Daniel Okrent wrong again -- on Mark McGwire in 1998

[scoopmeister]

http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/001603.html

Let's start with the worst offender: Time Magazine's Daniel Okrent, who would later gain fame and notoriety as the public editor and watchdog (ironic, no?) of the New York Times. It was Okrent who, with his Time bosses, annointed McGwire as "Hero of the Year" at the end of 1998 -- an essay that included a haughty dismissal of the steroid issue:

From Okrent's Dec. 28, 1998 article (entitled "A Mac For All Seasons; Mark McGwire's 70 home runs shattered the most magical record in sports and gave America a much-needed hero"):

He didn't much like being turned into a carnival sideshow, but he never let it distract him. When a reporter spotted androstenedione, a legal but controversial steroid, in McGwire's locker, the slugger explained that he used it to protect himself from the muscle tears that so often plague finely conditioned athletes, especially those few so well muscled as he, and he left it at that. Though he was criticized, McGwire marched ahead, not even pausing to rip off the head of the reporter who'd gone peeking into his locker. What kind of a modern athlete would fail to do that? As for "andro," whatever else it does, it can't help a player's timing, his hand-eye coordination, his ability to discern a slider from a splitter. But even if andro improved his power by an unlikely, oh, 5%, then instead of 70 home runs, McGwire this year would have hit... maybe 67. Take 5% off a 450-ft. missile, and you've got a 427.5-ft. missile--long enough to clear any fence save center field in Detroit's Tiger Stadium.

[Blue_Tires]

1. sadly, a lot of the national media, drunk on the 'instant offense' era of

baseball, were unwilling or unable to admit to any problems....call it denial, or any other of a number of reasons, but the sports 'journalists' at ESPN all but became apologists for this atmosphere that they knew existed with obvious examples like McGuire/Sosa in 98, Caminiti in 96, and Bonds in 01..(and even today, many in the media remain committed to covering up the truth instead of exposing it in the steroids scandal)

[erpowers]

5. Bonds 2001

What happened in 2001 with Bonds?

[autorank]

2. Hey, if Schilling was on roids will the take the Pennant awas from Boston.

:shrug:

Wow, that would be such a shame. Think of how persecuted they would feel. Schilling does look a little "cut".

I say, if Schilling was on roids, the Pennant goes to a neutral corner.

[flvegan]

3. Some of those pro-hormones like andro

so closely resembled the hardcore stuff, they banned them all in January of this year, and put them in the same class of substance as the real deal.

I'm sorry, but anyone that thinks steroids aren't prevalent in all the major (and some minor) sports needs to have his/her head examined.

They need to take a reality based approach if they're serious:
1. We catch you with it, you go to jail. Period.
2. You test positive for it, and you're suspended for the year.
3. You test positive for it a second time, your career is over.

Otherwise, forget it.

[jakefrep]

4. BEHOLD!

The Wonders of 20/20 Hindsight!

All water under the dam at this point.