In this day and age, it is pretty much safe to say that the media controls all. News coverage on a specific topic can make or break a person (Johnny Drama as we continue to watch in “Entourage”), a television program (the show “Joey”), or even a sport as a whole. This is especially true as we examine the sport of baseball. For the past several years, there has been a dark shadow over the game of baseball’s reputation, the games integrity due to the ongoing battle of steroids.
Some of Baseball’s greats have been under constant surveillance and have been called to testify before Congress about the use of steroids in baseball including Jose Conseco, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Rafael Palmeiro to name a few. In the Mitchell Report, it is said that 85 names appeared in the report and have been linked to evidence in the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs.
There is no question of the total turn around that the game of America’s pastime has taken in today’s media. In the Haigh article, “‘The Cream,’ The ‘Clear,’ BALCO and Baseball,” it states “In the early days of baseball, newspaper coverage about baseball was positive because baseball taught “valor: integrity, individualism, patience and temperance, as well as certain modern values such as team work” (Haigh, 3). That, however, is not totally true anymore. News paper article would target players who were suspicious of being cheaters, and in New York you would find titles such as “Boot the Bum- Why the Yankees Must Fire Ugly Drug Cheat Jason Giambi Today” (Haigh, 4).
With the pastime of baseball, and its obvious importance to this country, it is no surprise how much coverage the game receives. There has been a content analysis designed in order to examine questions regarding the game of baseball’s overall tone of coverage in newspaper articles, determine the amount of credibility the sources of information were giving out, and how the baseball industry was depicted during the 3 year span this study was taken place. In the results found, the overall tone of coverage was negative, the sources were deemed credible, and the depiction was also found negative. Yes, most of these articles were written by the same handful of authors, but they were found across the country in papers and magazines such as New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle.
This brings me to my question: who is to blame? Is it safe to say these 85 individuals found in the Mitchell Report have temporarily, and single handedly ruined the name for baseball? Or is this constant, negative- toned coverage in the media making it more than it really is?
Haigh goes onto argue, “a content analysis could be conducted to examine how the National Football League has tried to repair its image given the constant media attention of players getting arrested, fined, or indicted. Such coverage is usually about individuals, but as this study found, news about individual players tends to influence the tone of coverage about the league as a whole” (Haigh, 20). So how much influence and power do the media actually have on the subject?
On the flip side, in the article "Media and the Business of HIgh School Sports: A Case for Closer Scrutiny," it states "High School sports are not hard to sell. As coverage of college and professional sports has focused increasingly on scandals and commercialism, high school sports have retained their reputation for "purity"" (Hardin, Corrigan, 90). The article goes on to say that it is an unwritten law that journalists broadcast young athletes with "kid gloves" and they be treated with special care in light of their immaturity and inexperience ( Hardin, Corrigan, 91). What if they were no such "unwritten law"? Would the media find a way to sneak into the corruption of young athletes just like they are able to with professionals?
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As a baseball fan, the "tainting" of the sport hits close to my heart. It's sad to see some of "the greats" turning the sport into some sort of freak show or circus.
ReplyDeleteThe major problem I have with the media coverage of MLB and the steroid problem is that the media paints it as the only sport to be hit by the steroid issue.
It gets the most attention and when another player gets named from leaked info, the hubbub starts up again.
One reason could be the power of the beat writers and how they feel "wronged."
"The negative headlines and the players not admitting their guilt ... may have influenced the relationship between MLB and the media." (Haigh, 4)
For a sport I love, I do feel slightly wronged and cheated out of the beauty and competition of the sport. I could see why the media would swoop down on these events, but definitely not to the degree that they did.
Strangely, in the "Sport and the Body" section in Ch. 18 in the Media Handbook, there is no mention of steroids.
But in the section on Maculinities, it makes an allusion to it.
"We live in different time when heroes are frequently knocked from their pedestals and the very concept of male heroism is fragile." (Whannel, 299).
Now that we live in an era of steroids, I find myself constantly questioning the merits and stats of the players. I also find it a lot harder to tie my allegiance to a certain player for fear they will later come out as a user and a liar.
It's a sad state of MLB and I can't imagine what it's like to grow up as a fan in these times. The game has already won my heart and there's no turning back now, but I would be hard-pressed to latch on to this game if I was a new fan in today's world.
There is no question the media is a dominant power in our society, especially when it comes to perceptions. Media attention and coverage affects how we perceive players, teams, and leagues.
ReplyDeleteThat is why covering high school sports is so tricky. High school athletes are kids, and as such, there has been an unspoken rule in the press to avoid harsh criticisms: “…the 15-year-old boy who lets a ground ball roll between his legs is not likely to be named in the game recap,” (Hardin and Corrigan, p. 91-92).
But times are changing, and now some high school athletes are getting put into the spotlight at very young ages. In his new book, LeBron wrote about how all the attention he received in high school made him feel invincible and as if he could do whatever he wanted. He developed an ego before he was even drafted. Why? The media hype. Big egos and arrogant mannerisms are not the qualities we want to instill in high school athletes. But as the industry of high school sports grows, the media can’t help but further explore the new and exciting story lines.
Regardless of the growing buzz around high school sports, professional and collegiate media coverage still reign supreme. Once an athlete becomes a professional, or even a collegiate player, he or she is fair game for media to criticize. And they do. Perhaps the best example of this is in fact Major League Baseball.
Once a professional, a trust between fan and player develops. It is tentative at first, and grows as the player proves himself or herself to be a true competitor. The media plays a part in this relationship as well, acting as the middle man of sorts. If a player undermines the integrity or good standing of a team or league, chances are he or she will face not only rejection by the fans, but also the wrath of the media.
Baseball players like Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Rafael Palmero experienced this first hand. Haigh is right when he says baseball is a game of statistics, and messing with those stats is like driving a stake through the heart of the game: “These players are heroes in the game because of their statistics. In a game based on statistics, it is hard to tell what is real or not real after taking performance enhancing drugs,” (p.18).
Major League Baseball has lost the trust of the fans who adore the sport and the media who love to cover it. Once a player lies to the press, it is hard to get them to like you again – they tend to hold a grudge.
This is only reinforced by the fact that players, like Jason Giambi, who are honest about their steroid use, tend to be forgiven quicker. Those who deny claims end up looking more suspicious and less credible (Haigh 15). Fans want to root for players they can trust, not cheaters. Members of the press appreciate honesty, as it’s something they don’t often get. And if the media respects a player, his or her publicist will be a lot less stressed.
The constant talk of who could be the next person to get knocked for steroids. The talk has ruined the game but I have accepted what people call "the steroid era"
ReplyDeleteIt is a tough thing to accept but this is the type of baseball society that I have grown up with. This hasn't changed by my love of the game, just players more or less.
Like me, most fan are not going to stop watching baseball because a few players were caught cheating. Players getting caught cheating
“In the early days of baseball, newspaper coverage about baseball was positive because baseball taught valor; integrity, individualism, patience and temperance as well as certain modern values such as teamwork (Haigh, Anderson, 2003 p. 14)
The media is the one to blame for the current steroid problem. Don’t get me wrong the player who took steroids is in the wrong. When Major League baseball tells players their identity will not be known if they take a steroid test it is people in our media who are trying to leak the names to make a name for them.
My favorite player as a kid was Mark McGwire. I will never forget his 1998 season when he and Sammy Sosa raced to beat a storied home run record that had lasted nearly four decades. He was a man that appeared to be larger than life; a Paul Bunyan that was the best power hitter of all time. Of course being 9 years old, I wanted to do everything he did. I spent hours attempting to imitate his stance and swing, assuming that if I did everything he did, I would be just as good when I was older.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there was a factor missing in my development as a baseball player. Mark McGwire took steroids. That was his secret weapon, not his unique crouched stance that he could violently uncoil from. Of course, by the time I had discovered this, McGwire had been out of the league for a few years, and I got a new favorite player: Alex Rodriguez. We all know what happened to him.
My point is that the media does control all. McGwire and Rodriguez were on top of the world because the Media took to them. When McGwire was chasing the record, it was all one would hear about. I described him as a modern-day working-class Paul Bunyan. However that was the image that the media created for him, and this positive perception was what made him so likable. Alex Rodriguez was deemed by the media the best player on the planet. The true "5-tool player," he created a new standard of an all around player.
Players such as Rodriguez and McGwire attract the media because of Baseball's nature of being as close to an individual sport while still being a team sport. A great pitcher, such as Zack Greinke can make a lousy team win games against some of the best teams in baseball. Any hitter can lift his team ahead with a dramatic home run. It is these performances that get on Sportscenter, and even the defensive substitute that goes in to center in the bottom of the 9th can make a great individual play that saves the game. Baseball is a sum of individual performances.
With today's stat obsessed world, statistics have become synonymous with how the media determines who the best players are. “These players are heroes in the game because of their statistics. In a game based on statistics, it is hard to tell what is real or not real after taking performance enhancing drugs,” (p.18). It also shows how Sportscenter has changed fandom. Instead of watching games in their entirety, fans now are more likely to see their favorite teams in a 30 second highlight reel. The individual efforts make the highlights, and then get the spotlight. If steroids put someone on Sportscenter, that player is going to get a lot more attention, and likely money as well, and we all know that that is what really drives sports these days.
The summer of 1998 was a great time for the game of baseball. Rebounding from the strike-shortened season of 1994, there were two likable sluggers in the National League Central taking aim at one of baseball's most hallowed records, the 61 home runs hit by Roger Maris in 1961. McGwire was a player whose career was filled with injuries, and Sosa was given up on by both Texas and the Chicago White Sox before finding a place on the north side of Chicago.
ReplyDeleteThe summer of 1998 was also a trying time in my own life, as I spent three weeks in the hospital after becoming seriously ill. I wasn't expected to live, and many people had given up hope. Once things started to turn around, one of the things I did to pass the time was read the sports section of the Providence Journal, and follow the home run race between McGwire and Sosa. It was 1998, and I was 9 years old. I didn't have a laptop, a Blackberry, or MLB Network available. I followed the race from the box scores, and from AP stories about the two players who didn't seem to have much left, who didn't seem to have many people still believe in them at some point along the line, and were both having career years.
This gave me faith. It gave me hope. After getting out of the hospital just before the 4th of July, I continued to follow the chase for Maris's 61. I was pulling for Sosa, because he had the same name as my brother, and like myself, had a lot of doubters he wished to prove wrong.
In 1998, as a 9 year old hospital patient in Rhode Island, McGwire and Sosa were heroes. They were bringing the game of baseball back from a lost season, and they gave me hope at the darkest point of my life.
In the past 11 years, the coverage of professional sports has increased exponentially. If McGwire put up 70 in 1988, and then was caught using PEDs in the early 90s, we would not know nearly as much about his situation, and that of players such as Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, J.C. Romero, etc.
Haigh says that "these players are heroes in the game because of their statistics." That was true about earlier eras. The Babe was a drunk, but he was a hero. Ted Williams, later in his career after the Boston writers and fans got to be too much, developed the personality of a porcupine, but he was a hero. Mickey Mantle was a womanizer and a drunk, but he was a hero. None of those players would be viewed the same way today. The New York tabloids would be all over Mantle, just like they have been all over A-Rod, Jason Giambi, and other players who broke the code of baseball.
The media is not to blame for the steroid issue. They have simply reported on the actions that have taken place. The players are the ones to blame, along with the MLBPA union. The statistics, and the MVPs drove up salaries in Major League Baseball following the 1994 strike. The majority of the game's big names have benefited financially from the events of the past 15 years.
As for McGwire, Sosa, and other players of the "Steroids Era," they are not heroes.
Their statistical achievements are tainted. Their legacies, and those of the teams they played on are tainted. And the memories of fans, including one now-healthy, now-20 year old college student who looks back at the men whose historic summer served as an inspiration in his life not as heroes, but as cheaters, are tainted by the actions and events of the steroids era.
There is no question that steroids have had a profound, and largely negative effect on the game of baseball. The media circus surrounding baseball and steroids has turned something serious into a joke. Following all of appearances in court by major players like McGwire and Sosa, "MLB had to repair its image after the congressional hearing about baseball and steroids drew more spectators and camera crews than the impeachment of President Bill Clinton" (Haigh 2).
ReplyDeleteAre the players at fault? Sure, but they are not the ones to blame. Two words - Bud Selig.
He let the circus go on for all this time, the steroids list is being leaked out one name at a time, and frankly it's gotten to a a point where it's just ridiculous. Furthermore, it's almost to the point of illegal. These players took the test after being told that they would not be named and it was totally anonymous.
But it's not just Selig, the media themselves have fueled this fire, and again I think it is unfair to these players. Plenty of writers and fans alike have said that what the players have accomplished in the last 10 years should just be wiped out.
John Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune wrote in 2004 that, "From about 1995 on...we have no earthly idea what was real and what wasn't, in terms of records. So we're putting a big fat asterisk over the whole era" (Haigh 3). When players started using these substances, it wasn't illegal, so how can we blame them?
It was the media who has blown this out of the water, and it is the media who are exploiting high school sports. "The increasing and intense coverage of high school sports, fueled by media-created rankings that can make celebrities out of 11th-graders, has led some schools to hire sports information directors and has led educators to wonder if scholastic sports do not need NCAA-style oversight to protect athletes and academics" (Hardin and Corrigan 91). It's ridiculous that we are even considering this. It's exploitation in my mind, as it is to a point in college.
When you think about it, the reason why sports are so successful is because of media. But it is also the media that can cause problems as we've seen time and time again.
In a direct response, I blame the players. I am a purist in the baseball world, meaning I think there should be a zero-tolerance policy with the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PED) in major league baseball, and all sports.
ReplyDeleteThe 85 players found in the Mitchell Report didn't break any rules in the MLB. Taking steroids or other PEDs was not against the rules of baseball until MLB and the Player's union established the Join Drug Prevention and Treatment Program in 2002. But guess what, taking the PEDs was still the wrong thing to do. It wasn't pure of the players.
Why do you think players take steroids? Of course, it allows them to hit more home runs. But hitting a lot of homers leads to a bigger paycheck, and that is what most of these players are after. It's just not pure.
"MLB players have to do something to repair their image after news coverage exposes their steroid issue" (Haigh 6).
I completely agree with that statement. I know it would be impossible to have every single player come clean about whether or not they took PEDs, but that is the solution in a perfect world.
As Shane said, the game already has a dark shadow around it. Now, it is time to take that shadow away.
"He (Jason Giambi) said he would never take steroids again (corrective action)and apologized to the media and fans (mortification)" (Haigh 17).
Haigh refers to my solution as "mortification." The media treated Giambi terribly after he admitted it with newspaper headlines like "Damned Yankee!, A Big Dirty Liar! Jason Did 'Roids" (Haigh 4).
Can you imagine what the media would be like now if every single player came clean? It's just not possible for that to happen, and unfortunately, it might be the only way for the game to regain its integrity.
Baseball has been my favorite sport for quite some time, and the New York Yankees are my favorite team. The Yankees have been at the forefront of the steroids scandal largely in part to the sources used in the Mitchell Report. While I'm happy that these cheaters have been named, there has been an obvious New York bias. This is why I was doing backflips when David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were named by anonymous sources this summer.
ReplyDeleteMichel M. Haigh wrote about steroids in baseball in a piece entitled, "'The Cream,' 'The Clear,' BALCO and Baseball: An Analysis of MLB Players Image." In it, he talks about one of my favorite players of all-time, Jason Giambi.
He writes, "Jason Giambi became the 'official face of steroids in baseball' (Lupica, 2005, p. 3) after his grand jury testimony in the BALCO case was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle" (3).
When Giambi signed with the Yankees after the 2001 season, I was thrilled. I immediately bought his T-shirt, etc. I was heartbroken when I first heard the news about his grand jury testimony. Then he apologized.
That said, something about the entire steroids scandal bothers me with the entire steroids scandal: the players have only apologized after they got caught. We would never hear anything about steroids until after a player was named either by leaked testimony or by leaking the names off a list.
Garry Whannel wrote about masculinity in "Sport and the Media." While he never mentions steroids in his piece, he says, "We live in different times when heroes are frequently knocked from their pedestals and the very concept of male heroism is fragile" (299).
This could best be evidenced when Alex Rodriguez's positive test was leaked last spring. Rodriguez was well on his way to becoming a legendary player. After Barry Bonds broke the home run record, fan were anxiously awaiting Rodriguez to overtake him because he was always seen as being "clean." Now Rodriguez has been lumped in with the dirty underside of baseball. While I never liked Rodriguez during his time as a Yankee, I was disappointed in him.
The one thing the steroids era has taught me is to question everything. Whenever a home run is hit - especially by a "named" player - I have to ask myself if it's legitimate or not.
It's not a fun way to watch the game, yes, but this problem will hopefully go away as these drug-induced players break down and retire.
Posted on behalf of Mike Mancuso:
ReplyDeleteSteroids have hit and effected baseball more than any other sport. Yes, one can argue most football players are on steroids, but I hope so otherwise those guys are really really scary. But baseball is America's pastime and it hurts the integrity of the game. A game which has been played for over 100 years and a game based on stats. More so than any other sport, baseball is a numbers game one in which you can measure a player based on their statistics. Now with the steroid era this changes everything. Haigh may have put it best by saying "These players are heroes in the game because of their statistics. In a game based on statistics, it is hard to tell what is real or not real after taking performance enhancing drugs."
We remember the great home run chase in 1998, when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa brought baseball back into the spotlight with the longball. Barry Bonds going for Mark's record, Brady Anderson hitting 50 plus homers, but as we look back what really counts. All of these guys have been accused of taking part in the steroid era, but we cannot completely erase everything they done can we? Coming into 2001 Barry Bonds was already arguably a Hall of Fame player, the ironic thing now, after putting up better numbers and winning more MVP's he now might not get in.
So who is to blame for this whole mess. In our society, we look to find a scapegoat, someone to blame and say it is their fault. Well in something big like this it is a lot of people's fault. For one the players, they are the ones taking the drug they have to be held accountable for their actions. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't meant you should too. However, saying that what they did wasn't exactly illegal either. Steroids and performance enhancing drugs were not banned in baseball until the 2004 season, so by technical terms what McGwire and Sosa did wasn't breaking ANY rules. So then Bud Selig comes in, where I would put the most blame. Bud has been commissioner of baseball for as long as I can remember and never set any rules in place or any way to punish athletes who were cheating. Steroids have been around since the 1960's where we first see the problem in the Olympics. That sounds like a long time to me to stop and think, hey if they banned it in this sport why not do the same in ours? The whole problem could have easily been preventing and no loop wholes could have taken place. But also blame should go on the athletic trainers not being more careful and concern with what their patients are taking and what is going around in the clubhouse. The owners, for paying the money for guys who hit homeruns. Whether your in it for the game or not the fact of the matter is, if you hit more homeruns you get a bigger paycheck. Same thing with love and loyalty from the fans, homeruns make people happy.
Remainder of Mike Mancuso's post:
ReplyDeleteHaigh says “In the early days of baseball, newspaper coverage about baseball was positive because baseball taught valor, integrity, individualism, patience and temperance, as well as certain modern values such as team work.” What happened to that? What happen to good 'ol fashion love for the game and the way it is supposed to be played. In Hardin's article "Media and the Business of High School Sports: A Case for Closer Scrutiny" he talks about the difference in the game at the high school level from both college and professional. "High School sports are not hard to sell. As coverage of college and professional sports has focused increasingly on scandals and commercialism, high school sports have retained their reputation for "purity." Yes this is true, but how long until these kids realize they can get a head start on whats out there and what everyone else is doing. It could mean the difference between going to a D2 and a D1 school. And either way these kids are looking up to the pro's and model themselves after what they see, of course some of them are going to be tempted to try steroids. I don't believe high school sports are as "pure" as Hardin perceives, but I get what he means they play harder, there is less commercialism, it's a more simpler game.