Why the Barry Bonds Controversy Shouldn't Matter

Why the Barry Bonds Controversy Shouldn't Matter

The Barry Bonds discussion shouldn't even be happening. We shouldn't even really be having this talk at all. But millions across America are. And that's too bad.
From the major inquires of Senate Hearings to Little League Baseball's digout discussions, the question of steriods in baseball seems to plague us all. And it really shouldn't matter. But it does. And that's too bad.
You see, baseball doesn't really matter. Now, I like to watch baseball. I even like to play it. But it doesn't matter. If Major League Baseball ceased to exist tomorrow, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Few lives would be changed for the worse in the really important areas.
If, however, school teachers or social workers or nurses failed to go to work tomorrow, millions of people would have their worlds turned upside down. Maybe not on the first day or the second, but in the long term it would matter.
But we've put our priorities all out of whack. Instead of lauding the civil servants with the praise they deserve, we've instead put the emphasis on an athlete's ability to be bigger, faster, and stronger for a brief moment in time. That puts pressure on the players and then they are pushed to find a new edge and led to the temptation to cheat. And that's how we got in this mess in the first place.
I am not against athletics. They certainly have their place. The problem is we've put them in the wrong place--ahead of what really matters. And that's too bad.

The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,
but the folly of fools is deception.
Proverbs 14:8