Musings on Flaxseed Oil

We don't want to get too serious on you, here, but we've got something on our mind and need to get it out there:

Whether it was forced or not, we'd like to cautiously commend Jason Giambi for becoming the first active player to agree to speak with the Mitchell commission--the most toothless commission in the history of commissions. The reason we're cautious is that we worry this will turn into a mea culpa for Giambi with no probative value whatsoever relating to the game's ongoing fight against illegal drugs.

In any case, we view this as a potentially seminal moment in modern baseball history, and look at Giambi as a candidate for the Curt Flood role of this era. Flood, as we all know, was the guy who essentially sacrificed his career in order to secure the free agency rights that have taken care of so many generations of so many families (and Ferrari dealers) for ballplayers who have come after him. Free agency has, obviously, made life better for baseball players, and we happen to think it's made the game more fun for fans, as well.

With steroids playing the role of "issue of the generation", Giambi, or someone like him, is in a position to make a similarly meaningful difference by contributing to the efforts to clean up a still filthy game. While we understand that Flood merely had to sacrifice himself, and Giambi faces the tougher task of implicating others, we still hope Giambi takes this opportunity to set a positive example. He's set up to substantially improve the game for players and fans alike, which we would think of as the paramount concern.

Well, we've grown tired of consulting our thesaurus, so we'll stop there. Let's just say we hope Giambi takes advantage of this opportunity to help repair the image of the game that he (and we) loves so much and that has done so much for him and his family. It'll take guts, for sure, but history will certainly look back on him favorably.

Sorry for the serious turn. We'll try not to let it happen again.