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Review: "Game of Shadows"

Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports

By Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams

I just finished reading "Game of Shadows."  Interesting read.  There is an awful lot of evidence in there, and it all points in one direction.  

I think one of the fascinating, yet under-reported parts of the book is the trouble that the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA) got squeezed before the 2004 Olympics.  

I am awfully curious to see what George Mitchell does.  Even if MLB has no authority to subpoena records, I bet a lot of the evidence could just "show up" on Bud's doorstep if he asked the right way.

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Re: Review: "Game of Shadows"
Allow me to make a small (possibly horrible) analogy.  Last night, as I painfully turned away from the rain delay induced Rob Schneider-fest, I caught part of "The Godfather".  It would be refreshing if Selig took the lead of Vito Corleone and called all the heads of the family... errr... owners, and set things straight.  Let the past be the past.  Admit publicly that because of the lack of league supervision, performance enhancing drugs went unchecked, and thus affected the game we love.  The extent of that affect is irrelevant.  It can not be undone, and the ramifications of this investigation could really taint the last 15 to 20 years of baseball.  I think it is fair to assume that we all were aware of some kind of abuse... be it steroids or "greenies" or whatever.  The game has become popular again, but I fel this investigation will set it back.  Selig is often viewed as a buffoon... President Logan of 24, if you will.  If he were to stand up, take the heat, I think he would be more respected and thus known for cleaning up a mess he helped perpetuate.

by Slovenc0417 on Apr 3, 2006 4:06 PM EDT   0 recs

Re: Review: "Game of Shadows"
I think that is all that can be done, too.  But then he overshadows opening day (the man has ZERO sense of timing) by announcing this investigation.  

Very lose/lose situation for baseball.  

But we see the same cycle repeat itself (indeed, the book points this out).  Baseball has been reactionary the entire time.  There is a leak, or government action, and then baseball does something.  Then the press or government does something else, and MLB reacts to it.  It would be great if they got out in front of this.  You know, let everyone know what their plans are.  If they are going to investigate, they really need to have some idea of what they are going to do.  "If we find X, we are going to do Y."  I have no confidence that they have thought that far ahead.    So what are teh chances of baseball looking foolish?

by Buzz on Apr 3, 2006 4:24 PM EDT   0 recs

Re: Review: "Game of Shadows"
If we find X, we are going to do Y."  I have no confidence that they have thought that far ahead.

You got that right!!!  That's my whole point.  It would be so refreshing for Selig to be proactive as opposed to reactive.  Either he doesn't care about any type of legacy, or he is just a fool.  The public would respect an attempt to admit error, and fully support moving on from there.  Everyone is concerned with accusations of who did and who did not abuse performance enhancing drugs.  And furthermore, all these accuastions are based on he said/she said.  I have not read the book, but you can guaruntee there will be rebuttals.  It will never end just like the Pete Rose scandal.  We don't need a circus like that again.

by Slovenc0417 on Apr 3, 2006 4:35 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Re: Review: "Game of Shadows"
I have mixed feelings about Buster Olney, but I totally agree with his recent blog entries about the subject:

When the dust settles, when baseball's belated investigation into steroid use ends, I bet Bud Selig is going to wish he had taken a different course of action.

He'll wish he had simply said, of the rise of steroids: We blew it. I blew it. The institution of baseball blew it. I didn't ask the right questions at the right time, and the steroid genie got out of the bottle, and there's nothing we can do to put it back now, to know for sure who was clean and who was dirty in the '90s. All we can do is clean up the sport as best we can, moving forward.

But it's too late for that now, and whatever happens in the months ahead, it's going to be ugly. If the investigation is thorough and credible, dozens (or more) of players and executives will be questioned and implicated for what they did or didn't do, and if the investigation fizzles and comes up with nothing more than Barry Bonds and a handful of other steroid users -- i.e., scapegoats -- the effort will be mocked widely as a sham.

There's a lot more here and here.

And I'll also give Olney a ton of credit for his NY Times editorial (registration required) admitting that he blew it:

I had a role in baseball's institutional failure during what will be forever known as the Steroid Era. But I was only part of the problem, because just about everyone in baseball is to blame: the big league and minor league steroid users; the clean players who said nothing for too long; the players association leaders, Don Fehr and Gene Orza; and, of course, the baseball owners and Commissioner Bud Selig.

That's why it seems farcical that Selig is only now opening an investigation into steroid use -- an investigation prompted by a book, "Game of Shadows," that accuses Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants of using steroids.

And that's why it will be doubly farcical if the inquiry, led by George Mitchell, in the end focuses only on Bonds and a handful of other players. It would be like laying all the blame for Iran-contra on Oliver North.

For a steroid investigation to be credible, it would have to look at all of baseball: not just the players, but the league and the union as well. The inquiry would have to determine what Major League Baseball and union officials knew, and when they knew it.

I've said before that I don't necessarily agree with how Fainaru-Wada and Williams got some of their evidence, but now it's out there nonetheless.  As a result we're getting a typical Bud Selig/MLB response - poorly timed and incredibly badly planned.

by mkwng on Apr 3, 2006 5:00 PM EDT   0 recs

Re: Review: "Game of Shadows"
I wonder if those authors took any caffeine pills to get through this book.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/columnists/dan_le_batard/14043754.htm

I'm doing a presentation on why I don't understand the hoopla behind the whole "steroid scandal".  In my research I am reading SI articles in "Great Baseball Writing", and I found several comment on Bonds that were contrary to what is written in game of shadows.  Foremost, about Bonds's attitude...Apparently the 'roids made him an arrogant person.  I guess he's been taking them since highschool according to the 93 article where Bobby states, "hes never liked people".

by Brandini on Apr 3, 2006 9:56 PM EDT   0 recs

Re: Review: "Game of Shadows"
You bet, I don't see how a drug can be OK in some situations and not others.  More than that, once we say that one drug is OK, how can we say another drug is not?  I just drank some tea, who am I to judge?  It's all drugs or no drugs, I say.

Look, what we want is for the players to succeed.  The players want to succeed too.  Why then do we try to channel their behavior?  Any artificial impediments we put in their way are counterproductive, ironic, and dishonest.  The farther and faster the ball flies, the better.

Batting practice increases performance.  Winstrol increases performance.  What's the problem?

The players (at least the good ones) will try everything to get around these impediments, and we really want them to.  I remember being impressed by Brett Favre's drive when he was addicted to painkillers.  More of us need that kind of dedication.

by dgcambridge on Apr 4, 2006 10:09 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Re: Review: "Game of Shadows"
Of course, excess in anything can be harmful... caffeine included.  We often try to draw a distinction between PED and recreational drugs.  Cocaine (although used as a stimulant back in the day), heroine and our friend Mary Jane are often recognized, although harmful to different degrees, as recreational drugs.  Steriods, notwithstanding the prescribed medicinal value, are abused in a performance enhancing nature.  I understand the correlation that is often made when we talk about drinking coffee to get us through the day, or night as it may be, but let's not overstep the reality that abusing steriods can kill you.  

There are two things that often drive an athlete to PED.  The desire to compete longer and the desire to make more money.  The allure of bigger contracts will never be curtailed as long as the money is out there.  As far as the competitive nature of athletes... well, I believe that is what got them there in the first place.  Of course, you need talent and skill, but it's the drive to lift those weights and hone your skills that seperates the weekend warriors from the professional athletes.  Some athletes take a shortcut and use PEDs to get into the league, while others reach a point late in their careers where they decide that in order to make their last contract or stave off that hot shot rookie they need that extra boost.  In either case, it's wrong.  It's hard to blame them though becuase of what's at stake for them.  Imagine devoting your entire life to a craft, then realizing it's over and you have nothing else.  It's a scary thought.  Short sighted yes, but the way we treat atheletes in our culture, it's understandable.

As I have said in previous posts, mistakes have been made on all fronts.  Digging it up now will not cure the problem.  If the league, player's union, agents, fans and writers all accept the fact that to some degree we have all turned a blind eye, then we can move on.  Let's fix the problem in the minors and with current players.  Strict testing and expulsion is the way to go.  

by Slovenc0417 on Apr 4, 2006 10:53 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Re: Review: "Game of Shadows"
I agree.
The problem is, sports writers who in the late 90s were cheering for Big Mac and Sammy are now telling us that we shouldn't cheer for Bonds when he breaks Hanks record.  
As outlandish as this may sound, what is the evidence that Arron wasn't taking something that was illegal in the United States back then?  Similarily, if we found out that Babe was taking some form of drug in in the 30s, would we strip him from the record book?

The sooner that MLB and the rest of us realize that this was JUST another ERA in baseball, the sooner we can move on.  During Juiced, Canseco says that in the future we can count on steroids and other performance enhancers, the funny part is, a drug that should be banned is now packaged and sold by MLB.

I just finished my 10 minutes presentation on steroids/Bonds, if anyone wants a copy, let me know and I can email it to them.

by Brandini on Apr 6, 2006 12:05 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Re: Review: "Game of Shadows"
Or the scene in "Last Boy Scout" where the Running back pulls out a handgun and blows away the defensive players trying to tackle him.

[Um, I assume you were being somewhat sarcastic.]

by Buzz on Apr 4, 2006 3:58 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

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