Igenerally don't like the guy from before his steroid allegations from his run-ins with Piazza, but as long as he's a Met, I won't boo him. That being said, I'll probably never cheer for him in particular either, only his accomplishments on the field.
He keeps pitching the way he did during his opening appearance, I sure as hell will be cheering him. I'm not naive enough to believe he is the only Met that has used performance enhancers in the past. I respect the way he has and is handling the situation.
I think there's something to be said for the fact that Mota totally owend up to it...there wasn't any "I did it by accident" bullshit. I liked him last year, and I assumed his great performence was based on the AL to NL switch. I will root for him, but if there's any reason to belive he's juicing (beyond great pitching), he's dead to me.
I'm just curious then, whether people view Giambi better now. Not you per say, since I don't know if you've ever said "Giambalco," but in general. Giambi's caught an awful lot of flak, but he's owned up to the investigators, and he said as much as he could say without directly affecting the rest of his career within the past month. Now I'm still anti-Giambi, and anti-Mota, Bonds, et al, but that's because no matter how many times they say they're sorry, they're still cheaters in my mind. I just wonder how many Mets fans who have been very vocal about Giambi are now saying things like "As long as Mota pitches well now, the past is in the past."
Umm, "owning up to the investigators" isn't exactly a mark of personal honor. If he didn't "own up" to them, he could go to jail for perjury for a long time.
But you're ignoring his comments to the media a couple weeks ago, for which he is now facing disciplinary action. That's a lot more than guys like Bonds have ever done. My point is, he has come as clean as he possibly can without getting himself into trouble. Mota got busted. I have more respect for a guy who at least admits fault, than for a guy who gets caught. And let's not forget, Giambi COULD have lied during the investigation, or at least not told the whole truth. Palmiero wasn't exactly forthcoming with his story.
To the best of my recollection, Rafael Palmeiro was not under oath during the congressional hearings. Participants in congressional inquiries are rarely placed under oath, especially not celebrities. Giambi didn't admit fault because he wanted to. He did because he was caught and to say anything else would have meant jail. Remember, he didn't give his "apology" until the testimony was leaked.
But Mota was still busted. Are you defending one, while executing the other? That's my question. Giambi is guilty. We all know it. Palmeiro is guilty, and it's been proven. Mota was guilty, and it was proven. All I'm asking is whether the guy on your team gets a pass. I'm not trying to argue. I'm not trying to lay false blame on anyone. I just want to know if it's more acceptable because a guy plays for your team, and not another. To cut off the next argument before it develops, let's assume Giambi gets suspended by Selig. If Mota is now okay because he did his time, is Giambi then okay after serving his own?
I made my thoughts on this clear earlier in the thread. As far as rooting goes, I have no qualms about rooting for Mota and readily admit that were I a yankee fan, I'd root for Giambi without a problem, and if I was a Giants fan, would root for Bonds heartily. I view all players who we know for a fact have been using steroids the same. They shouldn't be lynched, but certainly their accomplishments have to be view with suspsicion. And I refuse to play guessing games on who hasn't been caught but used steroids (for example, I have no problem with Sosa being in the HOF and think McGwire should have been in on the first ballot, but I'd have a problem if Palmeiro got in).
Okay, that's fair enough to me. It answers my question in full, at least from you. I honestly wasn't trying to argue or anything. I just wanted to see if everyone had a double-standard. (Not that I feel that's wrong, I was just curious to see the overall thought process.) I take the opposite view as you. I see them all as guilty until proven innocent. Guys like Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro, Mota, and Giambi are all on the same level to me. They're all cheaters in my mind, and they should all be sent packing. But again, that's my personal viewpoint, and I don't expect everyone to just agree with me.
