While Bud Selig slept...

So the Mitchell Report is finally out. And it indicates that there is significant steroid use in baseball?? Who would have guessed?

I paraphrase Claude Rains from Casablanca: "I'm shocked. Shocked to find that there's juicing in baseball." And the next line: "Here are your winnings, Mr. Selig."

Of course, the owners, players union and players all benefitted heavily as well. As attendance has grown, so has baseball's coffers. And what brought all those fans back to the park after the debacle that was the 1994 players strike? A roid-fueled home run chase between two now disgraced players.

So the Mitchell Report is finally out. What is accomplished? The taint on baseball is still there. Hank Aaron and Roger Maris are still no longer the rightful owners of their respective records. The millions of dollars spent by the fans are not going back to their pockets.

What is accomplished? Hard to tell. Selig gets to posture, claiming he will "act." Hasn't he been acting these many years when he "served" as commissioner? See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil - just keep that money coming, boys.

Selig will "act" as far as the players union will let him. And that hasn't been real far in the past. And they're mad now. Not embarrased. Not ashamed. Seemingly not interested in changing their ways. Mad that they didn't get a look at the report before it was released. Looking like they will stonewall any effort to change the drug culture of baseball.

So play ball, boys! It will be time for spring training soon. And time for more attendance records because the fans are simply not going to stay away.

Clemens, Bonds, McGwire, Sosa - congratulations. The plan worked. And the only people who are "hurt" by this charade are the fans. Who are always "hurt" by sports. Maybe it's time to stop making excuses for the fans as well as MLB. Despite the way it seems, they (the fans) hold the cards. They could force baseball to clean up its act. But they won't.

Expect another record year for baseball and expect the 'Roid Boys(tm) to be right back on the field where they belong. Well, they belong somewhere else, but that would be inhumane.

But don't be so quick to give the fans a pass anymore. We're all a part of the problem - the owners, the players, the players union, Bud Selig, the networks, the press and the fans.