Is it really an apology if...

I grew up a Giants fan and felt the same way after they signed Barry Bonds and his size 10 head. Couldn’t be a fan of them after that.

It's the one MAJOR difference between college ball and MLB... the blatant arrogance the permeates the players once they've been up for a time being. It's not 100% by any means, but even those who can stay humble to their roots are effectively cast in that shadow. For the most part they are men playing a kids game for lots of money and for those who are regulars there is a LOT of downtime and boredom during the end of Spring Training and a 162 game regular season. 

I sometimes wondered if this was a simple shenanigan that caught fire, was then expanded upon and became a team conspiracy when no one of stature told them to stop?! But, on the other extreme is was a organized and methodical exploitation that other teams, management, umpires were well aware of at some point. Maybe there was a cursory, "ya know you guys might want to chill as you are going to get caught", conversation, but seemingly nothing was done to stop this behavior internally or externally.

Which leads me to MLB in general. I'm guessing this isn't the only form of cheating going on. Baseball is well known for instances of "cheating" pretty much from it's inception, with sign stealing being a fairly regular occurrence. But, this organized  effort supplemented with technology and utilizing several layers and multiple people, resulting in a team winning a championship was the final straw. One that started with rumor, gained a whistleblower to corroborate and grew into a s%#t storm for MLB. A situation that then travelled to at least one other organization, and one I'm positive MLB knew about long before it came into the public consciousness.

Mark, Sammy, Barry... different situation but the same in the complicity of MLB. Those and others drew huge crowds and revenue to the game. MLB and those surrounding the individuals knew full well what was going on and it was let slide for "the good of the game". MLB is as corrupt as any multi-billion $ business. EVERY professional league is equally and shamefully dirty... and full of secrets and cheating. It's HUGE $... HUGE. It ain't going to change and so laughable when someone spouts off, "Congress should look into...". Really?   

Anyway, I've always been a Red Sox and Giants fan... use trip as a family connection and vacas. But, I've never lived and died by any pro team. I own some really nice Sox t-shirts that were a great deal at the Westgate Outlet, but I don't really wear a ton of gear other than OSU garb. Unfortunately the sporting industry, including colleges is rife with cheating and I'm guessing a very very small percentage gets caught, let alone punished. 

Ignorance is bliss I guess. At least for me it is, as if college sports are ruined I'm going to end up the old guy needing help up the creaky HS bleachers!

What's MLB going to do if it turns out there were a fair number of other teams using similar tactics. I know the Red Sox are being checked out, and given the way players shuffle around from team to team - I find it hard to believe that there is so much "shock and awe" amongst players. I certainly know my Reds weren't involved, the standings prove it!

I'll never cheer for the Astros again, after this thinking that they were a feel good story if anything. Now they are nothing.

I can vouch for that. At least during Spring Training he was an ass to fans when he left games in the early inning and walked by to the clubhouse. Almost every guy would sign balls, or drop off batting gloves, etc. Kent was far too cool for that the years we saw him.

Just change the name to Houston Asterisk's