You've just got to be kidding me...

I was reading about the Congressional hearings on steroids in baseball, and the thought occurred to me, "How could this possibly be construed as something for Congress to be focused on? Don't they have any real work to do?"

If they've got time to fart around, snooping into grown people's lives... then they've simply got too much time! We could shorten up the time Congress is in session and save the country some money.

Lemme see here; a grown man, adult for many years, decides to stuff some substance into his body such that it will allow him to perform better on the job. It could be caffeine for a night watchman, it could be Gatorade for a professional marathoner... or it could be steroids for a baseball or football player.

Now, if the league as a private entity says they don't want their player to be on the juice - so be it. They have every right to run their business the way they want.

But for our main legislative body to get involved... that's just silly.

I really don't care about the so-called "ethical" issues... that's for the team owners and the fans to decide. In a free market, there would be a separate league that promoted itself as "REAL BASEBAL" or some such.

Whoops, there's another thing I don't get... why does Baseball get an exemption from our monopoly laws? Why can't I start another league if I think I can do it better?

The obvious answer is money, of course. The owners of the league DON'T want me to be able to start my own league... that would mean competition - and competition is bad for short-term profits.

The worst, in my mind, is the utter hypocricay of the whole thing. Players aren't told they can't do steroids... they're told they can't get caught using them. That's just wrong. And so every now-and-then, they throw one player to the wolves as a token, hoping the wolves won't get greedy and grab the whole thing.

Instead, let's just go back to kids playing in fields or lots and having fun. That's what it's all about, isn't it?