Addressing the Mitchell Report (this will be the only time)

Well, it’s over now. All the hype and hullabaloo can stop. Really, it’s OK. Everyone has pretty much read, seen or heard about it. Yes, we’ve seen the list. Uh-huh, we saw so-and-so. Yep. So, we’re done now. Right?

Unforunately, as we all know, it’s likely only just beginning. Already what is sure to be incessant debate has sparked about those on the list, those not on the list, and those on the list before the list.

Our reaction? Exactly as I’d thought it would be. Relative indifference. The list is not surprising. The names make sense. It does not make us more or less likely to watch the game we love moving forward. Maybe it serves to add more validity to what we all believed in terms of the era. Perhaps, for some, it doesn’t. So, now we have names that may or may not serve as symbols of the era in the gallery of our baseball memories.

What we do know is that we can live without six straight hours of SportsCenter coverage and thousands of emails, blog posts, columns and talk radio discussion about players, teams and results now in question. Personally, we’d prefer to just move on. Does the Mitchell report in and of itself demand more discussion? Maybe. Will that discussion result in anything positive? We doubt it.

The Mitchell Report, no matter its flaws, has probably done its job. It’s provided some measure of additional strength (degree can be argued) to the argument that where there was smoke, there was fire. It will serve to remind us of a time when a small portion of our heroes cheated the game. And it’s likely helped curtail the use of illegal advantages in the future, although we all know athletes will look for that edge forever more. So, for all that, thanks Georgie.

So, now how ’bout everybody just decides what they want to based on all of this, and we move on — quickly. It’s the neverending discussion which will bother me infinitely more than the names on this list, or the truth of the names that should be on the list.

And with that, we’re done talking about the Mitchell Report. Except for one thing. If these proceedings helped contribute to Roger Clemens failure to get into the HOF, we are forever indebted to Mr. Mitchell. Clemens is a first-class asshole along the lines of Mr. Petrino, and we know nothing would hurt his insatiable ego more than being kept from being enshrined in Cooperstown. See, the Mitchell Report has now even caused us to smile.