How about a post on a totally unrelated topic? Granted it's late at night but there are a few things worth saying. Well, let's hope they are worth saying. Here is the setup. There is at least one letter in my file complaining about me mentioning football too much. There were other complaints but that was the one really off the wall. First, we do live in East Texas where the sport lives 365 days a year. Second, not every story heard on a Sunday is about football. Third, football is not even my favorite sport. That is reserved for the sport of baseball. It is by far my most favorite sport.

My early memories of baseball begin with the 1968 World Series. Back then you could come home from school and the game would be on television. It was the year Bob Gibson dominated the National League. It's also the year that Denny McLain won 30 games for the Detroit Tigers. There are also memories of listing to AM radio late at night during the summer. Late at night I could hear Harry Carey or Jack Buck calling the Cardinals games from St. Louis. If God were to offer me a mulligan on life and let me be a Hall of Fame football or baseball player, I would choose baseball every time. My daughter shares my zeal for the sport. We make it a point to go to several games during the season. Over time we had the opportunity to meet broadcasters, players and the sort. My one fantasy of life would be to still play in the big leagues. As the age of 50 approaches it seems that will go unfulfilled. Someday I will be in my 70s still dreaming the dream.

Guess that is why it pains me so to read of Alex Rodriguez and the steroid scandal. The last five years or so are truly difficult for those of us who love the game. There seems to be yet another players being identified for using illegal drugs on a regular basis. It is making a mess of the records we fans hold so dear. To me, Henry Aaron is still the home run king. To me, Roger Maris still holds the single season home run record. Performance enhancing drugs made a mockery of the game for too long. The stigma of the steroid era will take years to overcome.

Now do not think the players before this current group are an innocent bunch. Babe Ruth was a tad wild in his day. There are more than a few accounts to document his excesses. Mickey Mantle said his hard living shortened his career significantly. It also eventually took his life. There is also the whole issue of the Negro League. It's only been about 60 years since black athletes were allowed to play in the Major Leagues. Baseball didn't do so good with the civil rights approach. Baseball does not have a pristine legacy in all accounts. Steroids are not the first problem it's faced. Chances are it will not be the last either.

At this point only full disclosure and honesty will begin to free the game of this blight. Athletes need to own their choices without hiding behind excuses. Give Rodriguez some credit for coming out and taking responsibility. He may be the most visible athlete in the game. His painful confession will not make the problems of the game go away. It may allow some dialogue between the players union and the owners to rid the game of this once and for all. That is my hope for what's happened. Maybe these two opposing groups will lay it all out in the open so the game can start fresh. Perhaps it is nothing more than wishful thinking. But it is what I wish would happen.

Bro. Trey