Tainted

It started 100 Years Ago

Win or Lose, Fashion = Fun

Fans & Players Cry “Foul” in the 2017 World Series

LOS ANGELES, CA, USA, March 10, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Simon & Garfunkel asked, “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?”

Sadly, 80% of today’s population might more likely ask, “WHO the hell is Joe DiMaggio?” (Worse, they probably ask, “Who the hell are Simon & Garfunkel?”) Well, “Joltin’Joe” never shaved points, never rigged a game, never used PED (performance-enhancing-drugs) or cheated in any way. Yet he managed to be unanimously inducted into the Hall of Fame, led Murderers Row and the best pro baseball team of all time into legend. Arguably, he represented that dying breed of professional athletes who has earned the status of “Role Model” to generations of fans, players and kids alike. Adjusted for inflation, he played for less than today’s minimum salary … solely for the love of the game. He and the 1927 Yankees are now forced to share membership in the MLB & NFL Halls of Fame with proven, confessed, cheaters among dozens of teams and all-stars.

Somewhere along the line, headliners, head coaches & front office management lost touch with reality. The sole focus has become, “Just win, Baby” over community/fan loyalty and the lessons of sportsmanship. Only a few examples: the Chicago Cubs & their Billy Goat Curse, the Cleveland Indians - best known from the movie Major League - and the BoSox’s “Curse of the Bambino” … the NY Mets (before they became “Amazing”) sold a lot of tickets to audiences of millions as “lovable losers” for decades (and decades). The New Orleans “Aint’s” routinely sold out the Super Dome, despite a 1-15 record in 1980. Self-deprecating humor, fashion sense and our cultural affinity for the underdog have won the hearts of loyalists throughout the history of professional sports in the U.S. Al Davis was wrong. Fans will love & support any team – buy $12 beer or $8 hot dogs - that plays hard, works hard and preserves the essence of the game - win or lose.

The Oakland Raiders are famous for demonic face-painting. The New Orleans “Aint’s’” are famous for their paper bags. Now, unfortunately, there’s a Houston team (in)famous for another orange T-shirt - "The Taints'.

The recently exposed & ongoing scandal of the 2017 World Series isn’t news, nor is any of the ephemeral headlines that have plagued professional sports since long before – long after - the Black Sox of 1919. By whatever means … steroids, technology, “snot-balls” or garbage can drumbeats … the “game” has become a cutthroat “business”. The issue of the 2017 World Series is NOT who would have won, had Houston not cheated. The sole question is whether or not cheating of any kind – the attempt in itself - is OK. The elementary answer is, “No, it’s not.” Houston’s title, in the most generous of terms, is a tainted championship.

Should up and coming young athletes be denied the message of, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”? Are they now being taught that, “It’s not wrong, if you don’t get caught”?

Today, not next season, is the time for fans to demand a full-stop to the institutionalized cheating. America’s Pastime has run out of time. The phrase is “The Boy’s of Summer” – not “The Grown-Ass Men Generating Millions in Revenue & Salaries by Cheating in a Children’s Game By Whatever Means Available.”

An increasing number of purists, true fans of the institution, are voicing their demands for a full-stop to the corruption to any degree, at any level.

Todd Michaels is one of the many who has taken a stand. “There’s only one thing worse than my team losing, that’s winning by losing the spirit and integrity of the sport. I’m fighting back with T-shirts.”

Ironically, Houston’s 2020 home opener – the MLB opener 2020 - is against the “other” L.A. baseball team, the Angels, rather than their Dodger opponents in the last game of 2019. Among true fans, most of the Orange in the seats will be sending the right message.

Thanks to their passion-for-the game and their sponsorship of https://taintedchampionship.com for this editorial.

Todd Michaels
Tainted Championship
516-312-0313
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