FanNation

Saw the Hearing.  While they were tough on Selig and tougher on Fehr, I wish they'd been tougher still on BOTH.  

Both guys admitted this is a societal problem and a serious and widespread one at that, and they admit that as stewards of the game, this problem happened on their watch.  I think that it's clear they and they alone should take the blame for lack of integrity in MLB.  If you recognize a problem in society, wasn't their responsibility to keep it out of the game?

Help me out here, what can the govt do about these dopes?  I always hear how the MLBPA is the "strongest union in sports", and I always wind up asking why?  What makes them so strong?  All unions are seeking better conditions for their players, and in pro sports that usually means $$$$.  

But if they are strong because they've refused to bargain drug testing, (or the league was afraid to discuss the topic because of their perceived strength) even in the face of common sense that these drugs are illegal, couldn't the govt (NLRB) DECERTIFY the MLBPA or force a leadership change if they find the union was at fault for ingoring the law and even endangering the public by sheltering steroid use.

And I've never been a fan of Selig from the start, despite what everyone wants to give him credit for (MLB revenues are high mostly because of TV revenues and new ballparks, which the market determines more than anything the commissioner does).  He was an owner and "interim commissioner" for 7 yrs, before the league made it permanent and only after that did he "divest" himself of the Brewers (to his daughter, keeping it in the family).  

Clearly he had a conflict of interest, which I think kept him from using the "best interests of the game" clause in addressing the steriod issue earlier.  That clause was negotiated into the commissioner's powers by the first commish after the Black Sox Scandal.  Sure he showed some cajones after being called before Congress the last time, and put some teeth into the testing program, but only after being threatened by Congress that they wanted to see more stringent rules. 

In short, they've both messed up, and in any business they'd be fired, and in any govt, they'd get voted out of office, if not recalled/impeached.