McGwire's Apology Strikes Out Swinging

According to a report by the Associated Press, "Mark McGwire finally came clean, admitting he used steroids when he broke baseball's home run record in 1998. McGwire said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday that he used steroids on and off for nearly a decade."

The report went on to quote McGwire as saying "I wish I had never played in the steroid era."

Sounds to me like a half-assed apology. If he was truly sincere, he wouldn't have used this convenient endnote to his statement. This statement implies that it was not McGwire's decision to take illegal steroids, but rather the era in which he played that was responsible for his actions. PALEEEEZ! I agree that in that era there were most likely a lot more players taking similar performance enhancing drugs than not, but it is an insult to those few players who decided their integrity was worth more than a home run title to claim that McGwire had no choice based on the state of the player psyche in the mid to late 90's.

McGwire's supposed "apology" comes very conveniently after the St. Louis Cardinals announced they would be inviting McGwire to join the teams staff as a hitting coach for the 2010 season. It should be obvious to everyone that this admission is a strategic move to hopefully lessen the media blitz that is sure to come up when MLB welcomes back one of its most notoriously controversial characters. By admitting he took steroids, McGwire has basically killed the story. Afterall, you won't see any ESPN reporters hounding McGwire in the dugout this season asking him about the allegations against him. The questions been answered. And it is a loud and clear YES! I DID IT! A local radio show host brought up a good point today. McGwire says he regrets all of these decisions and would have done it clean if he had the chance to do it all over again. The insincerity of this statement should be obvious. Afterall, how many people would regret doing something that no doubt helped them earn millions of dollars in endorsements and player contracts for the supposed ten year period of use? McGwire may regret it but his bank account doesn't.

C'mon all you nay sayers out there, Steroids might cause the breakdown of connective tissues and muscles and shrink your Hardy Boys, but who cares about all that when you have a huge house, a smoking hot wife, and a brand new Maybach sitting in the driveway?