The sports world is still coming to terms with the findings of the Mitchell Report, released Thursday, that tied at least 85 baseball players, including megastars Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, to the use of illegal, performance-enhancing drugs.

But the report from the former U.S. senator didn't damp the willingness of fans to buy their favorite players' baseball cards at a sportscard and memorabilia show on Friday at the N.C. State Fairgrounds.

"It doesn't bother me," said Carlos Glenn, 34, a card collector from Holly Springs. "They did it. It wasn't a robot that hit the balls."

One of the raging questions from the Mitchell Report is how it will affect Major League Baseball, from interest in the sport to the value of the cards and memorabilia.

The answer, at least from those at the card show, seems to be not much. More than 500 fans are expected to attend the show today at the Kerr Scott Building. The card show runs through Sunday.

Brandon Winstead of Creedmoor saw no problem with bringing his 10-year-old son, Alex, to the show Friday or buying cards of the implicated players.

"A lot of the players were taking steroids," Winstead said. "If you didn't know that, you weren't very smart."

Jeff Driscoll said all he'd like to see is an apology from the players. But he said it will take more than the steroids scandal to cause him to abandon his love of the game.

"It's terrible, but it won't affect my interest in card collecting," said Driscoll, 58, of Chapel Hill.

Driscoll said he would like to see card collectors take into account the integrity of the players when deciding how much to pay for a card.

Brian Fleischer, editor of the Beckett Baseball Price Guide, said a majority of players in the Mitchell Report aren't big enough stars among collectors to generate a major impact on the hobby.

But he said the individual players are likely to see at least some negative changes in their value.

"I think negative notoriety has an effect," Fleischer said. "Like O.J., when his whole thing was going on, that really hurt his collectibles, and he never really recovered."

For instance, Fleischer said the rookie card of Mark McGwire was worth several hundred dollars a few years ago. But after being implicated in the steroids scandal, he said the value has dropped to $30.

Fleischer said he thinks Clemens, as the most popular player listed in the Mitchell Report, might take a significant hit in value. But he said it will take seven to 10 days for everything to shake out.

Some dealers still saw interest in Clemens' cards on Friday.

Mike Dils, a dealer from Raleigh, said he had sold eight cards of Clemens before the show even officially opened Friday.

Larrie Dean, a dealer from Midlothian, Va., said three people had asked about Clemens' rookie card.

Dean said that although card collecting and baseball itself could take a short-term hit, things will improve. After 44 years of selling baseball cards, Dean said things go in cycles, such as when interest dropped after the 1994 baseball strike but has since picked up.

"This is like a wave," Dean said. "There are reasons to be positive, and there are reasons to be negative."

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