Baseball Hall Voters Reject Plan to Weigh Steroid Use

Baseball should allow performance-enhancing drugs

(NEWSER) - The Hall of Fame has become baseball’s weapon of last resort against players who’ve used performance-enhancing drugs. Baseball writers can’t ban drug users from the sport or take away their money—but they can deny them a spot in Cooperstown. This crusade is senseless, writes Zev Chafets for the New York Times. Millions of Americans use “performance-enhancing” drugs—think Adderall or Lexapro—why can’t MLB just be honest about what players are doing? More»

(NEWSER) - Mark McGwire speaks! Just not about steroids. The former home-run king granted a rare interview to the New York Times to talk about his reemergence in baseball—as a volunteer hitting instructor. “I’m such an easygoing guy,” he said in a brief reference to his steroids scandal. “I don’t need to sweep away any bitterness." More»

If they're taken safely, why continue to ban them?

(NEWSER) - Let’s put a stop to the controversy of steroids in sports right now—by making doping legal. “I see nothing unjust or wrong about professional athletes using chemical compounds and medical knowledge to improve their abilities and performance,” writes Kyle Munkittrick on Discover . “Let me rephrase that: there is nothing wrong with taking steroids.” Munkittrick agrees with cyclist Floyd Landis—who recently argued for legalization because, in essence, everyone’s doing it—but not for the same reasons. More»

Clemens was good in bed 'when he could get It up'

(NEWSER) - Mindy McCready’s sex tape will be released Monday, and it sounds rather, um, unusual: In addition to sex, the tape includes interviews. The country singer is—conveniently enough—asked about Roger Clemens' batting average. Was her former lover good in bed? “When he could get it up,” she responds. And how often couldn’t he get it up? “A lot of the time.” A decidedly NSFW preview of the tape is on Vivid 's website. More»

Confessed steroid user is no victim

(NEWSER) - Mark McGwire's acknowledgment that he used steroids is no surprise to "anyone with a lick of sense," and the backlash now that he's finally fessed up shouldn't come as a shock, either. "Like all confessions that are motivated by public relations as opposed to, say, police interrogation, this one has many of the hallmarks of phoniness we've come to expect," writes Craig Calcaterra for MSNBC . More»