Least surprising news ever

So, Sammy Sosa tested positive back in 2003 along with Alex Rodriguez. The news of this comes out only a few short weeks after Sosa went public, lobbying for his place in the Hall of Fame.

In an interview with ESPN Deportes at the beginning of June, Sosa said,

"Everything I achieved, I did it thanks to my perseverance, which is why I never had any long, difficult moments [as a baseball player]. If you have a bad day in baseball, and start thinking about it, you will have 10 more," Sosa said in his first public comments in months.

"I will calmly wait for my induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Don't I have the numbers to be inducted?"

...

"I always played with love and responsibility, and I assure you that I will not answer nor listen to rumors," Sosa said. "If anything ugly comes up in the future, we will confront it immediately, but with all our strength, because I will not allow anybody to tarnish what I did in the field."

Coincidence that his name gets leaked three weeks after he begins to lobby for the Hall? I think not.

The only two places this could be coming from are either the Union, or the Justice Department which forced baseball to turn over the list. My guess is that it's being leaked by someone in Justice.

At this point he can pretty much kiss the Hall goodbye as he definitively has joined the ranks of McGwire, Palmeiro, Clemens, and A-Rod as players whose artificially inflated numbers are being viewed with either increased or overwhelming skepticism.

Typically, I'm not big on comparing players from different eras in baseball, but this is different. Everything is skewed from about 1990ish on. Some players used PEDs, some didn't. But it should change how players are viewed, and this most recent era almost demands we consider how these players would have done in earlier eras. And I don't think they would hold up well.

We have lived through an era that should make anyone who knows the history of the game appreciate those who came before much more. Appreciate Roger Maris and Hank Aaron, Ted Williams and Babe Ruth all the more for knowing they did it not only without things like steroids and HGh, but without the diluted pitching that sluggers have faced for the last two decades.

Does anyone really believe that without steroids and facing the likes of Sandy Koufax, or Tom Seaver, or Don Drysdale in their primes that Jason Giambi would have anywhere near the same number of career homers? Barry Bonds? Alex Rodriguez?

We live in an era where pitchers average only about six innings per outing, in spite of the fact that they get an extra day of rest from the five man rotation as opposed to the four man rotation that was popular 40 and 50 years ago. As recently as the 1970's and early 80's a horse was a pitcher who threw 250 to 300 innings in a season. Now if a pitcher hits 200 innings he's the horse of a rotation.

At one point the Orioles had four 20 game winners in one season. There were four in all of baseball last season. That staff (1971 Orioles) also accounted for 70 complete games. Last season it took 21 pitchers to combine for that many complete games.

On a lighter note -

David Ortiz is actually hitting over .300 for the month of June and has raised his batting average by 22 points. I'm still a little skeptical given the fact that he has always hit the Yankees well for his career and he's currently facing the Marlins after facing the Tigers and Rangers. The only one of those teams with decent pitching is Detroit. Otherwise, the Yankees are 26th, the Marlins 22nd, and the Rangers are 17th in team ERA.

I'm not saying that I'm not happy about this streak, I'm just saying that I'm hoping it's not just a streak. I will feel a whole lot better if Ortiz can get that batting average up to around .240, particularly given the fact that I sincerely believe that Varitek will go into his usual cool down mode as summer heats up.

It is possible that facing the weak pitching is exactly what Big Papi needs to break him out of his funk, but give it to the All-Star Break before you get too excited. In other words, be happy for now, but if he takes a hard left turn back to where he was, don't be surprised. I'm hoping he doesn't - call it cautious optimism.

As for the potential of the Sox going to a 6 man rotation - it's something I think might help Daisuke Matsuzaka given that he pitched in a 6 man rotation in Japan. Otherwise, I don't know how beneficial this will be to the rest of the staff given the fact that it looks like everyone else has begun to hit a rhythm.

Final note - The Australian football team on which I play, the Baltimore/Washington Eagles kicked off their season with a 105-15 win over the Columbus (OH) Jackaroos. This upcoming weekend is an off-week before we head on up to New York to play the Magpies in Yonkers.

The Curse of the Big Sey

So...the Patriots' loss was ugly. A special sort of ugly. And, from an on-field perspective, the loss can be laid squarely at the feet of New England's vaunted defense that was a complete no-show for the game.

If the defense continues to play like that, look for a repeat of 2002, not 2001.

Off the field...well, let's talk superstition...

Some background first, I suppose. I have been involved in sports long enough to give in to superstition. When in high school I ran track for seven seasons. Seven seasons of wearing the same sweats to meets, seven seasons of wearing the same green bandanna around my left ankle until it was little more than a frayed green piece of cloth.

Fast forward - I have a handful of Pats jerseys. Two Bledsoes, a Coates, a Brady, and last Christmas my wife got me a Richard Seymour. Through almost every game of last season I wore the Brady.

I have worn the Seymour three times.

The Super Bowl.

The recent Chiefs game.

And this past Sunday's game.

Some of you out there might have noticed a pattern. Every time I have worn the Big Sey jersey, bad things have happened for the Pats. At this point, the jersey is looking at one of three fates - retirement as game-day attire, to be worn only during the week; treatment by the best voodoo experts and witch doctors money can buy; ritual burning.

If that loss wasn't weird enough, just look around the league at what happened yesterday - doormats took contenders to the limit, up was down, east was west, dogs mated with cats - it was anarchy. Currently the kings of the AFC are all upstarts - Denver, Buffalo, Tennessee, and Baltimore, displacing annual powerhouses San Diego, New England, Indianapolis and Pitsburgh respectively.

Over on the diamond the Sox keep inching closer, but they don't seem able to close the deal. With less than ten games left, they can still take the division, but that's going to take a little more consistency than what the team has been showing.

And now for something completely different...

Regardless of the pimp slapping the Pats took, the weekend was not a total loss from a sports stand-point. As many of you out there know, I play Australian football for the Baltimore/Washington Eagles. I started back in 1999 with the Philadelphia Hawks (at the time it was the Philly Crows).

I am wrapping up my tenth season as a human pinball, and we closed out against the Hawks, for whom I played five seasons.

We wrapped up the final by a score of 121 - 22. It allowed us to close out our second straight Eastern Australian Football League undefeated season and championship. It also allows the team to go to Nationals in Colorado Springs likely as the number one seed in Division I.

As I won't be making the trip myself, I'd like to wish my team luck on their Rocky Mountain sojourn.

Whatta week

National Impact...

As my regulars know, last weekend I spent in Louisville, KY for the US Australian Football Nationals tournament in which I participated as a member of the Baltimore/Washington Eagles. Unfortunately last Wednesday I started to get sick and ended up playing with flu-like symptoms through the course of the weekend.

Last year we won the Division II title. This year we were in Division I.

On Saturday we defeated the Boston Demons and then the Orange County Bombers to extend our winning streak to 13 games going back to September of 2006.

We fared less well on Sunday, dropping the game we needed to get into the finals to the Denver Bulldogs. The Bulldogs, eventual winners of the Division I title, took advantage of mistakes. We did not. As such, they outplayed us and deserved the win.

A future in stand-up...

Patrick Crayton - Tony Romo's fourth receiving option behind Terrell Owens, Terry Glenn and Jason Witten - claims to not be impressed with a defense that held his offense, which until last week was a top two offense, to 20 points. He claimed that the Patriots defense only stopped them when Dallas committed penalties on third down. I guess he didn't watch the first quarter when his team couldn't manage a first down...and none of that was because of penalties on third down.

I will not say that the Pats defense was without problems, but let's face some facts here - Dallas buzz-sawed through its first four opponents, never scoring less than 34 points in a game. Then they come up against Buffalo (whose defense got smoked by the Patriots) and New England. Against each of these teams the Dallas offense could score only two touchdowns and a handful of field goals.

Makes one wonder, to use Crayton's term, whether the Dallas offense is the "real deal."

The only thing the Cowboys proved to me is that they are the best of the junior varsity circuit, and that their players need to worry about playing, not mouthing off.

One last note - Crayton was partially right - there were a lot of penalties his team committed on third down. Thing is, notice that the Patriots didn't commit them. That's what good teams do - they remain disciplined and they take advantage of other team's mistakes.

Dallas is overrated.

He should be wearing a big red S on his chest...

Josh Beckett has been Superman in the post-season.

With the way rest of the Red Sox pitching has seemed like they've been pitching batting practice, Beckett has, in essence, extended the Sox post-season run by two games. Unless someone else comes up big tonight, the Sox will finish their season in front of the Fenway Faithful.

Honestly, I think I'm okay with that.

Would I prefer to see them get another ring? Yes. But with the way this team played for the last six weeks of the season, I didn't think they would get past the first round. Everything has been icing for me since the end of the season.

Should they lose, I will live with it and likely root for the Rockies in the World Series. It's hard not to root for a team that voted a full playoff share for the widow of a minor league first-base coach.

That said, Go Sox!

A busy weekend...

So, I'm Tivo-ing the Pats game on Sunday, and will be catching up on all the relevant playoff info sometime on Monday as I am road-tripping tomorrow to the Aussie Rules Nationals in Louisville, KY.

I will have two games on Saturday, and at least one game on Sunday (possibly more depending on how well we - the Baltimore/Washington Eagles - perform in the preliminary rounds).

I will do my best to blog this weekend, but I wouldn't count on a whole lot happening. Also, welcome Indians fan Liz. Yeah, the next couple of days are going to be fun.

If you're unfamiliar, you might want to check out bitterfans.com - it's Cleveland heavy in its coverage.

Thanks Don Pardo, now tell us what he won....

Asante Samuel - a chance to put his lack of money where his mouth is. Yesterday was Samuel's final chance to come to a long-term deal with the Patriots. Failure to do so means that Samuel and the Patriots cannot come to a long-term deal until after the 2007 season.

The sticking point - Samuel wanted Nate Clements San Fran money through the first three years of the deal. The Patriots offered, based on the contracts of Dre Bly and Nathan Vasher, fair market value for a corner of Samuel's career numbers.

To put it in a nutshell - Samuel wanted the Patriots to do something idiotic, the Patriots said no.

Now we get to see if Samuel will really hold out and lose a fair chunk of $7.79 million, or if he will make the business savvy decision and get his butt into camp and play out the season (keeping in mind that last year has been the only year that Samuel remained healthy through a full season - likely another of the Patriots' sticking points).

Kason Gabbard - Three wins in three decisions and five starts (four in place of the injured Curt Schilling) and a chance for a longer look from the big league club for the Red Sox rookie. Gabbard is currently 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA and averaging just under six innings per start. Opponents are batting an anemic .206 against him right now.

The man whose seat Gabbard is keeping warm - 4.20 ERA and batters are hitting at a .288 clip through 15 starts.

Baltimore/Washington Eagles - Higher expectations. Winners of Division II at the Nationals in Las Vegas last year, the Australian football club has started off 3-0 with two wins against the North Carolina Tigers and the Boston Demons, both Division I teams last year. The hot start has seen the Eagles rising in the polls to number five.

With a match looming at the end of August, when the team comes off its summer break, against Eastern powerhouse and the third ranked New York Magpies, the Eagles have their work cut out for them.

L.A. Galaxy - A lingering ankle injury. Giving the term "Bend it like Beckham" a different meaning, the British soccer star's injured ankle is likely to delay the premier of the $250 million man. Not exactly the auspicious start that American soccer fans had hoped for.

Down under in the Nation's capitol

The Baltimore/Washington Eagles extended their unbeaten streak to nine games dating back to last season with Saturday's win over the Boston Demons in the Eastern Australian Football League. The win broke a losing streak to the Demons dating back to 2000 when Baltimore beat Boston twice.

For more photos from the game, click here.

For more on the game, click here.

WELCOME TO POST 150!!!

This is, I suppose a milestone of sorts - it is the 150th post at Angry Fan. I have had, on occasion, guest bloggers, but roughly 60 percent of what is here came from my twisted mind (there is a fair chunk that are my wife's photos of my Aussie rules football matches)...

And now for a look back at the top ten posts arbitrarily picked by me, and the top five photos taken by the wife...

1. http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2004/12/born-in-humble-log-stadium.html - Not my best writing, but it was the entry that launched a thousand ships...okay, 149 subsequent entries, and that has to count for something.

2. http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2007/01/im-not-normally-political-here-but-for.html - Also not my best writing, but the subject really pissed me off. Too important a story to put low down on the totem.

3. http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2005/11/look-at-pats-for-remainder-of-season.html - One of my favorite pieces that I did during the Patriots doomed playoff run of the 2005 season. With everything this team went through in the way of injuries, making the playoffs was a pretty damn impressive feat.

4. http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2006/03/new-york-daily-news-sports-roid-probe.html - The first of my "rage against 'roid" pieces. Some of my better observations too. This is short, to the point, and one of my first really angry posts. I'm proud of this one.

5. http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2005/10/espncom.html - I just like some of the observations I made here. Some of my more clever writing (and I know that I have not been as clever nor as witty as often as I would like to have been here).

6. http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2006/08/vindication-in-my-defense-of-drew.html - For all the knocks Bledsoe has received over the years - here's my defense of him. Let's just say he compares pretty favorably to a number of Hall of Fame QB's.

7. http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2006/09/normally-i-dont-have-issue-with-borges.html - Welcome to another one of those Angry rants - the target, Deion Branch and his agent.

8. http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2006/11/theres-been-lot-of-talk.html - A lot of random observations and rants. Mostly on the Patriots, but I covered the Sox too in this one

9. http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2006/09/time-to-stop-blaming-receivers_26.html - Another of my Angry rants. The subject? Tom Brady and the media. I just calls 'em like I sees 'em.

10. http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2005/11/theo-and-my-denial.html - Former co-worker and Frederick Beat Writer Keith Martin makes the list with his e-mail about my denial when Theo bailed on the Sox after a blow-up with Lucchino at the end of the 2005 season. Not his best work, but some amusing observations - particularly for anyone intimately familiar with the Boston sports scene.

Honorable mention is the following week in its entirety -

http://theangryfan.blogspot.com/2007_01_21_archive.html - It was a very good week for me that included rants about the Genarlow Wilson case, the Saints, Parcells retirement, The Bengals and the NFL Playoffs.

And now for the Picture Show...

With many thanks to my wife who manages to get decent pics with a crappy camera.

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Here's to the next one-fifty.