2008 Woodie Awards
Ambrose at Bat...Again
Canseco-one big tattletale
Kate Ambrose
Issue date: 2/18/05 Section: Sports
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As Valentine's Day has just passed, I am sure many of you are thankful that Jose Canseco moved the release date of his book to the holiday, so that you could buy it for all your loved ones. Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big had already led to controversy before it hit shelves. I don't know how Canseco pieced together such an amazing title. Maybe he just should have called it I Used, But He Did It Too, Coach!
Because this issue of the paper went to print before time allowed to read and review his masterpiece, I am sorry to say that I am making these calls on what has been said about the book and what pieces of information have been divulged before the actual release. In Juiced, Canseco sells himself out as using steroids. Okay, not a bad idea; Semi-admirable after you get by the fact that his entire career was just due to steroids. Clear your conscience of all the wrong you have done now that you are out of MLB.
However, he also informs the literate public of others that have used. Okay, now that you cleared your conscience you start urging others to do the same. And basically, without tests from that time period it is one juiced up baseball players' word against another potentially juiced player. Canseco also admits that Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi used and that he actually assisted in the injecting.
It may just be the elementary school teacher in me, but I work by the rule that the tattletale is as bad as the one who has committed the wrong. I also work by the rule that two wrongs don't make a right. However, Canseco seems to be of the schooling that it is better to tattle so that someone else can bear the brunt of the punishment, while also working in cohorts with another to do drugs. Clearly, two is better than one.
I don't feel that it is right to bring others down in your own flames. Maybe the book will serve as a stepping-stone for other professional athletes to come forward and admit their use. Giambi has already admitted that he uses steroids. But was it really Canseco's place to come forward and name names? No.
Because this issue of the paper went to print before time allowed to read and review his masterpiece, I am sorry to say that I am making these calls on what has been said about the book and what pieces of information have been divulged before the actual release. In Juiced, Canseco sells himself out as using steroids. Okay, not a bad idea; Semi-admirable after you get by the fact that his entire career was just due to steroids. Clear your conscience of all the wrong you have done now that you are out of MLB.
However, he also informs the literate public of others that have used. Okay, now that you cleared your conscience you start urging others to do the same. And basically, without tests from that time period it is one juiced up baseball players' word against another potentially juiced player. Canseco also admits that Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi used and that he actually assisted in the injecting.
It may just be the elementary school teacher in me, but I work by the rule that the tattletale is as bad as the one who has committed the wrong. I also work by the rule that two wrongs don't make a right. However, Canseco seems to be of the schooling that it is better to tattle so that someone else can bear the brunt of the punishment, while also working in cohorts with another to do drugs. Clearly, two is better than one.
I don't feel that it is right to bring others down in your own flames. Maybe the book will serve as a stepping-stone for other professional athletes to come forward and admit their use. Giambi has already admitted that he uses steroids. But was it really Canseco's place to come forward and name names? No.