Roger Goodell vs. Bud Selig: Who's Better?

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Before we go deep into this article, I think both baseball and football are great sports. Considering the attendance and television ratings of each, I know I am not alone.

But, as we know, we all have to improve. Sports are no different.

Baseball is a great sport, but there is one very big thing that bothers me about the way the sport is managed: the way the commissioner handles the problems concerning the athletes.

You can never really know what a man would do in a different spot than he is in now, but I think that Roger Goodell would have handled the "Steroid Era" better than Bud Selig did.

Just look at the way he handled the Michael Vick situation. Even after Vick spent two years in prison, Goodell suspended the former Falcons quarterback for four games.

Roger Goodell has shown that the game should be played right and by good people, doling out punishment for those who violate player conduct policies, no matter if it's Adam "Pacman" Jones, Tank Johnson, Donte Stallworth, or Vick.

In stark contrast, Selig has not done much to punish the steroid abusers who tainted an entire era of baseball.

Why did Selig not suspend players like Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa after everyone knew what they did?

I will give him credit for suspending Manny Ramirez for 50 games after he tested positive for the female fertility drug hCG, but that is all he did.

NFL players are afraid to cross Goodell and break his policies; no one in baseball really fears Selig. And it is a shame.

While Selig knows a great deal about his sport and is considered a great baseball man, being a commissioner is not only about loving the game. You must protect it, too.

That is where Goodell excels and Selig comes up short.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?