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1:50 PM: Copies of the 304 page report are distributed to those in attendance.
1:58 PM: George Mitchell takes the podium.
2:05 PM: Mitchell admits to a decline in steroid usage among high school students.
2:08 PM: "For more than a decad there has been widespread anabolic steroid use."
2:11 PM: "Each of the 30 clubs had a player or players involved in taking illegal substances."
2:12 PM: "Investigate based on non-testing evidence...testing only scratches the surface."
2:14 PM: Mitchell suggests a steroid board is created within MLB under the management of Bud Selig.
2:15 PM: "Drug testing remains an important element... to combat illegal use."
2:18 PM: George Mitchell suggests a new way of testing for steroid use , "should include adequate, year round random testing... respect privacy and due process rights of the players."
2:19 PM: George Mitchell recommends not punishing those named in the report, suggests bringing to a close this chapter, "use lessens learned from the past to prevent future use of such substances." Mitchell says most of the reports are distant in time and vary from 2-9 years ago. Since then, MLB has made many changes in their drug policies (incuding the inclusion of HGH as an illegal drug in 2005).
2:21 PM: Many players obtained steroids from rehab clinics with illegitimate prescriptions.
2:22 PM : Steroids are a "serious problem" which cannot be beaten without massive effort from MLB. "The commissioner should give the players and everyone else a fresh start.... would give him a clear and consensus basis of addressing future violations."
2:23 PM: Including players names in report is "necessary" for accuracy of report.
2:24 PM: "The use of steroids in Major League Baseball was widespread. The response from baseball was slow to develop and inneffective."
2:25 PM: Mitchell admits many players have switched to HGH, which is not detectable by urine tests.
2:27 PM: "Everyone involved in baseball over the past two decades...shares to some extent in the responsibility of the steroids era."
Mitchell steps down at 2:28 PM
George Mitchell did his job. A 304 page report with full details and photocopies of actual checks written by players for steroids was not only more than we could have ever asked for, it was a 304 page form of justice for sports fans everywhere. Yet the one thing which impressed me most about Mitchell was his adamancy about putting this in the past and moving forward. As much as people would love to see some of these players go down in flames- flames which they ingnited themselves- circling back in time to hunt down these players and punish them will only entrench the baseball world further and further into this anabolic slop.
By instead recommending better ways to detect steroid usage in baseball, he is instead preparing us for a cleaner future. It is imperative for baseball to survive that the fans have a promising future to look forward too as opposed to mulling over the past 20 years and questioning every player they've ever rooted on. I commend Mr. Mitchell for taking this approach (one which I don't think a lot of people saw coming) and, rather than trying to set himself above the players and take them down, he did what this report was truly created to do, and that was better the integrity of the game.
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Posted by xbeeJKx on 2007-12-13 12:58:51 | Rating: | Views: 106
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