BFT's Blog

This makes me want to play catch everytime I read it.

Spring has sprung, but not because of the weather. Major League Baseball has began its long season as most, if not all teams, by now have reported to their respective spring training facilities. The best blog to keep up with all the happenings in the league without question is Buster Olney's Blog on ESPN.com.

In his most recent posting, Olney addresses the major loopholes that still remain in the MLB's revamped drug testing policy. He sites that the use of human growth hormone is banned, but there is no truly accurate way to test for that substance.

Secondly, there is no penalty if a player test positive for a new designer steroid.

Thirdly, test are based of the person themselves. There is no investigation about how they went about cheating e.g. study a needle found in a locker.

Finally, a player arrives at the ballpark and is told that he must provide a urine sample. He is unsupervised until he fills the sample, thus he could easily find a buddy to provide said sample.

Olney demands that the player's union and the front offices of MLB restruction this new plan to truly make it foolproof. Will it take another strike or congressional intervention to make it happen? Olney can only speculate, but he is well aware of the potential dangers these loopholes leave diehard cheaters.

In closing, Olney provides several bullet points about other happenings in the league with a link to more information about the statement. It is very clever and very informative. If you love baseball, then reading Buster Olney's blog is a must-read every day.