The long-awaited Mitchell Report, the result of a 20-month investigation into the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs by Major League Baseball players, is set to be released on Thursday, December 13 with a 2 pm EST news conference.

The report, by ex-senator and federal prosecutor George Mitchell, is expected to mention the names of at least 50 MLB players.

Saying it ain't so apparently won't work forever.

As a kid, I idolized the likes of Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire (all star players with Hall of Fame resumes stamped with drug scandal-induced asterisks).

I understand that many big league ballplayers make millions of dollars a year.

I know that millions upon millions of dollars flow into the pockets of team owners every year. 

I get that the pressure to succeed in the majors is tremendous.

But cheaters ought never to prosper. It's the same in sports as in any other business arena.

I say "ought" because it's simply not true that cheaters never prosper. Baseball is just one example of that.

One of my favorite axioms is that sports (viewed collectively) is a microcosm of society.

Whatever the Mitchell Report says, I hope those in charge come down hard on cheaters and cheating in professional baseball and set the tone for a general cleansing of sorts to occur across other business industries as well.

Please tell me it can be so.

What do you think? Should major league baseball players caught taking steroids and other prohibited drugs be banned for life from the game? Should they be let off the hook easily if they confess voluntarily?