McGwire Opts For Silent Treatment

Mark McGwire, you remember him, showed up in St. Louis and refused to answer any steroid questions. In fact, McGwire now states he will never speak on the subject. Period. I'm sorry, but did we miss when he first spoke about the matter?

The man who originally eclipsed Roger Maris' single season homerun mark, now says he has nothing to add to his testimony before Congress. Did he actually say anything during his remarks? Sure, we all implied he was using the juice, but he didn't actually say that, did he?

Apparently, McGwire is taking a page out of the book of Pete Rose. McGwire, like Rose, never denies anything. Nor does he admit to anything. It's a state of limbo where these beloved athletes wait in a self-imposed purgatory counting on their adoring public to sway opinion in their favor. This technique also buys them their most valuable commodity-time.

In this form of spin, McGwire is figuring time will heal all wounds. He suspects that the general sports fan will simply grow weary of watching him get pounded with steroid questions year after year. He figures even the most ardent critic will eventually fade while his supporters will gain momentum from the lack of resistance they encounter. In the long run, McGwire is hoping, or his legal counsel is, that he will become a sympathetic figure in the eyes of many.

The campaign is well underway. In addition to refusing to speak on steroids ever again, McGwire has already deftly deflected questions by making the media the problem, painting them as too negative and living in the past. That's quality public relations advice in action.

What McGwire doesn't understand is that this tactic won't help his cause. Unless, of course, McGwire chooses a Bill Buckner-esque method. If McGwire moves to some remote area and avoids baseball, especially all MLB games, and refuses all interview requests, he can stay in a denial mode and it may work. Maybe.

However, if McGwire hopes his no comment stance will give him a free pass so he can attend MLB functions without scrutiny, he's kidding himself. In fact, quite will contrary occur. Instead of facing the heat for a single prolonged period, which would occur if McGwire would come clean, he is going to drag his reputation and the game through the mud on a regular basis, perhaps for years.

A generation of players took steroids with no concern for their personal well being or any respect to those who played before them. They have created a situtation where all the statistics from their playing days will be called into question. McGwire and his baseball brethren may hope that silence will make the matter disappear, but unfortunately, it won't. Their collective silence will only be seen as a tacit admission of guilt. The repercussions of their actions will last forever. Even if they never utter another word.