Being obsessed with Major League Baseball as I am, each and every year, as far back as I can remember, opening day has been somewhat of a holiday. This year, I may be looking forward to it more than ever. Not just because the Chicago Cubs, "my team," is looking hotter than a slice of deep dish pizza straight out of the oven, but because of what it represents as well.
Obviously, it is that magical time when all teams start out even and every fan has high hopes that this will be the year that his or her team brings home the big one. That's all fine and good, but this year I care far less about what is about to begin than I do about what is about to end.
What is about to end for myself and all baseball fans is the off season. I've always hated the off season but in recent years it has been even harder to take.
It isn't just the waiting, although that is tough enough, but it is also all the off-the-field "games" that are being played that seem to be hurting the game and its future. Talks of money, dirty dealings with players, labor disputes and Pete Rose are just a few of the fun stories every baseball fan gets to enjoy while counting the days until fists pound leather and pine tar smears bats again. Now, I'm not naive enough to think that none of these things are going on. I just wish I was.
This year, I really wish I was.
Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and a select group of others got named in a huge steroid scandal that promises to change how drug testing is done in Major League Baseball. What's good about that is that a much needed change to the system will hopefully come. What's bad about that is that our heroes are becoming villains.
Right or wrong, professional athletes are often the people we all grow up idolizing to some extent. For me, it was always baseball players who I wanted to be when I was growing up.
I collected baseball cards. I took my well-worn mitt to games in hopes of catching a foul ball. I stood in my backyard staring at an oak tree dreaming of pitching in the World Series. To be perfectly honest, I still have that dream. I doubt I'm the only one that felt that way.
What I fear now is that future generations might not get to know that joy because of the question marks constantly being raised about the validity of our heroes' achievements.
What happens to a 6-year-old when you have to explain that his favorite ball player is a cheater because he injects an illegal substance into his arm to make himself stronger? You kill off his hero and his dreams.
That's not something I ever want to do, but know I will if the trends stay the same.
But for now, those are thoughts that I can push aside. Surely, the thoughts of the evils in professional sports will arise from time to time during the regular season, but I'll be able to distract myself with box scores and record watching. My heroes, our heroes, will get to be heroes again for a while.
And once again, I'm going to allow myself to be naive enough to believe that they are going to stay that way this time around.
Write to Cole at cpmcgrath@bsu.edu
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