Steroid bombshell

By Editorial

It's rare for the White House press secretary to address a topic from the sports world during a press briefing. But that's what occurred on Feb. 7 when Scott McClellan told the media that President Bush had no knowledge of any steroid use when he owned the Texas Rangers, even if such illegal behavior occurred.

But with the release of former pro baseball player Jose Canseco's book -- in which Canseco claims the President had to have known that many Ranger players (including Canseco) used steroids -- Bush was forced to respond.

This comes nearly one year after Bush's 2004 State of the Union where he stressed the need for sports to have stringent steroid policies.

Yet even though Major League Baseball has finally implemented steroid testing, it may be too late. Too many feats have been accomplished (see Barry Bonds) and too many other performance-enhancing drugs are available. Putting any value on the next record-breaking home run count would be pointless.

What was once speculation that steroids could be linked to the likes of Bonds and Mark McGwire is now a publicity bomb ready to explode.

And Canseco's lighting the fuse.

Canseco, who finished his career with 462 home runs, has called out McGwire, Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, and Jason Giambi as ex-teammates he did steroids with. Giambi has already admitted to such wrongdoing.

Motives aside, the fact remains that Canseco reaffirmed in a "60 Minutes" interview that he's introduced and even injected steroids into ex-teammates that include McGwire. Canseco admitted he wouldn't have been Major League-caliber if not for anabolics.

Even stranger than his lack of regret over past use was his advocating that they're beneficial for some athletes.

If Canseco's claims are confirmed, the last 15 years of baseball have been corrupt, and the reputation of the game itself tainted.