Whitlock slams Selig, Gammons, Lupica and especially ESPN. Steroids and Race. Part 1 is copied here. Part 2 is in the following post.. Interesting stuff...
The Weed King

Furor over A-Rod, Bonds is all about Babe
by Jason Whitlock
Jason Whitlock brings his edgy and thought-provoking style to FOXSports.com. Columnist for the Kansas City Star, he has won the National Journalism Award for Commentary for "his ability to seamlessly integrate sports and social commentary and to challenge widely held assumptions along the racial divide."


Today's column is not for the simple-minded or sensitive. If you are either, I apologize in advance and respectfully suggest you go read one of the thousand other takes on Alex Rodriguez.

To understand the furor/hysteria regarding Rodriguez testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, you have to grasp the importance of symbols to any culture, but most especially American culture.

Cultures do not survive without the vigilant preservation of iconic symbols that stand as proof of a society's righteousness, strength and courage. Because we are the world's melting pot, the maintaining of ethnic/racial symbols occasionally causes major friction and difficult-to-explain double standards.

Steroids are the forbidden fruit in baseball and a healthy green vegetable in football. Why?

Well, throughout our American history there have been four sports that define male machismo — boxing, baseball, football and basketball. As you know, men take machismo very seriously. It is the lone, scientifically proven substitute for having a big Johnson, which explains Napoleon's disease.

Thanks in part to segregation laws, three white men and a mixed-race native American — James J. Jeffries, Babe Ruth, Jim Thorpe and George Mikan — got first crack as symbols of the macho games that matter most in America.

Jeffries was the first to fall. In an effort to prove the superiority of white men over the American Negro, Jeffries came out of retirement early in the 20th century, lost 100 pounds and took on Jack Johnson in "the fight of the century." Jeffries lost badly and later admitted that even in his prime he would've been no match for Johnson.

Jim Brown unseated Thorpe, a native American, as the unquestioned king of football. Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain leaped past Mikan on the hardwood.

Willie Mays and Hank Aaron took good, hard runs at Babe Ruth, but The Great Bambino is still standing. Today he shares the stage with Brown, Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan as the greatest of all-time in the American sports that define who we believe we are.

Babe Ruth is not going anywhere without a massive, nuclear fight. His supporters do not care that he dominated a segregated, inferior brand of Major League Baseball.

Babe Ruth is an important symbol, and challengers to his throne will be greeted with immense resistance.

That's why steroids matter so much in baseball. They distort our appreciation of Ruth's numbers, particularly his home-run stats, the penis-measuring digits of baseball. Chicks dig the long ball.

Barry Bonds threatened Ruth's legacy in a way Hank Aaron never could. Aaron was consistent, durable and humble. Bonds was overpowering, menacing and arrogant. He was the epitome of macho.

When Bonds announced he wanted to pass Ruth more than Aaron, Bonds knew exactly what he was doing. He was giving the finger to all the baseball geeks determined to protect Ruth's legacy. Bonds did not know he was also fueling the steroids witch hunt.

The hunt for Bonds ensnared Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens and now Alex Rodriguez, the last known threat to Ruth.

Let me be clear: I am not a proponent of performance-enhancing drugs. They are a problem in ALL sports and will remain one as long as there are millions of dollars to be made in athletics. I object to the ridiculously inconsistent outrage we have about PEDs. "Perfectly acceptable" is an exaggeration, but I can't think of a more accurate description of PEDs in football. And they're all but ignored in basketball, golf, hockey, tennis, horse racing, etc.

Also, let me add that I don't have much of a problem with white sports fans protecting the legacy of their athletic icons. Black people (and other racial groups) do the same thing.

As a kid, when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird met on the basketball court, I kept my own stats because I was convinced the scorers cheated Magic.

Are white fans really outraged by guys like Barry Bonds, or do they maybe just feel a little inadequate? (Doug Pensinger / Getty Images)

Last week, when I wrote this Michael Phelps column and we ran this mock campaign poster, one of my best friends called me to complain that it was racist for Fox to mock Barack Obama's symbolic campaign poster. I had to explain to him that Obama was a politician and not a religious deity.

We can and will spoof Obama with the same enthusiasm we made fun of George Bush, Bill Clinton, Dan Quayle and Paris Palin. And I say that knowing full well that many black people are going to be offended by the humor because they are going to be un-objective and too protective of the Obama symbol.

Obviously those of us in the media are supposed to be ruled by some level of objectivity. Being humans we oftentimes fail. We have failed monumentally when it comes to baseball, Bonds, home runs and steroids.

Of our three major sports leagues, the least amount of racial diversity among the journalists/broadcasters covering the games is in baseball. As best I can tell, Joe Morgan is the lone, influential, non-white voice in baseball.

Things don't get challenged in baseball. There's a comfy network of peers writing about, talking about, managing and coaching, general-managing, owning and commissioner-ing Major League Baseball.

There's significant diversity playing the game. But there is virtually no diversity shaping the way the game is viewed.

# That's why all the steroid hysteria is focused on the players.

# That's why in the years before Bonds turned to steroids to keep pace with all the "cheaters" we were sold the bogus story that juiced balls powered the home-run explosion.

# That's why ownership and managers never get adequately questioned and vilified for their role as the No. 1 benefactors and blind-eye proponents of steroids.

# That's why Tom Hicks, the owner of the Texas Rangers, would have the audacity to claim that A-Rod owes him an apology.

# That's why ESPN broadcaster and baseball shill Peter Gammons could be celebrated for decades as the gold standard in baseball journalism by his peers in the media.

# That's why Sports Illustrated's Selena Roberts has pursued A-Rod like Moby Dick, unveiled her report about his steroid use a week after the Super Bowl and has a book about A-Rod ready to be released in the coming months.

# That's why ESPN suspended Scott Van Pelt for calling Bud Selig a pimp.

# That's why Mike Lupica ran me off "The Sports Reporters" because I refused to allow him to put a black face (Bonds') on a drug epidemic that by the 1990s was clearly colorless, pervasive and initially sparked by white athletes trying to keep pace with black athletes.

I'm not suggesting a colossal, racist conspiracy. I'm saying it's easy for any of us to fall victim to our biases if our thoughts are rarely questioned by people who look, think and experience life different from us.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at ballstate0@aol.com.

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Someone's posts explained: http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Curve-Intell ... 825&sr=1-3

http://thepeoplescube.com

Part 2 of the Jason Whitlock column.


Go straight to the top with steroid outrage
by Jason Whitlock
Jason Whitlock brings his edgy and thought-provoking style to FOXSports.com. Columnist for the Kansas City Star, he has won the National Journalism Award for Commentary for "his ability to seamlessly integrate sports and social commentary and to challenge widely held assumptions along the racial divide."

Part I: Furor over A-Rod, Bonds is all about Babe

Let me warn you again: I am trying to spark a mature, sophisticated discussion about the issues perplexing the sports world. If you prefer a simple-minded debate, stop reading now, tune into "Mike and Mike" or "Around The Horn," go read Sports Illustrated or Peter Gammons or just wait for Bud "Iceberg Slim" Selig's next press release.

A-Rod steroid shake-up
Alex Rodriguez The Alex Rodriguez steroid controversy took another twist Monday when the three-time AL MVP admitted taking steroids during a three-year span while with Texas.
News:

This column may not be your cup of tea. It's attempting to examine the sports world on a deeper, more honest level than what you are used to. I apologize. I'm not trying to offend you. I don't believe I have all the answers. I'm just looking for them and passing along what I find.

This is a follow-up to what I wrote Thursday about Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and performance-enhancing drugs.

At the end of the column, I stated that the steroid epidemic was sparked by white athletes trying to keep pace with black athletes. Let me expound on that point.

I don't and never have believed that American blacks are superior athletes to American whites. I do believe that our disparate American histories caused black culture to value and strive for athletic achievement more than white culture. That cultural emphasis on athletic achievement produced a high proportion of great black athletes.

During my childhood, it was obvious that white kids and black kids bought into the myth of black athletic superiority. That myth, in my opinion, fueled the steroid culture that permeated football in the 1970s and 1980s.

I witnessed this with my own eyes as a high school and college football player. In general, white kids used steroids. They thought they had to in order to compete. In general, a handful of black football players would experiment with steroids during their junior and senior seasons if they thought they had a chance to make it as a professional.

Some of the disparity was driven purely by economics. Many of the black players came from poor, inner-city high schools that did not have legitimate weight-lifting programs. They'd never lifted weights before entering college and had never even remotely contemplated using steroids.

PEDs took root in the suburbs.

No group had superior or inferior ethics. People did what they believed was necessary to compete. I didn't need steroids to compete. Using them never crossed my mind. By my fourth year of college, I could bench press well in excess of 400 pounds, and I've never had a problem packing on the pounds.

That was not the case for many of my white teammates, particularly the offensive and defensive linemen. Many of them used PEDs. I didn't see the users as evil. But I wasn't obsessed with football and gave up on my NFL dream when Big 10 schools didn't offer me a scholarship.

Here's my gigantic problem with the way the steroid crisis is being covered by the media. Every player on my Ball State team had a pretty good idea who the steroid users were on our team and which opponents were roidheads, too.

The coaches knew, too. They did nothing to stop it. If anything, coaches favor steroid users.

I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. But what color are the coaches in major-college football today and what color were they in the 1980s? And what color players did I say were the majority of steroid users in the 1970s and 1980s? And what myth did I say initially fueled the steroid epidemic?

I'm not angry. I'm sharing facts with you. You know how some black folks rationalized every mistake Michael Vick (and any other high-profile black) made along the way to Leavenworth Prison? Yeah, white folks do the exact same thing. It's a common error made by all people. We surround ourselves with people who look and think like we do and never challenge us to be fair.

Anyway, you have to understand the root cause to fix a problem. No doubt, the steroid crisis has spread rapidly from its humble beginnings. You now have AAU parents from the 'hood to the 'burbs hooking their kids with the best designer steroids in hopes of helping Johnny make the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL or MLS.

Once professional sports leagues started turning athletes into lottery millionaires, everyone became a potential user. It's colorless now.

The beginning of a solution remains the same. Pressure needs to be applied to coaches at the high school and college levels and coaches, management and ownership at the professional level.


Crucifying the athletes is easy, unproductive and cowardly.

As a journalist, I'm embarrassed by the way the media have attacked this issue. I'm not surprised though. The Worldwide Leader is in bed with ownership. ESPN has no interest in holding Bud Selig and his cronies accountable for the steroid era.

Scott Van Pelt accurately pointed out that Selig pimped A-Rod, Bonds, Mark McGwire and all the rest for years, landed a commissioner's contract of $18.5 million a year and now wants to act like he's appalled by the steroid era. ESPN suspended Van Pelt for telling the truth on Iceberg Selig.

This is comedy, an immoral comedy. Iceberg Selig allegedly is considering suspending A-Rod and removing Bonds as the Home Run King. That would be the equivalent of George Bush court-martialing our Iraq foot soldiers for failing to find weapons of mass destruction.

Absolute power corrupts. Selig is in control of the messenger. He is going to sign off on ESPN's next contract, not A-Rod. ESPN better not question why Selig is paid nearly as much money as A-Rod and more money than Roger Goodell and David Stern.

I dislike ESPN for good reason: Fans are being lied to, players are getting unfairly attacked and the truth gets conveniently ignored. And most of the media sit by their phones praying that an ESPN producer calls and grants them three minutes of airtime/relevancy.

The venom directed at Bonds, Rodriguez and Clemens needs to target Iceberg Selig and his billionaire cronies. They made the most money off the steroid era. They knew what was going on. If they didn't, they're so grossly incompetent that they should lose their jobs.

Instead, Selig pontificates about how steroid users shamed the game, and Congress wants to bring A-Rod in for questioning.

A Hollywood screen writer couldn't make this (spit) up.

You can e-mail Jason Whitlock at ballstate0@aol.com.

_________________
Someone's posts explained: http://www.amazon.com/Bell-Curve-Intell ... 825&sr=1-3

http://thepeoplescube.com

I once saw Jason Whitlock eat an entire 14 lb. turkey in one bite. Picked the bones clean without even hesitating.

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