Skip Bayless on HGH? Can You Imagine His Head Any Bigger Than it Already Is?

(an hilarious double entendre)

Skip Bayless's latest column is actually...kind of decent. Average writing, bad jokes, and hokey puns aside, he gives an uncharacteristically even-handed treatment to the HGH issue.

Having said that, I think his ultimate conclusion is absurd. Daily blood tests? In the words of John Stossel, give me a break.

Skip Bayless really thinks that daily blood tests for every single player in the league are A) feasible, B) practical, C) affordable, and D) worth the resources? The idea that MLB can and should undertake such a burden seems wildly unrealistic. And as much as some players may want to eliminate HGH for good--assuming such tests could even do so--why would the players' union ever submit to so stringent, bothersome, and intrusive a measure?

One way or another--either by self-policing or agreeing to harsh drug testing--the players will choose how drug free they want to be. Yes, Bud Selig has some power in the matter but very little compared to the collective power of the players' union and owners. Sports are rarely, if ever, policed by the heavy hand of a commissioner, but rather, by the prevailing values of the players themselves.

I still maintain that performance enhancers will never go away unless the so-called unwritten creeds among the players dictate it. Maybe a group of influential "clean" stars will lead a miraculous movement to agree to some fool-proof testing policy. But I really believe--again, feel free to call me an idiot--that the change is more likely to occur within MLB locker rooms, as the prevailing values--backed by medical research, respected veteran stars, whatever--grow to scorn the juicers.