I’ve been absorbing all of the information I can on the baseball steroid hearings, and I have come to several conclusions after several days of not knowing exactly what I think. Here they are:

• Until there’s absolute proof that a player took steroids, he remains eligible for the Hall of Fame and retains his records. There’s a lot of hubbub about Mark McGwire, and I believe he probably did juice up, but you can’t convict the guy in the court of public opinion.
• McGwire has said before that he didn’t use steroids. He really should have said it before Congress. But he didn’t. Just sad.
• If there is absolute proof that a player took steroids, the records should remain, but the Hall of Fame should not be an option any more. If you cheated, you don’t go in. Sadly, I think this keeps Barry Bonds out, and steroids or no, I think he’s one of the best to ever play the game. But I don’t buy the “I didn’t know I was using illegal substances” bit at all.
• I think the records remain because we have no idea just what effect the steroids had, and baseball should have had a reasonable system for policing the drug use. If you suspect a pitcher is cheating, you go out and inspect the mound. By failing to test for steroids, baseball turned a blind eye to the cheating as it was happening. The Oakland A’s aren’t going to be asked to forfeit all games in which Jason Giambi turned in a monster performance, so Giambi shouldn’t be asked to turn in his MVP.
• Bud Selig is the devil.
• Congress is a sack of shit. Singling out some of these guys but not others is just lame, and every bit of the testimony I have heard on NPR makes this sound like McCarthy-style witch-hunting. And the sanctimoniousness of the Congressmen involved is galling, when you consider the rampant corruption in our government and our legislative body’s disregard for self-regulation.
• I am ready for some on-field stories. I’m ready for some positive news. And I am ready for some Braves baseball.