A Double Standard on Privacy?

I've got more thoughts on yesterday's NYT piece about George Mitchell asking for the medical records of players like Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, which he won't get.

Ever since baseball's steroid problem came to the forefront, there have been a number of sportswriters and such advocating that MLB players, if they are innocent, voluntarily turn over their medical records, etc. to prove it to the general public. Skip Bayless was the latest to advocate this on yesterday's edition of First Take (weird typing that instead of Cold Pizza, isn't it?), and that line of thought deserves an answer. Say what you will about the MLBPA and its obtuseness to the steroid problem; they stand up for the best interests of their members, and the best interest involves keeping certain things private, even when the demands of public opinion dictate otherwise.

No matter your political leanings, the trend over the past few decades has resulted in a lessening of privacy: cell phone companies can sell your phone records; the federal government can monitor those same records for its own ends. Whether you actually are subject to random drug tests at your job or not, the odds are likely that you sign a piece of paper when you're hired that you will subject yourself to them. There are very few ensconced things in law that are truly private. Attorney-client privilege and doctor-patient are a couple of them, and even some aspects of your medical records don't necessarily fall under HIPAA, which is the law intended to keep your medical records private unless released with your consent. Insurance companies already assess your medical information to determine what you pay in coverage, or if you are covered.

Are we comfortable asking athletes to cough up their medical records in order to prove a case against them? We shouldn't be, if only for purely selfish reasons -- if a precedent is established of superstars, the creme de la creme of athletics, being forced by public opinion to open their medical histories to investigators to convict them after they have been convicted in the court of public opinion, then we should take the advice: "Physician, heal thyself." What we ask of the most public in society will eventually be asked of us by our own employers.

Blah Blah Steroid Investigation.

(Apologies to Babes Love Baseball for borrowing their usual title for steroid-related stuff.)

Former Senator George Mitchell's steroid investigation keeps chugging along at the slowest of speeds. Investigators have asked the Baltimore Orioles to send records to players such as Jason Grimsley, David Segui, Fernando Tatis, and oh yeah, these two guys on the left, and ask for them to authorize the release of those records to the investigators, which we all know they won't do.

The investigation is basically a limp-dicked attempt by MLB to try to get to what it believes is still the heart of the problem: rooting out the individual players. However, the whole manner runs up against privacy matters, and never mind the MLBPA's rabid defense of its membership (despite the subject matter, the NFLPA could learn a bit of a lesson in how a union is supposed to represent its members.) With all that in mind, Mitchell's investigation, for now, remains fairly useless, because he has no subpoena power at all. Expect Congress to get involved yet again for another Gross Spectacle when Mitchell hits the wall we all see coming.

Sosa and Palmeiro Cited in Steroid Investigation [New York Times]

(Photo: Baltimore Sun/Lloyd Fox)

Baseball Players Say The Darndest Things.

David Wells is talking ish about Roger Clemens and his non-travel clauses in his contracts that he's had ever since he went to Houston:

"I don't think I would ever do it because of the fact I personally think it would disrespect the team and your teammates," Wells said, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "You look at the other players. How are they going to respect you? What are they going to think if you're not there pulling for the team?"

Boomer has a tendency to spout off a lot, but that doesn't make him wrong -- and teammate Greg Maddux is backing him up.

"I can't imagine doing that," Maddux said, according to the Sun-Sentinel. "I like the game. I like the atmosphere. I appreciate what it has to offer. I want to play the whole year."

The problem with the Rocket's precedent is that it reeks of the baseball equivalent of Shaq taking about half of the regular season off last year for the Heat, and look how well that turned out. What's worse is the implication, in this Buster Olney piece on how Clemens returned to the Bronx, that making the Clemens exception would have caused trouble if they'd kept Randy Johnson around:

And when the Yankees traded Randy Johnson to the Diamondbacks, they felt as if they were setting themselves up in two ways to lure Clemens: First, by clearing Johnson's $16 million salary from their books, they would have the cash to bid aggressively on Clemens, and secondly, they would no longer have second thoughts about giving Clemens special treatment, like leaving the team on days between his starts. They would not have wanted to create that precedent if Johnson was still on the team.

There will be another 40+ year old pitcher who is dominant enough to use this as a precedent down the line, and it's not a good one to follow.

Now, we get to a much more controversial name -- two Red Sox players have now chipped in on the whole Barry Bonds/steroids/breaking the HR record bit. David Ortiz isn't really convinced that Bonds took steroids, mostly on the grounds of not knowing whether that actually affects the hand-eye coordination necessary to hit like Bonds does, and to an extent, Ortiz does. However, Ortiz isn't crazy about commissioner Bud Selig possibly skipping out on #756:

"He's just making things worse," Ortiz told the Herald. "He's the commissioner, there's nothing you can do about it. You can't be saying that. What are people going to think about the game? They'll be like, 'This game is a joke.' He should come, even if he doesn't want to."

Bosox pitcher Curt Schilling also weighed in to WEEI radio:

"Hank Aaron not being there. [Selig] trying to figure out where to be. It's sad," Schilling said, according to the [Boston Globe]. "And I don't care that [Bonds is] black, or green, or purple, or yellow, or whatever. It's unfortunate ... there's good people and bad people. It's unfortunate that it's happening the way it's happening."

Didn't end there, though, as #38 ripped Bonds for being an admitted tax cheat, adulterer, and steroid user -- even though Bonds has never admitted to that in public, I believe.

Selig has to live with the mess he's made. Any concrete proof we have on Barry is limited to leaked grand jury testimony, which he hasn't been charged or convicted on yet. Baseball can't and shouldn't be allowed to think that ignoring Bonds will make him the easy scapegoat, letting it off the hook.

Keef Strikes A Blow For Family Values.

I really don't have any reason to be shocked at what Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards does or admits to when it comes to the drug aspect of sex, drugs, and rock and roll -- this is a man who's done enough smack and coke to drive the gross national product of both Afghanistan and Colombia, and yet for some reason, my jaw just dropped when I read that he'd told NME that he snorted his dad's ashes with a bit of the white pony after Bert Richards bit the dust in 2002.

Keef will outlive us all; if there is a nuclear holocaust, it will just be him and the roaches left with the fallout, so again, I shouldn't be shocked at all when the man mixes in some cremated body with his nose candy. However, this was done in 2002 -- not when he was all strung out and high enough to travel through several altered states and galaxies in a 24-hour period, but when he had somewhat settled down.

I had Richards at number one on the rock bad-ass scale as far as this kind of stuff goes, but Lemmy from Motorhead was a very close second. Now Keef has to go and lap Lemmy again. Cheers, Keef; all those drugs have clearly preserved you so you can continue to do outrageous crap in your old age.

The Ghost of Bill Hicks Approves.

Saw it on Deadspin yesterday, but Cavs forward/center Scot Pollard had to apologize today (yeah, that's him in the dress) for saying "Hey kids, do drugs" while sitting on the bench during a game against Indiana. He said it was a bad joke; I disagree. I didn't see the game, but I bet that was pretty damn funny. Besides, why not encourage kids to do drugs? There are obvious downsides, but drugs have done good things for us. Don't believe me? Watch the master below.



(Really, this post was just an excuse to put up Hicks video, but it's a good one.)

that's another way to handle the contract year.

Now that I've got some time to follow up on yesterday's steroid madness, let's flesh out the original update -- implicated in the steroid investigation are, again, Angels CF (and big free agent signing) Gary Matthews, Jr, along with a physician for the Pittsburgh Steelers. (NFL Adam, rightfully so, is already saying "told you so.")

The newspaper said investigators found evidence that testosterone and other performance-enhancing drugs may have been fraudulently prescribed over the Internet to current and former Major League Baseball and NFL players, college athletes, high school coaches, a former Mr. Olympia champion and another top contender in the bodybuilding competition.

Sketchy, yes. Still problematic. Fuck yeah. Not just because it involves baseball, but possibly football and it runs across states and on the internet. Methods of obtaining supplements, steroids, and illegal narcotics are constantly updating to avoid the law that keeps chasing them, and it highlights the problems with every sport's drug policy if the accusations pan out. Determined cheaters will always find ways to beat the system. What do you do, in that case? Couldn't tell you -- we're probably going to have start admitting that sport isn't pure, and never has been. Those well-versed in history know the exclusion practiced back in the day; fans of college basketball and football are used to shaking off implications of NCAA violations.

Once fans finally cross the barrier, we may all be better off for it.

let's see if Gary Sheffield floats.

Tigers DH/OF Gary Sheffield says he won't cooperate with MLB's steroid investigation:

"The [players'] association told us this is just a witch hunt," Sheffield told USA Today. "They don't want us to talk to them. This is all about getting [Bonds].

"If this was legitimate and they did it the right way, it would be different. But this a witch hunt. They're just trying to collect a lot of stuff that doesn't make any sense and throw the [expletive] against the wall."

Earlier this month, the MLBPA challenged the positive samples with names that MLB got from a testing firm, claiming that was an overreach outside of the original margins of the investigation. So maybe this is what Sheffield was referring to -- but most likely, it has to do with the fact that baseball just turned a blind eye to it until it became very, very public. A witch hunt it isn't, though, Gary -- you want to see a witch hunt, wait until Congress decides to get involved again.

STEROID UPDATE: Via With Leather, we have an investigation into an Orlando pharmacy that may be part of a Internet drug ring, and the steroid targets here may run from MLB players to NFLers. Biggest name: new Angels CF Gary Matthews, Jr.

know your rights.

The MLBPA has petitioned the 9th Circut Court of Appeals to review its 2-1 decision that allowed baseball investigators to use the names and piss test results of over 100 players who tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Investigators are using this to get further into the steroid investigation, and some of those involved, if an appeals court does not overturn the 9th Circuit, could be called before a grand jury to testify.

The standing issue was when investigators grabbed those over-100 results from an investigation into 10 players, which, at face value, would look like an overreach.

"If the majority's decision is allowed to stand, it will create circuit law giving the government carte blanche to use a warrant for some piece of data on a computer as the pretext for seizing the entire computer and perusing its contents," attorneys for the union and lab wrote.

The sticking point is that the union and MLB negotiated that the names would remain private, and circumnavigating the agreement constitutes a breach in the union's eyes. The MLBPA faces a PR problem, though -- with every fight (correct or not legally) they put up against the testing, the more it will be blamed for impeding progress. It's a conundrum, but it seems Don Fehr and crew have decided to fight it out. Any legally-minded (or employed) readers who can assess this better?

they zigged when they should have Zagged.

Prepare to pull Gonzaga out of your bracket considerations this year; not necessarily because of anything they'd done on the floor (certain losses in a conference that should be theirs every year don't help), but because Josh Heytvelt and Theo Davis got busted with pot and shrooms on what would usually be considered a routine traffic stop for busted lights.

Both players have apparently been suspended indefinitely according to ESPN, and if Heytvelt's 15 per game is gone, so go the Bulldogs' NCAA hopes unless they pull out something in the West Coast Conference tournament. A Catholic university would obviously frown on the pot and the psychedelics, but I can't say I remember college players getting busted for possibly shrooming.

three weeks?

A report nabbed from the AP quotes the ministers helping Ted Haggard recover from the icky gayness, saying that after an extensive three-week intervention that he is now "completely heterosexual."

Next, TMZ will try to tell me that Lindsay Lohan is clean and sober.

Haggard said in an e-mail Sunday, his first communication in three months to church members, that he and his wife, Gayle, plan to pursue master's degrees in psychology. The e-mail said the family hasn't decided where to move but that they were considering Missouri and Iowa.

Ted, the whole reason you were in this mess was because you were buying meth off a male escort, and now you're considering moving to states where there is a surplus of the stuff? Eight-balls are more readily available than cheap liquor in those states! (I miss paying $2.50 for a Jack and Coke in Iowa bars.)

I'm putting the over/under at three months. Leave your odds and what he'll be caught with and/or doing.

goddamn airport security.

They had to get Michael Vick in trouble for hiding a pot-like substance in a bottle of Aquafina. Everyone else is all over this stuff.

Whom do you go to rig a bottle like that? Is it homemade or is this a custom job done at shops or something? Chris Henry wants to know. I'm also mildly shocked that Vick had no clue you couldn't take any plastic bottles on the plane these days in the first place.

crying over spilt ink.

The Mighty MJD has a great post about the myth of the steroid double standard re: football -- he caught a snippet of Royals 1B/DH Mike Sweeney complaining about how the NFL and football fans don't care about Shawne Merriman's doping since he's headed to the Pro Bowl, and rightly declared it utter crap.

Personally, I don't want Merriman in the Pro Bowl and I was happy he didn't win Defensive Player of the Year, but by the NFL's standards, he is a Pro Bowl player. He served his four-game suspension and came back, and if he plays at the level he did prior to steroids, in a couple years this will be a footnote.

One of MJD's commenters nailed the reason why football gets accused of sweeping it under the rug: baseball writers spilled a lot of ink on Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa during their Maris chase, romanticizing The Chase as the revitalization of the sport after the wasteland of the '94 strike, endemic of the flowery prose regularly lathed on baseball by writers as a poetic game, the thinking man's sport and still national pastime, despite the NFL's severe domination of the sporting world. The rug then got pulled out from under them.

The contempt for baseball's cheaters and the institution that protected them for decades gets foisted off onto other sports, despite the NFL's steroid and drug policies already in place to handle Merriman, never mind what MJD notes as the elite pseudo-intellectualism of baseball (the epitome of this is George Will) looking down on the crass, lower-class football nation and scolding them for imaginary willful ignorance. Since they cannot nail the past cheaters because they've retired or manage to evade official punishment while suffering in the court of public opinion (i.e., Bonds), they need someone to take it out on.

"Nothing on earth is more depressing than an old baseball writer." - Dan Jenkins, modifying the old Ring Lardner quote (“There isn't anything on earth as depressing as an old sportswriter.”)

a plea to the head FUPA in charge.

Rarely do I get a convergence of topics as lovely as this one -- apparently former Stone Temple Pilots/current Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland is a big Notre Dame fan, and has issued a plea to coach Charlie Weis to continue coaching his Papist insurgency (thank you, Deadspin), and resisting the wiles and temptations of the Big Apple (well, really, New Jersey, and doesn't that make the decision easier?) Here's a clip:

""Okay Charlie, at this point I am going to assume that you haven't spoken to the Giants' organization about their 'potential coaching job.' But LEAVING NOTRE DAME, your alma mater, without having achieved really anything of monolithic proportions like you've promised us, is absurd and unfair. So at this point, I will get on my knees and beg. Don't do it, coach. Don't do it! Stay and do what you promised; your team, your school, the fans, the legacy deserves to be taken to the promised land."

Um, Scott, about being absurd and unfair with loyalty? I think the DeLeo brothers might want to have a couple more words with you about that. Anyway, I think you have a shot at keeping Weis, but you've got to keep him alive first -- I hear heroin suppresses the appetite.