Hope it was worth it to everybody.
But now we can rest that we know the truth about Nook Logan.
I could have done the same for $25,000, maybe less, since apparently Juiced is acceptable evidence.
The last twelve hours have been quite depressing. The tone was set earlier this morning, when the internet was abuzz with gleeful speculation about "the names". Since then, coverage both intense and casual has treated these names as if they somehow mean anything. Maybe some of them do, but quite a few are mostly specious. To lump them all together is to misconstrue what the Report actually was, or at least, what it wanted to be.
JQ has outlined pretty consistently why the Report needed to be made, and what good might come out of it (check the post below, especially the back-and-forths with NYRoyal).
However, upon further reflection I can find no justification for the inclusion of the precious names. Even if you feel some bit of public shame is a good thing, I think that Mitchell seriously compromised his own claims of balance with the seriously unbalanced nature of the report. Moreover, why did the report have to be realized as such? Why not release a set of general findings and recommendations, and release a fuller version a week later?
Here is the thing about the Steroid Hysteria: since evidence and decency and the presumption of innocence have never mattered, there's no logical end to this. No number of names will ever be enough, because in every city there's another bad guy. Whether its Frank Thomas in Chicago or the Sweeney haters in KC or whatever else, it never ends. If you want to live a long and happy life, I have advice: never cross a sportswriter or a "trainer". Beat your wife, say that your Jewish teammates are going to hell, tell people making minimum wage you need a sales tax to pay for your stadium, whatever. America is a forgiving nation, as we love telling ourselves in between executions, but stay away from substances you believe will be banned in the next decade.
One day if you are really bored, spend a day poking around the blogs and message boards of a team you know nothing about. In short time you will find a local consensus that some random player is an obvious 'roider. The various gay rumors actually provide a close parallel, although interestingly enough, those are usually less vicious. Progress I guess.
For the vocal minority that are obsessed with this, who somehow think that the whole era has been tainted -- but only helped hitters, somehow -- there can never be enough blood in the water. Not until hearsay against the media starts being treated publicly and seriously.
The next time someone broadsides the blogosphere as the site of unsubstantiated rumor-mongering tell them about George Mitchell and DLP.