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Introduction

Last week I wrote a couple of posts about how Congress was banning the Patriots from the Super Bowl because they cheated and then that the President was going to support the move in his State of the Union.

Some people took it the wrong way, as Patriot basing, which I freely admit I am guilty of. However, my point was criticizing Congress and their meddling in sports. There are more important things for Congress to be worrying about than cheating in sports: a chaotic war, a sluggish economy, a declining dollar, and many more.

I was being tongue-in-cheek last week; then I wake up today and find out that Senator Arlen Specter (R - PA) is calling NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell before him to explain why they destroyed the Patriots’ tapes of the Jets’ signals.

Integrity of the Game

It all started with Congress taking baseball to task over steroids. That was a move applauded by many observers. They were sick of suspected cheaters succeeding and claiming for themselves some of the most sacred titles in the game. When baseball did nothing, the government stepped in and spent millions of taxpayer dollars investigating the state of Major League Baseball.

Most supporters were simply glad that these players weren’t going to get away with cheating. But Congress had a grander vision, they would ensure that cheaters wouldn’t succeed so that children wouldn’t grow up thinking cheating is the key to success.

When discussing the matter with the New York Times Senator Spector said, “The American people are entitled to be sure about the integrity of the game. It’s analogous to the CIA destruction of tapes. Or any time you have records destroyed.”

Congress and the Constitution

I would love for anyone to point out where exactly in the Constitution it outlines Congress’ role in protecting the “integrity of the game?” Is this really what we want our government doing? They are all ready discussing making it a requirement that public highschool athletes be subject to random drug tests, maybe next they will have a government representative on the sidelines, in the meetings, and in NFL board rooms to make sure they are doing things with “integrity.” Sounds almost like what the Soviet Union used to do. Correction, it’s exactly what the Soviet Union used to do.

This is no place for government. When Congress began investigating steroids many people, myself included, said this set a dangerous precedent. Those who wanted to see those mighty and corrupt baseball players brought low said we were making a ridiculous “slippery slope” argument.

It appears, that we were all too right. What’s next? What sport will be left untouched? There will always be accusations of (and actually instances of) cheating in pro sports so where does Congress stop?

The Bed We Made

As much as I blame Congress for this horrible misuse of my tax money, I also blame all of those who cheered their actions in the steroids issue. There is an old saying that I always apply to any new power we grant to our government officials, “give ‘em an inch, and they’ll take a mile.”

Now, they are taking the first step of that mile. Who knows what new regulations they will impose on the NFL but I’m sure some will be coming. Perhaps there will be a new integrity clause or maybe teams will have to report to a new government bureau to ensure they are doing things “the right way.”

Conclusion

I was joking last week, but now, I’m really not surprised. Once we gave to Congress the responsibility of monitoring pro sports it was only a matter of time before they stepped in to the NFL. Now, we just have to hope the damage is limited. That the cost of Congress’ new venture isn’t too great; that the regulations they hope to impose won’t impact the game too much.

This is our bed, though, and now we’ve got to lie in it.