Follow the money.

NAPLES, Florida (AP) - Baseball revenue climbed to $6.075 billion this year, and commissioner Bud Selig envisions an even rosier financial future. "As I told the clubs today, we're on a great high here," Selig said Thursday.

Oh, sure you're on a real high, you dumb jackass. The same day that Major League Baseball was announcing their great windfall, Barry Bonds was being indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice. That's a real high.

"Pacman" Jones, Bonds, a couple of Penn State football players charged on assault, Marion Jones, Michael Vick, Ricky Williams is in again/out again ... and you wonder why I find the LPGA so appealing. Or maybe you don't?

Today, in West Palm Beach, Florida the girls were playing the first round of the ADT Championship where the winners over the season gather to play for 2 million dollars. If it was up to me, I'd give them ten times that much, but we're enamored with juiced-up frauds who lie to Federal Grand Juries, telling them that they don't know what they're ingesting.

Now, it's up to a gutless commissioner to make a decision as to whether or not the guy who helped bring in over 6 billion dollars will still be part of baseball next season - provided he isn't serving time in a Federal penitentiary.

For those of you who are curious, that's Paula Creamer and Nicole Castrale pictured here. I've already ordered my week's pass for the McDonald's Championship at Bulle Rock in June and I haven't yet bothered with baseball tickets.

For athletes, the means has an end - called the big payday. Alex Rodriguez, after hopelessly misjudging the market, ran back to the Yankees with his prehensile tail between his legs and settled - settled - for $275 million dollars over 10 years. Humility, thy name is Alex.

Granted, not all pro (or college) athletes are skunks, but enough of them are caught that it sheds a negative light on the rest, and as we know from grammar school, one bad apple spoils a bunch.

Paula Creamer watches her tee shot on the 18th tee during the first round of the LPGA ADT Golf Championship at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007. Creamer was 4-under-par for the day.

So, Americans will continue to feed the machine and athletes will continue to measure the risk/reward scenario and figure that the millions they can earn are a fair reward for the chance that somebody will either rat them out or they will be caught on their own. Steroids scmeroids, that's a lot of money. If the drugs kill you (as they should), you're only giving up the lousy years at the end, when you're too old to care anymore.

For $27 million a year wouldn't you do the same? I guess that's what the Feds want to know.