In a kind of private life-cabin fever, political scandals content to stay hidden for years seem to suddenly bolt from the confines of anonymity and find their way to the front pages. But in an area where politicians usually dominate, sports figures have lately stolen the spotlight.

Just in the last year, baseball’s steroids problem, football’s “spygate,” and basketball’s referee betting scandal have all hijacked the headlines. For the most part, many of the leagues’ governing bodies have responded to these critical issues. Baseball recently toughened its drug policy, the NFL has reopened the spying case, and the NBA has made changes to its gambling policy.

But whereas most people are satisfied with the proactive actions taken by each sport, there is one group that has taken matters into its own hands—the politicians. As if earmarks and pork barrel spending are not enough, some of Washington’s elites have found another way to squander our tax dollars—Congressional sports probes.

In 2005, Congress opened up hearings regarding baseball and steroids. In defending the House Government Reform Committee’s actions, committee chief of staff Philip Schiliro evoked a familiar rallying cry: “If Sammy Sosa hit 60 home runs three times without being on steroids, kids should know that.” Three years later and Congress still has not contributed anything important to the investigation.

Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) has recently taken an interest in football’s follies. Feeling that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has done an insufficient job investigating the New England Patriots’ spying ways, Specter has openly chastised the commissioner, even threatening a Judiciary Committee hearing into the matter.

But the arm of absurdity reaches beyond the world of professional sports. Last week, three members of congress called on the Justice Department to investigate whether the Bowl Championship Series (college football’s way of determining a national champion) is an “illegal enterprise.” Sounding a bit like a bitter child complaining to God about his parents, Representative Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii asked, “Who elected these NCAA people? Who are they to decide who competes for the championship?”

While many find these maneuvers by Congress downright stupid, Lester Munson of ESPN.com may offer the best explanation: “Politicians love to be mentioned on sports broadcasts and on sports pages. It makes them look important, and it generates publicity that is otherwise impossible.”

Maybe these scandals are political after all.

Doug Glanville played for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and Texas Rangers from the mid 1990s to 2004.  He writes an op-ed for the Times, and it’s a refreshingly authentic and personal and fresh angle on the temptation to take steroids:

Human nature wants to put the brakes on that rate of change. While your clock is ticking, faster, stronger and younger players are setting up their lockers next to yours. They usually have better sound bites and lower salaries, too. In 1998, I was the new kid in Philadelphia, battling Lenny Dysktra for the center field job. Five years later, I was mentoring another new kid, Marlon Byrd, so he could replace me. Faced with that rate of career atrophy, players are capable of rash, self-serving and often irresponsible decisions. Enter steroids.

The best thing I’ve read on it so far.