Change in Rules for HOF voting

[drcy]

I agree on the point that Ben Johnson and East German women swimmers have definitely not been viewed more favorably or more legitimate as the years have gone by. They're considered as big of cheats and illegitimate champions today as they were 25 years ago. After all these years, 'East German woman swimmer' remains the punchline to countless jokes.

I don't see history being kind to Barry 'I thought it was just flaxseed oil' Bonds and Clemens if they continue to deny they used PEDs for the rest of their lives. If they admit and repent, sentiments can and likely would change, but the public and sports writers hate transparent liars who continue to transparently lie and obfuscate. Look no further than the popularity ratings of Alex Rodriguez. The problem for Bonds and Clemens is they got themselves into legal predicaments that they could have simply avoided by being truthful, and finally admitting they arrogantly and pridefully lied in legal situations may things worse in the publics' mind. They got themselves into a pickle, and give meaning to the phrase, 'Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."

McGwire has sort of been forgiven, but he finally admitted to using PEDs, said he was sorry and regretted ever using them, and never perjured himself in a legal situation. McGwire will be considered a sad, sorry story in baseball history. You can feel sorry for him as a human being and be understanding and forgive, but that doesn't mean anyone takes his home run totals as any less of a PED-era farce.

After all these years, track and swimming HOF voters would wish Ben Johnson and the East Germans could be wiped from the respective sport's history books and somehow forgotten, just as I bet the Tour de France wishes Lance Armstrong had never taken up bicycling. This is the polar opposite of wanting to memorialize them and their deeds.

The wild card is baseball is full of psychology, a sport notorious for its Homers-- blinder-wearing home team fans who forgive anything if it involves one of their players. The Giants fans who defended Bonds would have of course derided and mocked him and his statistics if he was a member on any other team. Ben Johnson and East German swimmers are distant 'foreigners' and are likely psychologically viewed and judged through a different lens. The psychological reactions to changes in events and passage of time is the difficult thing to predict. Over time, opinions can change, but they can also harden.