Turning A Blind Eye
December 17, 2007
The release of the Mitchell Report on enhanced performance drug use in baseball was front page of most newspapers last week. It seems that the whole country was "shocked."
The 400-page report based on more than 100,000 documents is a strong indictment against the practice of using steroids in sports.
Why the surprise? It was common knowledge that baseball players (and other athletes) use these dangerous and sometimes illegal drugs, to benefit their performance and careers, their managers, the team owners and the fans.
Tim Rutten in his article in the LA Times entitled "Baseball Shame is our Shame Too" says that everyone was involved "players, managers, coaches, owners, agents, lawyers, union officials, the majority of sportswriters and, even, the fans — is complicit in all this. We’ve all turned a blind eye to what was there for anyone with eyes to see for the sake of profit and an entertaining spectacle."
The expression has an interesting origin. It is attributed to an incident in the life of Horatio Nelson, the Royal Navy commander who had one blind eye. In 1801, during the Napoleonic Wars, he was ordered by Admiral, Sir Hyde Parker, the commander of the Navy to withdraw from the battle of Copenhagen. At that time orders were given by flag signals. Eager to engage in the battle he raised his telescope to his blind eye and declared that he saw no signal to retreat and went forward and destroyed the Norwegian-Danish fleet.
Turning a blind eye, ignoring realities that we do not want to face is a normal human reaction as T.S. Eliot said: "Humankind cannot bear very much reality."
However it can have serious consequences in our work and personal lives. Many of the athletes named in the report have their reputation tainted and their records questioned. It takes courage to address a problem head on, but it is usually the only way in finding a solution.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig did just that when he requested more than two years ago, that former Senator Mitchell conduct an investigation into steroids use in baseball and publish its results in a report. Now that he and the country have faced the problem he is entitled to say, as he did, "This report is a call to action, and I will act."
I am sure he will.
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