C'Mon Bleacher Report, You're Better Than This

Stumbling upon a facebook banner ad for Bleacher Report was one of the best things that happened to me in the past year. Since I joined five months ago, I have had the pleasure of writing articles that have been read 9,258 times.

Twice I have had the pleasure of writing something that was labeled a “must read”. Being able to use my relatively useless sports knowledge to entertain whoever might read my work has been an absolute joy. I take pride in writing articles that I believe are well thought out and well written, it’s what this website is all about.

When I checked my email tonight, I was disappointed to see a request from the website asking people to “speculate about the question that’s on every baseball fan’s mind: Who are the other 103 players that also tested positive for steroids along with A-Rod in 2003?”

I am disappointed because this is a topic that is nothing more than message board fodder. Bleacher Report is about people making an argument and supporting it with facts.

It is about having a substantiated opinion about why something does or does not work in sports and what should be changed. It is about sharing powerful first hand experiences like D.D. Harding did in his Jim Rice article. It is not about gossiping about who may or may not have cheated.

Why stop with steroids if we are going to go down this road. How about a slideshow on the five NBA rookies most likely to have a kid out of wedlock or what NFL linebacker is most likely to assault someone in a casino?

I have third hand information from some people I trust that a prominent 90s ballplayer was a steroid user. It isn’t that big a secret, it also isn’t worth writing about until we have more reliable information.

I am well aware that I am not making a living as a sportswriter. I am also well aware that this website is a fun thing to do, it isn’t journalism school. I don’t believe that makes it excusable for us to write irresponsible columns on events that took place behind closed doors.

I like to think that everyone associated with this website is better than that.