I might have been a baseball fanatic at age 13. Today, I just give a cursory glance to some of the MLB records, whenever a current major leaguer is poised to reset one. Barry Bonds is poised to break Hammerin' Hank's career home run mark, which is arguably one of the top 3 MLB records, the other two being Joltin' Joe's 56-game hitting streak, and Barry's own single-season home run record.
In reminiscing about the excitement of having a hallowed MLB record approached, I am constantly jolted from my reverie by the ad nauseous mediacrity (media mediocrity) concerning his alleged use of steroids. Alright already, so maybe he used steroids. If that is of major concern to you, ignore his approach to the record, and hold his eventual reset of it in contempt, if you feel you must.
In my opinion, any person living in a free society such as ours has the right to engage in self abuse, however it may be defined, with the important proviso that s/he not impose on the individual rights of others. Americans are governed by the rule of law, both legally constituted and implicit in the ordering principle of society. The latter comprises the inherent rules of our free market system. If Bonds' new record is deemed a heinous blemish on our national pastime, capitalism will remedy that.
How so? The reason lies within the core of the "pastime" --- money. The fans who are contemptuous of Bonds will presumably lose some of their inclination to support financially their passion for the game. If this becomes a significant impact, the owners will be less willing to support financially another such contender for any record. And a large number of players will be influenced to forsake such "tainted" assaults on any record, knowing that the accomplishment will be less generously rewarded and less highly regarded by the fans.
If, however, the loss of fan interest is not significant, the game will proceed as before, and the hue and cry of the mediacrity will have been a false alarm. But for those of us who simply can't get worked up about someone else's self abuse, it's just a pain in the mass.
In reminiscing about the excitement of having a hallowed MLB record approached, I am constantly jolted from my reverie by the ad nauseous mediacrity (media mediocrity) concerning his alleged use of steroids. Alright already, so maybe he used steroids. If that is of major concern to you, ignore his approach to the record, and hold his eventual reset of it in contempt, if you feel you must.
In my opinion, any person living in a free society such as ours has the right to engage in self abuse, however it may be defined, with the important proviso that s/he not impose on the individual rights of others. Americans are governed by the rule of law, both legally constituted and implicit in the ordering principle of society. The latter comprises the inherent rules of our free market system. If Bonds' new record is deemed a heinous blemish on our national pastime, capitalism will remedy that.
How so? The reason lies within the core of the "pastime" --- money. The fans who are contemptuous of Bonds will presumably lose some of their inclination to support financially their passion for the game. If this becomes a significant impact, the owners will be less willing to support financially another such contender for any record. And a large number of players will be influenced to forsake such "tainted" assaults on any record, knowing that the accomplishment will be less generously rewarded and less highly regarded by the fans.
If, however, the loss of fan interest is not significant, the game will proceed as before, and the hue and cry of the mediacrity will have been a false alarm. But for those of us who simply can't get worked up about someone else's self abuse, it's just a pain in the mass.
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