[sumo] [spoilers]Takanohana and steroid abuse

[Jezz]

Hi!

I am a little confused as to point being made here in regards to Takanohana.

Please clarify how the following two statements link...

I am thinking that the goalposts may have been moved a little.

On 09/12/2007, Scott M. Kahn <smk1 at columbia.edu> wrote:
>
> The reason there
> was no outcry against Takanohana is obvious, and the reason that
> many people get outraged when presented with these accusations is
> that they would rather not take a critical look at the crown prince
> of sumo of his time.

On 10/12/2007, Scott M. Kahn <smk1 at columbia.edu> wrote:

> Let's remember that the public outcry over steroid abuse began years
> later, it was overlooked at the time.  Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa
> were championed for their home run feats in the US even though it
> was obvious their performances were enhanced.

As far as I recall regarding Sosa and McGuire, at the time of their
home run race, nobody was talking about steroids (although McGuire -
and possibly Sosa - admitted to using something that was legal at the
time for baseball).  It was not the perceived public notion that they
were using them - and therefore 'not obvious' to the public at large.
(No doubt *some* people suspected it, but it was not the overall
conceived opinion of the time - to suggest otherwise, would be to
think that the general baseball watching populace condoned steroid
use.).  They were therefore treated as heroes.  Even now, I have not
heard that either of them did anything illegal *at the time*.

In the case of Barry Bonds, there has long been the suggestion that he
was using something illegal.  Therefore, he has been considered by
many as the cad.  A lot of people did not want him to take the home
run record.

My apologies if anything is wrong in the above two paragraphs, as I do
not really follow baseball.

I would suggest that Takanohana fitted into the former category of
McGuire and Sosa.



Kind regards,

Jejima