If Only

If only.

I had ESPN radio on on this morning, for some bizarre reason. I had to make an emergency trip to a location 500 miles away, then turn around and drive another 120 until I collapsed in a motel room in the middle of nowhere which, because it was the only one in town that look like it didn't have large rats as residents, managed to get 86 bucks out of me for a room that I used for exactly eight hours, until I was on the road again this morning. I guess my brain was a little fuzzy.

You see, ESPN, which once did an admirable job of objective sports coverage (remember its first year of Sunday night MLB broadcasts? They covered a game in every single stadium!), has devolved into hero worship. The heroes are the AL East Big Guys (Yankees, Red Sox. How long has it been since a Sunday Yanks-Sox contest was NOT a Sunday night ESPN offering?), and a certain drug-enhanced thug who is about to make history by breaking the record of a truly great athlete: Henry Aaron.

Anyhow, I believe it was Chris Berman, who endeared himself to his listeners long ago with his cute nicknames for players, back when ESPN was new and objective. He was talking about The Open, or, as we Americans call it, the British Open. I have a personal stake in professional golf, as my nephew, Eric Meller, caddies for Jerry Kelly, who made the cut and was playing that day.

But Berman(?) then switched to another subject.

“You know, I hear a lot from people who are mourning the loss of a record that they hold sacred: the major league baseball home run record. Well, I disagree . . . “

I'm quoting from memory. But that was the substance.

I immediately switched off the radio, and wished I could have pulled over and washed the vileness of what I had heard out of my ears.

ESPN, and Chris Berman in particular, have nearly established a religion worshiping the unnamed baseball player.

It's a bad, bad joke that baseball can't stop the EARNED record of a great man from being broken by an admitted cheat.

For a better joke, and one I wish was true, check out today's FamilyFirst pick:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/mlb_credits_hank_aaron_with_50

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