Last week, having two capital S’s in\u00c2\u00a0your name\u00c2\u00a0seemed like a good luck charm.\u00c2\u00a0 Stephen Strasburg was selected as the number one pick in the Amateur Player Draft, leading to what should be an historic pay day.<\/p>\n
This week,\u00c2\u00a0both\u00c2\u00a0Sammy Sosa and Setanta Sports will be left feeling like the double S has\u00c2\u00a0turned into\u00c2\u00a0a curse.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Sammy slammed in drug-link story<\/strong><\/p>\n The New York Times’ allegation<\/a> this week that Sammy Sosa was one of the 104 players to test positive in the 2003 drug-testing programme doesn’t come as much of a shock.\u00c2\u00a0 Sosa was found guilty by many in the court of public opinion long before this recent revelation.<\/p>\n I always thought I had been lucky to stumble upon baseball back in 1998.\u00c2\u00a0 So much about the game appealed to me that I’m sure I would have become hooked anyway, but undoubtedly the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcRun for \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc61′ helped the process by catching my imagination.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s sad that both Sosa and McGwire have since turned from heroes to zeros, although in one sense \u00e2\u20ac\u02dczeroes’ were always at the heart of their home run hitting exploits.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n Take a moment to think about the money McGwire and Sosa generated for baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 Any confusion over why so many people were happy to turn a blind eye to allegations of drug use immediately disappears.\u00c2\u00a0 It wasn’t just their own bank balances that suddenly increased by a few zeroes, everyone in the game benefitted from the increased revenue that swilled into the coffers via TV rights and fans filling the stands.<\/p>\n And that trend continues despite the bad press.\u00c2\u00a0 A big name is leaked or disclosed via the current drug-testing programme and it doesn’t have a great impact on the sport as a whole once the initial feeding frenzy has passed.\u00c2\u00a0 The naysayers, most of whom have already determined that the sport is a waste of time and will never be convinced otherwise, briefly put the boot in and then go and fuss about something else. Baseball fans continue to love the game regardless; knowing full well that some players used drugs in the past and hoping that the current testing programme will greatly reduce the number of people willing to go down that route now and in the future.<\/p>\n The allegations against Sosa do have potentially severe consequences for the player.\u00c2\u00a0 He was one of those who stated under oath in front of Congress in 2005 that he had “never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs”.\u00c2\u00a0 We don’t know what was found in his sample in 2003, but the authorities are likely to ask questions to determine if Sosa should face an investigation into perjury.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n The leaking of Sosa’s alleged positive test also ruins his case for election to the Hall of Fame.\u00c2\u00a0 If the voters refuse to endorse Mark McGwire’s candidacy on the back of suspicions of drug use, Sosa doesn’t stand a chance unless the New York Times’ story is proved to be unfounded.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n Come the end of the 1998 season, there was still a lot I had to learn about baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 One thing I thought I knew at the time was that I had just witnessed two future Hall-of-Famers making history.<\/p>\n Sadly, it looks like I was wrong.<\/p>\n ESPN America remains in limbo<\/strong><\/p>\n Brits face further uncertainty over their access to MLB games on TV following the news that Setanta Sports have lost their rights<\/a> to Premier League football after defaulting on a \u00c2\u00a310 million payment on Friday.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not simply the future of Setanta that is important, but what now happens to those Premier League rights.<\/p>\n