On January 9, 2007, one of the All Time Baseball Greats, Mark McGuire, was excluded from the Baseball Hall of Fame by about 75 percent of baseball writers. Their reason, excuse, and/or statement of hypocrisy was, “Mark McGuire cheated.”

You see, no one seems to like a cheater, whether it’s Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, an ex-spouse, old boyfriend or tax evader.

But what I don’t understand is the inconsistency of each sports writer, government official and average Joe’s moral, up standin' outrage. Really this all stems from Trevor Graham’s infamous syringe of “Peak performance Balco serum” that he sent to Olympic officials. This Benedict Arnold move has caused one of the biggest meltdowns in sports history. Balco's exposure resulted in Balco investigators probing more closely… they found that numerous athletes were involved in this, including the hated Barry Bonds. This gave everyone who disliked Bonds, had an axe to grind or was just simply a HATER a reason to assassinate the accomplishments of Bonds -- ultimately motivated by their personal feelings rather than use of steroids. But back to McGuire and how all of this ties in.

You see McGuire got caught in the crossfire. No one expected his name to surface the way it did. Jose Conseco, feeling ostracized and unfairly scrutinized (somewhat like Barry) decided to write a book. Ironically, the book never implicated Bonds. Jose in several televised interviews seemed to implicate McGuire as a steroid user and wondered, "will you judge him the same way you judged Bonds and myself?" Jose basically forced the hand of 300-500 or so sports writers that control most of what people read and hear. Not much when you consider how many people live in this country and actually how many of those writers reflect the diversity of our amazing country. Sportswriters, of course, took the bait and so-called moral high ground and now Mark is feeling the punishment. Oh, how we sportswriters are so morally cleansed and free from sin!

Mark in 1998 was considered to have saved baseball from the depths of boredom. This included a Time Magazine "Hero of the Year" award. Mark went from probably the most popular baseball great since Babe Ruth to outcast without a cause.

It was a sad day when he sat before congress, the great people we elected to represent this country. Mark was asked that famous question, "did you take steroids, Mr. McGuire?" Mark's Response: “I don't want to talk about the past. I want to stay positive."

For me, that meant, "yes, I’ve done some things I’m not to proud about. I felt that in order for me to overcome some injuries and endure some of the stresses, I needed a little help." But for most people and congress the statements weren't enough. He was expected to give an eloquent statement of guilt and repentance… one that King David would be proud of.

It might have been better if he prayed out loud, "oh God, remove thine enemy whom seek to destroy and rob me!"

But what I think he should have said is,"did I take steroids? You guys sit up here on your moral pedestal judging me for a crime I committed against myself and no one else. Have you, Senator, ever been divorced? Have you ever cheated on your wife, watched pornography, lied or didn’t tell the entire truth to get elected? Have you ever been to a strip club while your wife was at home waiting for you, ever spent government money on personal issues? Do you care that we're at war right now? Have you ever smoked pot, have you ever driven while intoxicated but never got caught? What’s a bigger problem: drugs and violence in schools or steroids? You sit here judging me. As Jack Nicholson would say, 'you want the truth?' I’ll tell you the truth…screw you I took steroids!"

And that would have been it. End of story. Happy ending! Well not really, a little fictitious, but he could have said something like that. The bottom line is McGuire could have been that one person to say "screw you" to us sportswriters, congress and people alike.

McGuire could have been the one who said "screw you" and people actually would have listened and agreed.

I’m not condoning steroid use or any of the above mentioned behaviors. I am simply saying that before we as people start to judge others we really need to examine not only our external actions, but our thought lives as well.