Rick Reilly asked the only player to ever break Roger Maris' home run
record three times a simple, straightforward question. "You've said if baseball tests for steroids, you want to be the first in line, right?" The problem is that the question is neither simple nor straightforward.
Sammy Sosa answered the question with a simple and straightforward, "Yes."
Rick Reilly did not build his reputation by being simple and straightforward. He built it on deception and trickery, a fact that his September 4, 2000 column substantiates graphically as he attempted to defend his employer running a topless photograph of five time Olympic gold medal winner Jenny Thompson.
Reilly opened the piece by stating, "Wow, Jenny Thompson has a nice
pair, doesn't she? Massive. Firm. Perfectly shaped."
We are now set up for the kill. No, Mr. Reilly is not referring to a part of
the anatomy that is usually covered by a swim suit. He is referring to Jenny
Thompson's thighs.
"Her thighs, I mean."
Of course, Mr. Reilly. Class always shows.
Back to Sammy Sosa and Reilly's consistency in setting up unsuspecting
victims. After Sosa confirmed his willingness to be the first in line to be tested for steroids if the Player's Association required it, Reilly responded to Sosa's "Yes" with a blind side "Well, why wait?"
Reilly told Sosa that he had written down the name and phone number of
LabCorp, which has a diagnostic laboratory and would test anyone for steroids, provided the person had a written order from a physician. Results would be sent within 10 days of testing.
What a gracious act. Sammy Sosa would not have to go to any trouble to
find out where he could be tested for steroid use. His friend, Rick Reilly, had done the difficult work. All Sammy had to do was prove his innocence to a
person who had created a situation in which his guilt was assumed.
Is Rick Reilly so naive, so simple in his thoughts, so simple in his beliefs,
and so simple in his grasp of what he considers to be reality that he expected
Sammy Sosa to thank him for his advice and immediately comply with his
request? Did Rick Reilly think that his typewriter was mightier than Sammy
Sosa's Constitutional rights? Did Rick Reilly think that Sammy Sosa lacks
testes?
Reilly then really got started. "Why wait to see what the players'
association would do? Why not step up right now and be tested. Show everyone you're clean. It'll lift a cloud off you and off the game. It'll show the
fans that all these great numbers you're putting up are real."
Reilly's last sentence may be slanderous (www.dictionary.com). How
dare he question the validity of Sosa's accomplishments without substantiating
his accusations? Is he so arrogant that he believes he can cross the line
between decency and irresponsibility? What if Sosa questioned the validity of
Reilly's columns and asked Reilly to have three witnesses observe the writing of his next column?
Sammy Sosa does not have to show anyone he is "clean." The only cloud is the cloud that many in the media have created by forsaking investigative
journalism for sensationalism. The media are quick to accuse but slow to
substantiate.
Too many in society are taking the position that if one has nothing to hide, one is not losing personal freedoms. If one has nothing hide, it is all right for authorities to have access to one's reading habits, to record which websites one visits, and to monitor one's behavior on public streets. After all, only the guilty
need be afraid. Reilly's proposition to Sosa fits right in.
But Reilly is not as slick as he would have readers believe. He hangs
himself out to dry when he states that he does not think that Sosa is on steroids since he has never missed more than six games in any of the last five seasons.
Well, Mr. Reilly, if you think that, why are you harassing Mr. Sosa? Could it be it makes a good story at the expense of someone's reputation?
Sammy Sosa reacted to baseball's problem of possible illegal steroid use
by saying that he would follow the dictates of his union. Rick Reilly reacted to Sosa's statement by trying to exploit a real problem and trying to create a situation to force Sosa to abandon his position and give up his rights. Sosa is too much of a man for Reilly to do that. Is Reilly enough of a man to issue an apology to Sosa and to his readers? Stay tuned.
References
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/magazine/life_of_reilly/news/2002/0
7/02/life_of_reilly/
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/inside_game/magazine/life_of_reilly/news/2000/0
8/29/life_of_reilly/
http://www.dictionary.com/search?q=slander
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20020702&conte
nt_id=72643&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_perspectives.jsp?ymd=20020703
&content_id=73720&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp
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Posted July 8, 2002.
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