Fans React to Mitchell Report on ESPN.com

The collective SportsNation is reacting to the Mitchell Report on ESPN.com. In just hours, nearly 750,000 fans have downloaded the full Mitchell Report file (as of 5:35 p.m. ET, file posted at 2:07 p.m.), and fans have posted more than 7,200 ESPN Conversation posts (as of 4:30 p.m.). Additionally, tens of thousands of fans are voting in an ESPN.com survey, and multiple ESPN.com polls on the site’s front page.

ESPN’s SportsNation survey results (as of 4:25 p.m.) are below, along with a sampling of fans’ reaction from ESPN Conversations pages.

ESPN’s SportsNation survey** regarding the Mitchell report can be found at: http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/polling?event_id=3286

** (by submitting your votes, you will be able to see the most up to date results)

See fans’ comments in ESPN Conversations, updated in real time at:
http://myespn.go.com/s/conversations/list

ESPN.com’s complete coverage of the Mitchell Report can be found online at: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3153509

Front Page ESPN.com Poll Question (49,155 votes -- as of 4:35 p.m.)

Who Would Get Your Vote For The Hall Of Fame?

Barry Bonds 6%

Roger Clemens 26%

Both 28%

Neither 41%

ESPN.com SportsNation Survey (Total Votes: 40,867 -- as of 4:25 p.m.)

** (by submitting your votes, you will be able to see the most up to date results)

1) Will the Mitchell report have a big impact on Major League Baseball?

62.0% Yes

38.6% No

2) Who is more to blame for the steroid problem in baseball?

46.9% The players

28.2% The players’ union

17.4% Bud Selig

7.5% The owners

3) Who would get your vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame?

48.6% Neither

33.7% Both

14.2% Roger Clemens

3.6% Barry Bonds

4) Would it be fair for MLB to punish a player based solely on evidence in the report?

59.4% No

40.6% Yes

5) Will being named in the report hurt a player’s future earning power, regardless of future performance?

65.1% Yes

34.9% No

6) Were you surprised at the number of names in the report?

80.0% No

20.0% Yes

7) How much of the report have you read or do you plan to read?

34.3% Some of it

32.8% Just a summary

18.6% Most of it

9.8% All of it

4.4% Nothing at all

8) What interests you more about the report?

79.4% Identity of alleged steroid users

14.7% Learning who’s accountable for the ’steroid era’

6.0% No interest

9) How much faith do you put in the report?

55.9% I believe the majority of it

22.4% I’m taking it with a grain of salt

20.5% I believe all of it

1.2% I don’t believe it at all

10) Would it bother you if your favorite team chose to pursue a player named in the report?

52.1% Yes

47.9% No

11) Do you care if players use performance-enhancing drugs?

80.8% Yes

19.2% No

12) Do major league players using steroids influence young people to do the same?

84.7% Yes

15.3% No

13) Are any of your favorite players named in the report?

52.5% Yes

47.5% No

14) If a player on your favorite team has been named in the report, how will you react?

49.0% I’m disappointed, but he’s my guy

36.5% He’s a cheater and I’ll never root for him again

14.5% It’s no big deal, everyone’s doing it

15) Do you believe the report’s conclusions are in any way compromised by Mitchell’s role on the board of directors of the Red Sox?

66.0% No

34.0% Yes

16) How would you describe Bud Selig’s tenure as MLB commissioner?

45.8% Mixed bag

44.0% Mostly negative

10.1% Mostly positive

17) How should baseball react to the suggestions put forward in the report?

60.7% Adopt some of them

36.0% Adopt all of them

3.3% Ignore them

18) Will anything you learned from the report make you any less likely to watch baseball next season?

77.6% No

22.4% Yes

Select fan Comments on ESPN.com Conversation pages:

jeflim25

“Roger Clemens

Wins 354*

4672 StrikeOuts*

7 Cy Young*”

kick me off 1

“Enough with the excuses if they were named in the report they were cheaters plain & simple.”

LONEWOLVERINE36

“Other than Jason Giambi and Jose Conseco admitting that he used steroids, I doubt anyone that is or isn’t on that list is going to come forward to admit they used steroids and we’ll never know who did or who didn’t and it won’t matter anyways despite the Mitchell report.”

Bzcanes750:
“I must admit, I thought the report wouldn’t be as informational and factual as it actually is. What about all the copies of checks in the report! LOL, It’s going to be tough for these clowns to explain 3200 bucks being paid to a clubhouse guy. That’s an expensive burger run!”

scook47

“I think it is ridiculous to consider removing players accomplishments or to taint their chance of being in the Hall of Fame. If seems so obvious that steroid use is so widespread that Clemens and Petites records of pitching while on steroids, surely they were pitching to hitters on steroids. If that is the case then they did what they felt they had to do just to keep the playing field level not to gain an advantage.”