Remember Captain Renault saying in "Casablanca" he was "shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here," just before being handed his winnings by one of the casino workers at Rick's?
Isn't that how baseball fans are feeling right now in the wake of news that both Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds have admitted to steroid use?
DUH.
We all knew that. We all knew seedy connections to steroid providers were behind the drama of Bonds' record home-run pursuit. We saw he'd gained about 50 pounds of muscle over the course of his career. His head had grown so huge, a batting helmet barely fit him anymore.
We saw it, and we knew it, but we still tuned in to watch it.
This has been an undeniably great run for baseball and its fans, capped last year by Boston's magical run. Like Carmella Soprano living lavishly in her Jersey mansion, we enjoyed the spoils of these great accomplishments without considering how they came about.
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But that's what's most puzzling about these recent revelations. How are the fans supposed to respond now? Since back when the term "juiced" had more to do with fruit than drugs, baseball has been surviving scandals. There was the Black Sox, segregation and even a players' strike. Baseball has bounced back every time.
It's not like Major League Baseball will fold or disappear.
But this sick mess should clearly demonstrate how reprehensible some aspects of sports can be. The question has been thrown around the radio and the sports sections for a while: Wouldn't you be willing to take steroids if it meant guaranteed millions, if you could be happy and successful and play a game for your career? How can we fault these guys?
An infinitesimal amount of us will face this kind of choice, but doing the right thing is something we've been taught since before kindergarten. It might make my life easier to steal the things I want instead of saving up and buying them, but it wouldn't be right. Just because they can make more money by juicing doesn't mean it's OK to do so.
It's a plain fact that high school athletes in football and baseball are picking up on this and starting to use performance enhancers with more frequency. They are giving themselves the best chance to succeed at their sport, but they're also risking serious health problems down the road.
Baseball knows this is going on, knows its is the face of steroids, and yet the players and their representatives are fighting any major overhaul in the testing procedures for banned substances.
I'll always be a baseball fan, but the records and performances become more meaningless with each breaking news piece.
