I have been getting a tsunami of spam comments that number in the hundreds each day. So unfortunately I have had to restrict access by requiring a contributor to offer a name & email. You have my word that I will NOT abuse your information, put you on a list of any kind or bother you. It’s simply a device to dam the flow of insidious trash. Sorry for the inconvenience. Have a great weekend. Will

Friday, Hartford, Connecticut

It took a global diplomat to do what baseball refused to do itself for over a decade. Retired United States Senator George Mitchell investigated and reported the cold facts about steroids and other, performance enhancing drugs rampant in the sport. His bombshell report released Thursday outed many major icons of the sport for cheating their way into glory. Pitcher Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were among the most high profile superstars to be named as steroid users.

The named athletes immediately denied the allegations and cried foul about the way their names were mentioned without due process. It certainly is a traumatic experience to have your public reputation sullied over night, given the widespread suspicion on all professional athletes. This surely is a case of being assumed guilty until you can prove your innocence.

However, my sympathies are not with the athletes. It was made clear by Senator Mitchell that everyone whose name emerged in the investigation was given an opportunity to speak with the investigators to clarify and clear their names in advance. And none of the accused players took advantage of the opportunity. This was foolish for two reasons:

First, Mitchell made clear that he was recommending that those named should not be penalized by baseball. This means that if the aggrieved individuals like Clemens had argued their case before the investigators, they might have had an opportunity to have their names be taken out of the report, even if temporarily until proof be found. By refusing, they suffered the consequences of the public relations bombshell.

Second, it ignored the widespread belief by most if not many fans that the players - especially those who accumulate staggering statistics late in their career - were not doing so honestly. What fan has not noticed the shocking change in Barry Bonds physical appearance? Who has not looked with curiosity - if not outright suspicion at the amazing stamina and pitching speed of Roger Clemens at forty years old? These are either super human accomplishments, or maybe the result of some help outside the rules.

The blame for this debacle most clearly rests principally with baseball as an institution and a business. And the irrational mania for sports that elevates the players to a divine status exacerbates the situation.

From the Commissioner’s office down to the owners of the teams appeared to ignore what seemed obvious to many, especially the sports journalists who were seeing these guys up close and personal. The change in appearance and attitude that was observed by watchers of the game raised suspicions decades ago. And most of the fans became curious during the infamous home run juggernaut when baseball’s legendary hitting records were suddenly overwhelmed by Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire. It all seemed too easy.

What Do We Learn?

The baseball scandal is perhaps the inevitable result of a culture that so inflates the status of athletes and entertainers. Held up to a level of esteem that cannot be matched in reality distorts the fan’s perceptions as well as the self worth of the athletes themselves. When compensation bears little or no resemblance to the real value of the labor, it erodes self esteem. When a culture rewards people playing games, acting in movies and singing on stage by paying hundreds of times the remuneration as someone exhausting themselves through other forms of performance and service, it raises questions about all of our values.

I am not proposing that the local postal carrier, a truck driver or even my dentist be offered a salary of ten million dollars a year. But the labor of these individuals taxes their capacity as much as any other job. The staggering gap between their compensation and a baseball player is hard to comprehend.

There was a searing line in the movie Aviator when Leonardo DiCaprio, portraying the legendary engineer, inventor and industrial genius Howard Hughes chides Katharine Hepburn for criticizing him. He barks at her, “Don’t lecture me! You are just a movie star, that’s all!”

Uh huh!

Hughes had his sense of proportion right. I’m fine with celebrity athletes and entertainers being richly compensated for their work. But when we as a society lose all our sense of proportion, lionize them and exaggerate their real value, what should we expect but that they will cling tenaciously to their inflated status, even if it means cheating?

Tuesday, Indianapolis, Indiana

Is the culture becoming meaner? There seems to be evidence suggesting that people are getting so competitive and focused on individual success that we are willing to take it out on anyone getting in our way. The most recent exhibit is the shocking turn of events is the competition for Miss Puerto Rico. This past week contestant Ingrid Rivera was the victim of a poor sport willing to flaunt the rules of law and civility to win the contest.

In the spirit of another famous sports victim Nancy Kerrigan, an as-yet unnamed rival arranged to have her Ms. Rivera’s formal competition gown spiked with pepper spray!

Holy San Juan Hill!!

As a result Ms. Rivera broke out in hives and had a swollen face for her final stage appearance. You might recall the shocking story in advance of the 1994 Olympics when infamous, redneck skating competitor Tanya Harding’s husband, Jeff Gillooly hired friend and thug Shawn Eckhardt to whack Nancy Kerrigan on the knee to get her put of the competition. The incident unhinged all of their lives.

In this latest bizarre reprise in Puerto Rico, an unidentified beauty pageant competitor is suspected of sabotaging the dress and makeup of the front runner. In spite of her hives and a face puffed up like a yeast cake, Ms. Rivera won the competition and will be representing Puerto Rico in the Miss Universe competition.

What Are We Becoming?

Are we getting less civilized? Is it that the media is covering human depravity more thoroughly that it distorts our impression of the collective character? Are we now a more violent society?

What makes an individual so desperate for success, fame and wealth that they will try to ruin the health of another to advance her own chances for winning? Is the lure of notoriety so irresistible that it makes people desperate? The evidence suggests we have cultivated a generation who feel that personal meaning is rooted in personal prowess - prevailing over all others no matter how it gets done.

I cannot win on my own; I will do what it takes to bring you down. Wow!

In instances such as the Puerto Rico Beauty Pageant, I do give credit to the media whose coverage of these outrageous incidents bring righteous shame on the perpetrators and expose their misdeeds. In the end shaming is one of our most effective weapons against anti-social behavior. So whoever the perpetrator of the beauty pageant sabatoge is, when they are finally exposed they will be shamed, villified and have their own twisted ambitions righteously ridiculed.

Friday, New York City, New York

Barry Bonds Indicted

He has been under suspicion for a decade and under investigation for several years. But this week the other shoe dropped and baseball player Barry Bonds was indicted by a federal grand jury for perjury and obstruction of justice. It culminates a painstaking four-year investigation into the use of steroids. The federal prosecutor has now made official that Bonds used performance enhancing drugs to help him as an athlete.

Huh…you think?

The story goes that Bonds, who was already well on his way to the Hall of Fame in the late 1990’s for his staggering athletic ability and mounting numbers, became consumed with envy watching the country’s attention riveted to the celebrated home run chase by Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa in 1998. So he decided to do what he needed to ramp up his numbers and seize the spotlight back to himself. And over the subsequent years Bonds went on a home run tear that seemed a desperate drive to re-establish himself as the premiere baseball slugger for the ages. And the fans might have gone along with him except that he proved to be a distinctly unlikeable individual. In short, Bonds has a revolting personality.

In virtually every news report about him, Bonds comes across as arrogant and self-centered. He seemed to revel in his defiance of the media and his hostility toward the baseball establishment. It wasn’t long before his image deteriorated to the point where the sports journalists were speaking openly of Barry Bonds as a rotten person. And this in the end might well have been his real undoing. Garnering no sympathy from anyone, he became the focus of every journalist looking to find something negative about Bonds in hopes of cutting him down to size

As intelligent as Barry Bonds might be, his fundamental flaw is his very personality. Whenever someone regularly condescends toward others, it evokes resentment and wrath. And someday, sometime, somehow the offended find a way to exact revenge. And today was the day of reckoning for the loathsome, narcissistic and friendless Barry Bonds.

The whole sordid episode is a reminder that regardless of what you accomplish, in the end your fate is determined as much by your social skills as your actions. Of course, there are those whose pathology features strong interpersonal ability as a mask and manipulation for their depraved intent. But such psychos are actually the minority. In general, engaging other people in a warm, open and transparent manner is the ideal approach to having your achievements recognized and your success endure.

Sadly, Barry Bonds has long seemed incapable of managing his relationships with anyone except a small inner circle. And so his fall from grace evokes no sympathy.

The indictment mostly brings on gloating. Sad but just desserts.

Thursday, Lafayette, Indiana

One of my favorite blogs that I visit every day is Shecky Magazine. It is written by Brian McKim & Traci Skene, two outstanding professional standup comedians who report on the standup comedy business and its artists. It is the essential resource for knowing what’s happening in the world of standup.

I especially love when they challenge the uninformed reporting on standup comedy by amateur knucklehead newspaper critics who attend a show and pan it. Shecky points out why they are wrong, why they are annoying and why they should have their pencils broken. I love it!

Thursday, Boston, Massachusetts

Readers often write and ask me to help them with personal problems and I am happy to help. Among the most interesting submissions includes descriptions of vivid dreams - especially those involving television. Recently a woman named Celia H. sent in the following unique account:

Dear Dr. Will,
I had a very vivid dream this week that really disturbed me. I was wondering if you could interpret its meaning and offer me your insight,
Thanks, Celia

Here’s Celia’s Dream:

“I dreamt that I was waiting back stage at American Idol Show waiting to perform. There was great pressure for me to do well and I was petrified. But the worst part was that I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I had no talent! What should I sing? A country song? Rock? What?

I heard booing from the audience and Justin Timberlake came off stage sweating. He looked at me and said, “that’s a rough crowd out there! You are so screwed!”

I was then introduced and went on stage. I stared at the silent audience and I broke down crying. I turned to Paula Abdul and said, “I’m sorry, I have no talent!” She broke into a big smile and said, “we know, dear!”

Then she and the entire audience burst out laughing. I looked down at the crowd and noticed my parents were in the front row laughing along with everyone else. I woke up sweating. What is this dream telling me!?

In either case, you are living in dread fear that you have no real ability and that sooner or later your ineptitude will be shown to the world. American Idol represents the ultimate illustration of showcasing talent.

Since you are humiliated in this most public forum, it means that you are suffering from grandiosity in your need to have the world see your incompetence. The presence of your parents is significant. They know your inadequacies better than anyone. Thus their participation adds validity to the dream. Perhaps you really do not have any talent after all.

But cheer up! Most people don’t. You are normal and not a freak of nature like the most exquisitely talented. We recommend long term therapy and career counseling. Have a great day!

In addition to the comments I receive though the journal, I get lots of terrific email either commenting or correcting something I said.

I really appreciate the feedback.

If there is anything you particularly like or dislike,

I would love to have a site that you are eager recommend to your friends

Will