BALCO Scandal - Impact of BALCO Scandal

Impact of BALCO Scandal

The BALCO scandal has had a very large impact on sports as a whole, and most noticeably, baseball. Prior to the scandal, every major sport except baseball had a policy against steroids. As a result of the BALCO bust, Major League Baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, instituted a written, league-wide policy. The first time a player tests positive for steroids, he is subject to a 50 game (about 1/3 of a regular season) suspension. For the second offense, the penalty is a 100 (about 2/3 of a regular season) game suspension. Finally, if a third offense occurs, the player is given a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball. This policy compares favorably with the NFL’s policy. A first offense in the NFL gets a minimum 4 game suspension (1/4 of a regular season). A second offense gets a minimum of 8 games, and a third gets a suspension of at least one calendar year. All of these penalties are without pay. Despite this new steroid policy, the MLB has faced ridicule because its steroid testing policies are still far more lax than those in almost any other sport.

Read more about this topic:  BALCO Scandal

Famous quotes containing the words impact of, impact and/or scandal:

    Conquest is the missionary of valour, and the hard impact of military virtues beats meanness out of the world.
    Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)

    Too many existing classrooms for young children have this overriding goal: To get the children ready for first grade. This goal is unworthy. It is hurtful. This goal has had the most distorting impact on five-year-olds. It causes kindergartens to be merely the handmaidens of first grade.... Kindergarten teachers cannot look at their own children and plan for their present needs as five-year-olds.
    James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)

    Gossip isn’t scandal and it’s not merely malicious. It’s chatter about the human race by lovers of the same. Gossip is the tool of the poet, the shop-talk of the scientist, and the consolation of the housewife, wit, tycoon and intellectual. It begins in the nursery and ends when speech is past.
    Phyllis McGinley (1905–1978)