http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-02-13-steroids-hearing_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

Sentinel Editorial: The U.S. Govt. should keep its stinking nose out of such things in general. However, it's already stuck it in, so we are we're we are at. If baseball, football, professional bodybuilding, powerlifting, ETC. were so damn serious about sports enhancing illegal drugs, it should have taken the bull by the horns decades ago. That said, what the gentlemen involved in all of this now are doing is reprehensible.

It has shaken my faith and admiration for baseball to some extent. Kudos to all of those athletes who utilize sound sports nutrition and other alternatives to increase power, endurance, and decrease recovery time from ijury or brutal workouts.

I thought it was a sadder day for our representatives... I couldn't believe how partisan (for the most part) it was...Some of the Congressmen/women were unprepared, and couldn't have read the Mitchell Report given the way they acted.

I do agree though that MLB is as much to blame as the players. They turned a blind eye to it in the mid-late 90's, the Homerun Era returned Baseball to prominence, and now they are taking little if any responsibility.

Agreed Sox. There are multiple reasons to be disgusted with multiple parties. Like I wrote, the govt. should keep its nose out of it, but now that it stuck it in, we see Dems going after Clemingo, Repubs defending Clemingo, instead of each side remaining as objective as possible. And that Waxman, I just want to b*tch slap him for his hypocrisy after his reprehensible behavior at the Petraeus report. But that aside, this has turned into quite a fiasco, with undoubetedly, at least one party definitely lying, Clemens or McNamee.

I agree, Sentinel. I have no doubt that Clemens is lying. McNamee is no saint, but Clemens threw EVERYONE under the bus. His wife, his agents, his doctors, his trainers, Senator Mitchell, EVERYONE....took no responsibility at all. Too many inconsistensies to go into here...

The federal government has granted an antitrust exemption for both MLB and the NFL. For that reason, Congress has every right, IMO, to stick its nose in the business of these leagues. When it does so, however, the representatives should do their homework so they can know what they're talking about. Half of those on Capitol Hill can't even pronounce the players' names correctly.

I think it's all a bunch of bull, meaning these public hearings and trials. I do think it's wrong that the players were using performance enhancing drugs but it's not just the players to blame. I guarantee the league and the owners knew what was going on and probably even encouraged it. I'm sure there was plenty of pressure from the networks, down to the league, down to owners, and then on to the coaches and players for more "exciting" baseball during the slump in baseball popularity in the 80's and early 90's. Around 1994, the "Great Hitting Barrage" began and interest for baseball was renewed and the money started to flow. Therein lies the truth of the situation. Money is the universal language and everyone was making a lot of it.

10+ years and this is just now coming out and no officials knew what was going on? I don't think so.

And by all means, let's televise these hearings, so that the public can see the vitally important work that we are doing, and how we are spending time and energy on the most important issues facing our nation.

And you wonder why Congress has even lower approval ratings than the president?

Obviously, professional sports have gone unchecked long enough. You have the Patriots videotaping signals since 2000, the MLB steriod/HGH widespread usage, not to mention the 100's if not 1000's of professional figures in the spotlight for criminal charges, maybe it's time that the broken system be fixed. Lift the anti-trust exemptions that were granted to professional sports. They certainly aren't living up to their responsibilities that are a contingency of the anti-trust exemptions.

Personally, I don't think the government is out of line for "sticking its nose" into this. Professional sports is a huge business based upon a percieved product that is being sold to the public. Similar to how the professional wrestling industry was forced to admit it was actually "entertainment" as opposed to a "sport," American professional baseball and football leagues should be held to the same standards.

This absolutely a matter of public interest that should be investigated by Congress.

This is pretty funny-

http://www.bostondirtdogs.com/

Some players (or a player as of right now I should say) has came forward and said that Bud Selig pulled them aside and told them how to use HGH w/out getting caught or "w/out it hurting them." What a disgrace to basball. Selig needed the boot years ago. I wonder what's going to come about between Clemens and Pettitte??

I don't think that it is a sad day for sports, as much as it is a sad day for Roger Clemens. He came off looking very bad. Sports will move on, as they always do following a scandal. I don't blame the players for using 'potentially' performance enhancing drugs, and I don't blame MLB, the NFL or any of the leagues for looking the other way. Sports are there for our entertainment, and they have entertained me greatly over the years.

As far as government involvement, while I believe that some politicos feel that they have an obligation to police sports because they are such a huge part of society, in general I think that most of them are grandstanding.

Several years ago I worked with someone that had a son in the minors, initially stating to him how bad it was that all the performance enhancing drugs had gotten into baseball - his reaction startled me a little, in that he immediately defended that use of drugs as common, readily available and necessary to compete at the highest level. In fact, a trip to the show includes drugs in most cases. I'd bet that the percentage of players on juice is huge.

Face it, baseball is a business, not a game - not like it started out - in fact, any professional level sport is a business first, not a sport.