because he told the truth is absurd. It's real easy to pimp a homer when you know whats coming. Now, hopefully, instead of stepping in the box they not only won't know what pitch is coming, but have to wonder if the next one is coming for their earhole.

    ReplyDelete

  5. Vlad Jr. on the Astros cheating scandal:

    “If I knew what was coming, I’d hit .500”

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fuck you Carlos Correa, what an asshole you are. Forget about throwing at heads, I think it's time for something drastic. Bring back the Hanson brothers, dig Muhammad Ali out of his grave, get Brock Lesner. Let's turn every game with the Astros into a wild west brawl free for all. Who wants to watch cheating baseball, when you can see 100 guys beating each up on national tv? No holds barred, bats, chairs, gatorade buckets, and garbage cans allowed. That I would gladly pay $100 to watch.

    The Hammer of God

    ReplyDelete
  7. THE RED SOX MUST PAY A PRICE TOO.

    FUCKING BEN AFFLECK, MATT DAMON AND MARK WALBERG WON'T BE WEARING THEIR BOSTON HATS THIS SEASON...

    WATCH.

    THOSE SCUMBAG RED SOX FOLLOWED THE SAME BLUEPRINT AS HOUSTON.

    THEY SHOULD BE FRIED AS WELL.

    ReplyDelete


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