After letting the Mitchell Report and the potential repercussions it will have on major league baseball marinate over the weekend, I jotted down a few thoughts about it...

• I will be very disappointed if no disciplinary action is taken. I realize George Mitchell urged Commissioner Bud Selig not to discipline players for past violations unless it threatened the integrity of the game, but I believe every instance of cheating threatens the game's integrity. It doesn't matter if it leads to a broken record, Cy Young award, or championship ring, or simply gives one player a spot on a big league roster over another player; it still undermines the game. To allow past cheating to occur without any consequences rubs me the wrong way and sends the wrong message to players and fans.
• I don't think it's reasonable to believe that Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens are going to be stripped of their awards, or that either of them will have asterisks placed on their records.
• It only seems fair that any Clemens-tainted baseball, jersey, or glove in the Hall of Fame should receive a Marc Ecko stamp of approval.
• I don't believe it's reasonable to expect Bud Selig to strip the Yankees of their championships during the years their roster was packed with the performance-enhanced players. Admittedly, it would give me a warm, fuzzy feeling if he did.
• While the names of players listed will receive the most media attention, I believe there are two parts of Mitchell's report that deserve greater attention.
  
  The first is Section II (pages 4-17), which outlines the adverse effects of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. It not only talks about the health threat they pose to individual athletes, it also talks about their threat to the integrity of the game. Mitchell includes a fitting quote by George F. Will:

  Athletes who are chemically propelled to victory do not merely overvalue winning, they misunderstand why winning is properly valued. Professional athletes stand at an apex of achievement, but their achievements are admirable primarily because they are the products of a lonely submission to a sustained discipline of exertion. Such submission is a manifestation of good character.

  The second section worthy of greater attention is Section XI (pages 285-306), which outlines Mitchell's recommendations. It covers investigating non-testing based allegations, addressing violations, and preventing future use through education. They are forward-looking recommendations to change the culture of the game. I sincerely hope Major League Baseball closely reviews them and implements them. With any luck, they will go above and beyond the recommendations to make baseball a leader when it comes to cracking down on performance enhancing drugs.
• I realize that all we are talking about is a game. Yet it's a game closely associated with our national identity. To that end, I want baseball to be a sport that upholds certain ideals and values, like hard work, discipline, character, honesty, athleticism, and good sportsmanship. If they are values we want in our young athletes, then they should be values the league promotes and every player embodies.