About that cocaine...

Ron Washington, manager of the Texas Rangers, tested positive for cocaine half way through the season last year. It is being touted as not a real big deal because it is a first time offense and it won't happen again (allegedly). He is also being patted on the back because he went to his bosses and to Major League Baseball and told them that he was going to fail the drug test because of this. I don't think that cocaine is a one time only kind of drug. It is a hard drug. You don't roll up to a party or hang out with some people and think, 'you know what sounds like a good time? Snorting coke.'...or maybe you do, but if it was a 'one time thing' and a 'moment of weakness' you don't. You have to be going down a very dark road or dealing with some huge personal demons to want to do this. I think anyways.

Shouldn't the managers of baseball teams be held to a higher standard? If you want to lead a team of young men who look to their manager as a mentor, what does this say about the Rangers organization? I think that the Rangers are letting this one slide but are going to hold this over his head for as long as he is the manager. If the team doesn't win their division or make the wild card this year, he is done. Game over. And he won't be managing again for a long long time, or ever again.

There was no suspension for Washington last year, no punishment, and it took all this time to make the news. If a player did this....he would be drawn and quartered. People can make the argument that the players are out on the field and how can they play if they have drugs in their system. But how can a manager make decisions for the team if he has drugs in his system? There is no difference here people. It's the same. Washington should have been suspended for the remainder of last season and should have lost his job and his pay. It is a ridicules situation.

Are there going to be charges drawn up against him, can there be? This isn't a man getting a drunk driving ticket, this is a man using an illegal substance! There are law enforcement teams that spend their entire careers trying to stop the distribution of drugs and they are going to let this slide just because a man admitted using it and as a one time thing? People go under cover and put their lives on the line to bust drug dealers. If there was ever a time for the government to get involved in baseball the time is now. Where are the useless congressmen wanting to control baseball's drug use now? Oh, it is different because this man isn't using steroids to be a better performing player, he was using another illegal drug, but it's okay because he isn't hitting an insane amount of home runs.