Lewis connected to PEDs? Bah, who cares. It's football. (US Presswire)

The news relating to performance-enhancing drugs that broke Tuesday morning in two different sports served as yet another reminder that there's a double-standard. It's that baseball players are dirty, rotten, cheating scumbags if they are even mentioned in the same breath as PEDs. Football players? Ah, whatever. It's cool, man. Just keep those gladiators entertaining us.

Obviously, there will always be people who look down on use in any sport, but taking the reaction in totality, it's amazing how many more people get worked up about PEDs in baseball.

Tell me this: When it comes time to discuss whether or not Ray Lewis should be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame, will there even be an argument? Will his candidacy be met with the same venom that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens faced from both voters and fans? Or what about Jeff Bagwell and Mike Piazza? I'd place a hefty wager on Lewis cruising into Canton and not facing near the scrutiny that, ultimately, kept every one of those baseball players above from being enshrined in Cooperstown. For this year, at least. And likely for a lot longer.

Remember when Shawne Merriman served a four-game suspension after testing positive for steroids and then still made the Pro Bowl and finished third in NFL defensive player of the year voting?

Or let's try this fun little exercise: How often do people call Ryan Braun a "cheater" in comparison to how often it's said about Brian Cushing? Peruse our comments sections sometime on the two. We can't write a single thing about Braun without a few people name-calling, while Cushing is mostly spared. And Braun avoided suspension after winning his appeal while Cushing had to serve his suspension.

Also, let's keep in mind Tuesday was media day for the Super Bowl, with Lewis holding court in New Orleans. Can we even begin to imagine the kind of firestorm that would take place if Miguel Cabrera or Buster Posey were accused of PED use the day before the World Series last fall? Good lord, it would've been an absolute circus. Instead, Lewis simply said "next question" when asked about the issue, and that was that.

The funny thing is, baseball should be receiving praise right now. This Anthony Bosch character who is at the center of the controversy? Major League Baseball was already investigating him. MLB has also become the first league in American professional sports history to announce in-season, random, unannounced blood testing for HGH. The league is doing everything it can to expose those who might be using something illegal and being transparent in the process, as opposed to sweeping things under the rug -- as it did in the past.

And yet, when players do get exposed, the reaction is that baseball is dirty and that it's full of lowlife cheaters. Meanwhile, steroids in the NFL are met by many with a virtual yawn. Perhaps the biggest disconnect here is the head injury problem the NFL has. If players are juicing, they'll be stronger and faster -- meaning they'll hit each other harder and cause more head injuries.

But, hey, as long as they keep entertaining us, who cares? Just so long as a baseball player doesn't hit a few more home runs. That's what really matters. Right?

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