I don't usually touch on a lot of national sports subjects, but since this blog will be almost a daily thing, I would like to give my take on issues outside the Central Michigan area.

The Alex Rodriguez situation has really caught the fire of a lot of fans and media alike and it is all understandable. I have some different views on steroids, so I will fire away with them now:

1. If you are Alex Rodriguez or any other MLB player, when you are caught red handed, don't lie. There is nothing worse than lying when the facts are already there. I can have a much easier time looking past someone using steroids if they are just honest about it. But, watching guys protest that they are clean, then failing a test or looking like a coward in front of congress makes it much tougher for me to support the guy. Rogers Clemens has lost all my respect, but I wasn't upset with Rodriguez at first. He came out and admitted things he didn't have to and I was happy with that. But, then more things have come out since and it appears that he hasn't been completely honest. If you are going to wipe the slate clean, you have to let it all out. You can't just say a few things and let everything else slide by. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

2. One thing that bothers me a lot about all of this steroid talk is the Hall of Fame voters. For anyone to say that they will not vote in guys like A-Rod or Barry Bonds because of the steroid talk is ridiculous to me. Both are clearly some of the best players to ever step on the field. You can't ignore what each player has done. Has steroids or PED's helped, sure. But, in the same respect, you have pitchers in the Hall of Fame that threw spitballs, had files in their gloves, used sandpaper, filed their spikes. I mean each player in every era is always looking to get an edge. There are a small few that have played the game 100 percent clean in every aspect. Babe Ruth is considered a legend, as is Ty Cobb, and both clearly weren't the best human beings in the world. Can we really say that these two wouldn't have tried to gain any edge they could.

3. Isn't the whole idea behind human life that the strong shall survive. Aren't we as a human race always looking for the newest ways to improve and prolong life? I know some of you won't agree with me here, but I for one don't think steroids are a bad thing. The key to them is that you have to know how and when to use them. I for one am not a fan of Jose Canseco and his obsession with being in the media eye, but clearly this guy has used steroids, and used them properly. The guy is in tremendous shape and lives a good healthy life in terms of his body. What we have to avoid is having people abuse steroids and developing the negative side effects that can come from abusing them. But, if I run a team or am a fan of a team and we had a player that is out with a knee injury that is expected to miss 6 months from the injury, but if he uses steroids and can heal in 4 months without having any risk to the injury, why wouldn't I want him to use them. In this day and age, we have access to more nutritional supplements than we know what to do with. To me, I want the guys that are making millions of dollars each season to be able to perform at the best their body allows at all times. If we can have our athletes performing to their best on steroids without doing serious risk to their long-term health, I am all for it. People may cry about records, but again, humans are supposed to evolve and continue to get better and better with each generation.