New England sports fans should be having the time of their lives, the Patriots' 17-14 loss in Super Bowl XLII not withstanding. After all, the Celtics went into this past weekend's All-Star break with a phenomenal 41-9 record, the Bruins are in contention for a playoff spot, and the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox are in spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., with the position players due to report today.

Yet there are two ongoing stories that have diminished my joy: the baseball steroids scandal and the Patriots' Spygate taping mess. Both went before Congress last week, and both go directly to the win-at-all-costs mindset that has plagued sports, which too often seeps down to all levels of the game.

Steroid scandal

This scandal clearly was going on for years. Players were suspected of taking performance-enhancing substances for years, many of which weren't specifically prohibited by baseball until a few years ago. Baseball's owners, Commissioner Bud Selig and the Players Association all did very little about it because the home-run chase in 1998 by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds' subsequent pursuit of the single-season and career home-run records were considered good for baseball's attendance.

But the Bonds investigation launched by the federal government blew the scandal wide open, forcing baseball to take a harder look at the problem. Congress convened a hearing in 2005 at which former single-season home-run champ McGwire infamously refused to "talk about the past," and at which other players denied steroid use only to have been exposed later by testing to have used the banned substances. Just last fall, after the season, Bonds was indicted, and in December, former Sen. George Mitchell, a Maine Democrat and minority owner of the Red Sox, released his long-awaited report on drug use in baseball in which many of the game's superstars were named, including Roger Clemens. Clemens was named by his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who also named Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte.

Everyone knows the rest: Clemens went on "60 Minutes" with Mike Wallace to vehemently deny the charges, Pettitte admitted to taking human growth hormone and McNamee and Clemens "starred" in a three-ring circus on Capitol Hill last Wednesday, at which many congressmen fawned over Clemens and many others acted as if Clemens were the nation's No. 1 terror suspect.

The hearing was an entertaining reality show, but it didn't solve anything. Is Clemens lying? The ensuing probes that are sure to follow will answer that question, but if Clemens did everything in his power to "get an edge," he was just doing what the culture of competitive sports, with its billions of dollars at stake, had taught him since he was in Little League: Do what you have to do to win and stay ahead of the competition.

Spygate

The win-at-all-cost mentality is also at the root of Spygate. The National Football League in September punished Patriots head coach Bill Belichick for taping the New York Jets' signals early in the opening game, which defied NFL rules. Belichick had been warned to stop such taping in a memo from the NFL, but he arrogantly did it anyway, and it has cost the once-proud Patriots dearly, despite what the talk-radio pundits think.

Besides the fines - Belichick lost $500,000 and the team lost $250,000 and its first-round draft choice in the next NFL draft of collegiate players - the franchise's reputation has been sullied. All three of their Super Bowl titles have been questioned by fans outside of New England, and the embarrassment caused by Belichick got worse right before the Super Bowl when former Patriots' employee Matt Walsh, said he allegedly videotaped a walkthrough practice by the St. Louis Rams the day before the Patriots won their first championship, 20-17, at the 2002 Super Bowl in New Orleans. Walsh is now seeking protection from the NFL before he turns over to the NFL what he says is taped proof of the incident.

While both Belichick and Patriot Vice President of Player Personnel Scott Pioli denied Walsh's accusations and attacked his credibility in published media reports, the issue refuses to go away. A former Rams player and three fans have filed a lawsuit asking a judge to give Rams' fans a boatload of money, claiming that the Rams' 2002 Super Bowl loss was tainted by the Pats' alleged cheating. Even if this suit is tossed, it's clear that such actions and the stories resulting them further tarnishes the Patriots.

Belichick didn't have to cheat - and it's clear that he did at least for the infraction that the team got punished for, and for which he has apologized. His team is solid and came incredibly close to going perfect for the season.

Yet, like Clemens and the rest of the ballplayers under suspicion over the steroids scandal, Belichick felt compelled to look for something extra. Now, Sen. Arlen Specter, R.-Penn., is getting Congress involved in Spygate, and who knows where that will lead? Quarterback Tom Brady and Belichick being the "stars" of Congress' next Capitol Hill circus?

LARRY KESSLER is a Sun Chronicle local news editor. Reach him at 508-236-0330 or at lkessler@theusnchronicle.com.