Friday, February 26, 2010
Rob Rains
It’s a shame that Mark McGwire had such a negative reaction to his brother Jay writing a book that details how they both got addicted to steroids. Mark called the book’s release “a sad day” for his family, but what is truly sad is that he is looking at the book from an entirely personal and private perspective, which should not be the case at all.
There is nothing in the book which can hurt or embarrass Mark McGwire. We all knew he took steroids. We have our own opinions on that issue. This book is not going to change anyone’s mind on whether they like, dislike, admire or condemn McGwire for what he has done in the past. The book is not going to have any affect on McGwire’s performance as the Cardinals’ hitting coach.
The book can, and hopefully will, however, be able to accomplish some of the very goals and ideas that McGwire himself has said he wants to support – the education of young people about the dangers of using steroids, the knowledge that becoming addicted to steroids is just as dangerous and perhaps deadly as being addicted to alcohol or other drugs.
That is the true message Jay McGwire is trying to deliver in his new book, and he does it by telling his own story. He talks about his use of steroids, as a professional bodybuilder, in much more detail that he provides about his brother using steroids. He said during a telephone conversation Friday that if he was only writing about Mark, “the book would have been about five chapters.”
“I did not write the book to throw Mark under the bus,” Jay McGwire said. “This is more than just me talking about Mark.”
He wrote the book because he wanted to send a message, a message about what steroids have done to his life, and about how he was lucky to become a born-again Christian and be able to escape the depression and thoughts of suicide which tormented him several years ago.
The people who focus on the fact that Mark and Jay have not talked for eight years, or think that Jay is writing the book only to try to make money off Mark’s fame, are missing that big picture. That’s the point Mark seems to be missing as well.
“This book is bigger than just my family,” Jay McGwire said. “This is how God is working through me. I think in the long run it’s going to be OK. Right now it’s kind of crazy, but when the dust settles and people actually read the book, I hope forgiveness will happen and I believe reconciliation will happen over time.”
Mark says he is not going to read the book. Jay said he is not sure his parents are going to read the book. He is going to send them a copy and hopes they will. Mark and Jay’s brother Bob has told Jay he will read it, and Jay is hopeful that he can be the liaison with the rest of the family who potentially one day will be able to eliminate some of the bad blood that obviously exists.
That will be a great day if the McGwire siblings can reconcile their differences and become the happy family they were when the five brothers were growing up in southern California. But that doesn’t have to happen for a greater good to come out of this book.
In a strange twist, what Jay McGwire has done by writing this book is become the public spokesman against steroids that his more famous brother was supposed to become. When he appeared before Congress in March 2005, Mark McGwire said he would be happy to lead a public awareness campaign against steroids.
McGwire has, over the past several years, made what Don Hooton calls “not insignificant” financial contributions to the Taylor Hooton Foundation. He has been asked to not reveal the exact amount of McGwire’s donations but he says they have definitely helped the foundation carry on its mission of educating youths about steroids.
The foundation is named after Don’s son, Taylor, who was a 6-foot-2, 180-pound 16-year-old athlete who was told by his high school coach that “he needed to be bigger” if he wanted to compete as a senior. He began taking steroids, unaware of the severe depression the drugs would cause. On July 15, 2003, Taylor took his own life.
“The perfect people to talk to kids are people who have walked that path,” Don Hooton said Friday. “It’s the most powerful message you can deliver to kids.
“All kids see is the positive side of using steroids. Steroids will work. But they don’t realize that they come with a bucketful of side effects.”
Mark McGwire could deliver that message, but he never has. His brother notes that Mark is a private individual who never enjoyed being under the spotlight. That was one of the reasons he retreated back behind the fences of his gated community in southern California after his disastrous appearance before Congress.
When McGwire made the decision to accept Tony La Russa’s offer to become the Cardinals’ hitting coach, he knew he would have to come out from behind the gate. He knew people would ask about steroids. He launched a counter-attack by admitting his steroid use and offered a sincere public apology.
His statement did not go far enough, however. For all the praise he received for finally confirming what people had long suspected, he received an equal amount of criticism for not admitting that using steroids had helped him hit more home runs. For whatever reason, he just could not bring himself to say that.
Likewise, Mark has never been able to become the spokesman he could be against steroids. Maybe, just maybe, this book will be the vehicle by which his brother is going to step up and do that for him. Maybe, just maybe, the rest of the McGwire family will realize that should be what one brother does for another.
Contact Globe-Democrat.com Sports Editor Rob Rains at rrains@globe-democrat.com
Comments
jvincent (anonymous) says...
Great column, you wouldnt find a column like this in the other paper in this town and it is ashame Mark doesnt become a spokesman for the dangers of Steroid use.
February 26, 2010 at 9:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Trouble (anonymous) says...
If he is only trying to get the message out about steroids and not about his brother, "He said during a telephone conversation Friday that if he was only writing about Mark, “the book would have been about five chapters.”"
Then why did he title the book "Mark & Me"? Just to cash in on his brothers' fame/shame?
Do any of us know the whole story behind this family history of unbrotherly love?
If someone out there does, please share. I heard some little pieces about Mark taking Matt in some years ago to help him but the ending must not have been pretty.
March 1, 2010 at 4 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Trouble (anonymous) says...
Sorry I call Jay, Matt!!
March 1, 2010 at 4:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )