By Request

Colts fan (don't hold it against her, guys) and fellow leatherhead Teresa put forth the following response to my reaction to the Alex Rodriguez steroids story -

What is so sad is these people don't need those drugs to be rock stars. They are amazing on their own. Is the pressure to do more and more? It is peer pressure?

I don't think there's any one answer as to why these different athletes feel it's necessary to juice. There might be one right answer for a given player, but there are a variety of reasons that these men inject, rub, and otherwise administer illegal and banned substances.

For some, I think it's about hanging around for a few more years - Rodney Harrison comes to mind. For others, bottom of the roster players, it's about hanging around, period.

For every player like Harrison or the bottom end player trying to extend their time in the pros, there are the guys like Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez for whom being at the top of the game wasn't good enough. There's a special sort of narcissism that goes into that - one that I understand, but I just don't get. Okay, well, Clemens didn't sustain it over a long period of time like Bonds had done, not until he had been juicing.

Being at the top of their games wasn't good enough. They had to shatter records, and they will find ways, just like their apologists, to rationalize the use of the banned supplements - it doesn't affect the ability to pick up the ball in the strike zone (in spite of the fact that studies suggest that HGH can enhance eye-sight), it doesn't affect the inherent ability to turn on a 95 mile per hour fast ball (in spite of the fact that evidence has shown that steroids can impact and help build the fast twitch muscle that allows a hitter to turn on that ball), it doesn't help (then why do it, and why do these players almost always show a spike in their numbers in the years they admit to having started doping?).

When I was in high school, I knew of at least one player on the football team doing steroids. I didn't get it. For me, part of sport was pushing my body to the limit, see what I was truly capable of. I qualified for the New York State Meet in track and field, I've finished a marathon, I've played Australian football for ten seasons, played street hockey for eight. I've never missed a game due to injury (although I probably should have - I've been known to play games with an air-cast on my ankle for disconnected tendons...it sucked), and never taken any sort of supplement to do so. It defeats the purpose, in my opinion.

In their heads, it appears to be a means to an end. Better stats, better contracts, better remembered when they're gone. It's not a short-cut, legality be damned.

But why is there a mentality that juicing isn't a short-cut? Because a person who takes steroids and doesn't put the physical labor into getting into better shape just gets fat. Best as I can figure is they believe that because they are still doing physical work that it's not a short cut.

My personal belief is that these guys, while they know it's against the rules, don't believe they're actually doing anything wrong. And I think that's really the bottom line.

Other thoughts -

Brett Favre claims that he's actually retired...again. I'll believe it sometime next fall if and when he's not under center taking snaps.

There has been a lot shaken-up in the NFL this off-season, and I will address that soon.

Observations after a politically busy week

No one has mentioned this, even though it was often mentioned as a possibility when Roger Clemens was at the forefront of the news for a slew of stupid decisions, but W has left office with a bare minimum of presidential pardons. The Rocketman's name wasn't on that list. And the Grand Jury investigation continues.

Can't help but think that, in the end, Rusty Hardin figured on a pardon from Bush, a long-time friend of the family. Also can't help but think that Clemens is pretty well screwed now. I wonder what the strategic move is now?

I think one of the more compelling story-lines through to the Super Bowl is going to be that part of Bill Cowher's brain-trust - Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm scheming against players that they coached for years.

I still like the way the Red Sox are going about business this off-season. I have to say that the Yankees just seem like they're doing more of the same - blowing big dollars on guys that had great contract seasons, but, for the most part, have questionable histories in regards to being real impact players.

Dave over at the Coffin Corner has an interesting post about Mayor Daley in Chicago lobbying the NFL for a second franchise in the Windy City. My theory is, in spite of all the Bear-love that the citizens have for the hometown team, that Daley senses a dissatisfied undercurrent running through the voting populace there in how the Bear ownership runs their team - there is a definite sense that they run the Bears as though they were in a small market.

I can understand the fan-base's frustration, if this is indeed the case, given the fact that Chicago is the second largest television market in the NFL, and third overall. The only top ten television market in the United States without an NFL team is Los Angeles - and, as much as the NFL wants a presence in that market, teams have just not worked out there.

Ironically, even though the Bears play in the second largest media market in the NFL, they're ninth in team valuations according to Forbes. The top three, in order, are Cowboys, Redskins, and Patriots - the sixth, seventh, and eight largest markets respectively in the NFL. The sixth and seventh most valuable teams on the list - the Texans, and the Colts - the 10th and 22nd largest media markets in the NFL respectively.

While Bears management hasn't been as brutally bad as say San Francisco, the league's third largest market, now hosting two of the league's three least valuable teams, one has to question what Jerry Jones, Bob Kraft, and Daniel Snyder know that the McCaskey family doesn't. Even the value of the Jets breaks the top five in the NFL.

Obviously, there are revenue streams that exist that the McCaskey's have never figured out how to tap, and they use that as an excuse.

Cleaning out the junk drawer of my mind for the new year

Just some random observations about a variety of things...

First, I want to address the NFL MVP - Peyton Manning got that on reputation alone. He did not deserve it this season as he was as culpable in the Colts record through the first seven games as he was responsible for digging them out of the same hole. A lot of people with the MVP vote claim the Colts would have been horrible without Manning under center, but I don't buy that they would have been any worse than 3-4 through seven games before Manning came back if they had Jim Sorgi taking the snaps.

Consider - Sorgi, for his career, has seen action in 15 games (14 if you don't count the one time in 2006 when he came in to take a knee). In those 14 games, Sorgi is 99 for 156 for 929 yards, 6 touchdowns, 1 interception and a QB Rating of 89.9. As that was a lot of partial games, break that down to five games with an average of 20 completions on 31 attempts, 186 yards, and 1 touchdown per game. Certainly passable and capable of winning three or four games over a seven game season.

There are at least five players that have had a bigger impact on their respective teams - Michael Turner, Matt Ryan, Chad Pennington, Ed Reed, James Harrison all significantly change the equation if they're not on their teams, and it's unlikely that any of their teams make the playoffs without them.

The Falcons were exposed as young and inexperienced in what I thought was one of the more boring playoff games I have ever seen.

I like the way the Red Sox rotation is shaping up, and have a hunch that a lot of people are going to panic because the Sox aren't overspending to get the big, sexy names in free-agency. If this works out the way I think it will, the Sox off-season is going to be compared to the Patriots' 2001 free agent signings. A lot of really solid guys that help make a winner, but aren't the biggest names out there.

How many times does Scott Boras have to publicly screw the pooch before his clients begin to get worried. He was publicly neutered in the last Alex Rodriguez negotiations, blinked in his game of chicken with the Sox during the Daisuke Matsuzaka negotiations, he got lucky in the Mark Texiera sweepstakes in that the Yankees swooped in and pretty much bid against no one, overplayed his hand with both Jason Varitek and Manny Ramirez.

Let's look at Ramirez for a second.

It's well known that Ramirez, likely on the advice of Boras, engineered his exit from Boston in an effort to get out from under his option years. That's not going to sit well with other general managers who will wonder if Ramirez will pull the same stunt on their teams.

Reportedly, Boras told Ramirez that he could get a four year contract for an average of $25 million per year, more than the two option years at $20 million each that the Sox would have had. Since the end of the season Ramirez has received a two-year $45 million offer from the Dodgers (since rescinded), and a three-year incentive-laden deal with a club option for a fourth year from the Giants. I'm guessing the dollars aren't in the right neighborhood based on the following from KPIX in San Fran -

The chances of the Giants signing Ramirez, a 36-year-old left fielder, were unclear. A team spokesperson told CBS 5, "it's not happening."

There was a lot of speculation that Roger Clemens would get a pardon from family friend George W. Bush and in so doing, avoid the legal implications of the federal charges that are likely to stem from the FBI investigation. Looks like charges aren't even going to get filed until after Bush leaves office. Sucks to be Roger.

I look at the Yankees off-season and can't help think that they learned nothing from the Carl Pavano signing. Nor have they learned anything from the history of fat pitchers.

The CC Sabathia signing might work well for them in the regular season for the first year or two, but eight seasons? That's nuts.

Sid Fernandez, who had weight issues, last started more than 20 games at age 29. Former Red Sox reliever Rich "El Guapo/the human zeppelin" Garces was respectable until the age of 30. At 31 he posted a 7.59 ERA and was out of baseball after that season. Once dominant Bartolo Colon had an eight season stretch wherein he pitched fewer than 200 innings only once (188 in 2000) and averaged 32.6 starts per season. When he turned 33 he went away - compiling a total of 35 starts and fewer than 200 combined innings over the final three seasons of his career. Sabathia turns 30 in 2010.

The future is not bright for him.

Congrats to the Cardinals who have finally won a playoff game after a 60+ year absence from the post-season.

I don't want to hear any excuses today regarding the Colts. They were beaten by a depleted 8-8 team - a team without its best running back, their best linebacker, and with their best receiving threat, Antonio Gates, hobbled by a high ankle sprain. The Chargers didn't even play that great a game, twice giving the ball back to the Colts in the red zone while threatening to score. And then the Colts defense imploded during the final drive - that was some of the ugliest play-off football I have ever seen.

On a final note - Matt Cassel is about to cash in on a great season. More power to him. I figure we'll know the status of Tom Brady well before the draft. If Brady is on or ahead of schedule, I expect that Cassel will be packaged for draft picks. If he's not, the Patriots have a salary cap issue to address.

Happy New Year all!

Not in my lifetime

There are a lot of things that I don't think that I will ever see in my lifetime. And I'm not just talking about that Jennifer Aniston-Angelina Jolie buddy flick.

I know that you're never supposed to say never, but, I have a hard time buying that any of the following will happen during my lifetime...

Al Davis put together another Super Bowl contender.

The Ford family will make the Lions a contender, or that the Lions will bring a Lombardi trophy to Ford Field, even as a loaner from another team.

A Chiefs-Lions Super Bowl.

A Super Bowl in a cold weather non-domed stadium (anyone else notice that football is the only sport in which home field/court advantage goes out the window in the championship game).

Mike Vick as a success in the NFL.

Norv Turner coach a team to the Super Bowl as The Man.

AJ Smith GM a Super Bowl winner.

Jose Canseco, Roger Clemens, or Mark McGwire get into the Hall of Fame.

Mike Shanahan win a Super Bowl without John Elway (why is it that the so-called offensive geniuses have struggled to put quality QB's in place...see Brian Billick, Ravens).

Just a few things that popped into my head today.

The Pundits' Double Standards

After the Goodell-Walsh meeting on Tuesday regarding Spy-Gate, ESPN went on the offensive...full bunker mentality.

Their NFL Today program went off full-bore talking to Chris Carter and Mark Schlereth about whether or not the punishment of the Patriots was severe enough. Both went on a tirade about how the punishment wasn't enough given what the film showed.

What the film showed was nothing more than standard coach footage inter-spliced with the coaches signals and time on the clock.

I could put that together based on television broadcasts.

Not quite the same angles, but I could still get formations, personnel packages, clock time, and coaching signals from the various networks. If I wanted end-zone angles, I could easily create a computer generated model for that would show me the same play from other angles.

Carter and Schlereth both condescended to the fans, saying that the untrained eye wouldn't understand the advantage a team could gain from this.

I watched.

What I saw, like I said, was film that would give me pretty much what i would get from a standard coach's film combined with the notes that are typically garnered from the non-electronic spying that the teams engage in all the time.

As for Schlereth's rhetoric - Noted at profootballtalk.com:

Indeed, let’s consider this quote from Schlereth, which he offered up on ESPN Radio on Tuesday afternoon: “This besmirches to the organization to the point where regardless of how you look at these three championships that they’ve won over the last seven, eight years you will still always look at them and say ‘Yeah, but . . . they had this Spygate thing, how much of it was inappropriate, how much cheating went on, and how much did it help them during the course of some of those games?”

I thought him talking about how the Patriots' dynasty would always be tainted was a bit disingenuous considering he earned two of his Super Bowl rings for a Broncos squad that was not only caught filming opponents, but was in violation of the salary cap by close to $30 million in both of the Super Bowl seasons. If he thinks the Pats' punishment wasn't severe enough for filming, I'd love to hear what he thinks the penalty should be for his Broncos that were guilty of the same violation and an additional one that was meant to give the team a competitive edge.

Considering the cap in 1998 was $52.4 million in 1998, that means that the Broncos were over the cap by almost 60 percent. SIXTY PERCENT! What buys you a bigger advantage? A coaching tape with hand signals, or the fact that you don't have to cut players that know the system inside and out and replace them with younger players unfamiliar with the system because your team is paying 157 percent of what every other team is paying their players? The Broncos claimed that there was no competitive advantage in the $29 million "accounting gaffe" that largely involved John Elway and Terrell Davis' contracts. But the league fined them $950 thousand and a third round draft pick back in 2004 for the violations in the late 1990's.

As I rant here, I think it's important to note that ESPN has worked hard to destroy its own journalistic credibility with things like the Barry Bonds love-in last season. Right now the ESPN pundits are putting forth the "if it didn't give the team that much of an advantage then why did they do it" line in their attacks on the Patriots. Why then did the Broncos put forth contracts with hidden deferred monies to their stars in the years in question if it didn't help them?

On ESPN's second face, last year the likes of Buster Olney and Jayson Stark repeatedly fawned over Bonds, argued that they would vote for him first ballot because, "it was just the era, and everyone else was doing it." Supporters like to point out that he hasn't failed a test, the cheating is alleged. They don't like to be countered with the fact that Bonds hasn't disputed a single fact in Game of Shadows. The man's a cheater, admitted to a grand jury. Get over it now.

Today, the station that was ramming Barry Bonds down our throats all last year, calling Roger Clemens the best pitcher ever, and pretty much exonerated Andy Pettitte because he came clean after getting caught, is expressing moral outrage at the actions of the Patriots. Actions that, anyone that can do a little Internet research can find, were perpetrated by Eric Mangini's Jets, the aforementioned Broncos, and even the Miami Dolphins (does it not count if they purchased the tape? It ends up as the same result).

Are the reporters being told by the producers not to dig?

It would make sense, given the moral outrage at the Patriots 52-7 pasting of the Redskins last season. Everybody was talking about winning games like that demanded payback, and that losing teams, losing coaches don't forget about losses like that. It was funny how none of the network or newspaper research departments turned up the one previous meeting between teams coached by Bill Belichick and Joe Gibbs. The Redskins put a 42-17 thrashing on Belichick's Browns in 1991. Yeah, the loser of a blowout remembered. And yeah, payback was a bitch.

I could be wrong, but it certainly seems like the the national outlets are going out of their way to demonize the Patriots. They did something wrong. They got caught. They were punished. Get over it people.

Was it worse than the salary cap violations of the Broncos? No, but there was nowhere near this much outrage. Maybe because by the time it hit for the Broncos, they were six years removed from being any good.

Was it worse than Zach Thomas admitting the 'Phins got the Pats' O-line calls and audibles from a tape the team "bought"? No. But the Dolphins were patted on their back for their ingenuity...maybe because it was one of only six wins Miami had all season.

Was it worse than the Jets taping from the Gillette end zone? No, but the Jets were off to one of the worst starts in football, which developed into a grim season, when they copped to their actions.

Only the Patriots were winning when it happened.

Only the Patriots continue to get vitriol.

But they're not alone in their actions.

For a good read on the subject, check out the commentary at PFT.

Appearances

Whether directly involved in the shooting in Philadelphia or not, Marvin Harrison is a baaaaad man. And I don't mean that in the slangy good way.

While Harrison has not been named a suspect in the shooting of three men in North Philly in the proximity of a business he owns, appearances aren't good. To wit -

• Harrison recently had a heated fight with one of the men.
• Harrison's custom handgun was used in the shooting.
• Harrison released a statement saying that neither he nor his gun were involved in the shooting. Ballistics says otherwise in regards to the gun registered in his name.
  
• The handgun was recovered from under rags in a bucket at a car wash owned by Harrison.
• What was the wealthy Harrison doing back in North Philadelphia, one of the poorest, highest violent crime neighborhoods in the United States? I know it's where he grew up, but isn't returning to neighborhoods like this part of what got Pacman Jones in trouble?
  
• And Harrison's handgun raises all sorts of questions about Harrison's character...
  why does anyone (not a criminal) need to own this - from an Associated Press report, "In November (2005) the Homeland Security Department issued an 'Officer Safety Alert' regarding the (BFN 5.7) with the headline 'body armor defeating handgun. The alert said the Trumbull, Conn., police department had seized such a pistol and noted that its bullets were 'advertised as being able to penetrate 48 layers of Kevlar at 50 meters.'"

Unless you plan on firing a gun at someone wearing Kevlar...like, oh, a cop or a soldier, why does anyone need this firearm?

Not ringing true...

I have questions, from both sides, regarding the Cedric Benson arrest for drunken boating. If what Benson says about being on the boat with his family is accurate, it puts some of the Austin police's actions in question.

However, it must also be noted that the following summary from NBC smells of cow manure -

Benson said he was carried and dragged to a squad car once reaching land, but not because he was resisting officers. He said it was because his ankles and feet were kicked out from under him, and so he couldn't walk. Benson said he pleaded with police. "Please sir, let me just walk off the boat like a man," Benson said he told the officer.

Somehow I don't buy that a man who was hot-headed enough to end up in jail for eight-days for breaking into somebody's house over an allegedly stolen television is level-headed enough to remain polite while dealing with police brutality.

I'm not absolving the police here. They very well may have done things that they shouldn't have. But I do know that there are things about Benson's story that don't add up either.

Don't want to go there anymore...

But Mike Lupica has it covered in spades.

T'ain't broke, don't fix it...

The BCS has voted down a proposed playoff format.

This is going to upset a lot of people who feel that the BCS' national championship is purely arbitrary. The fact that in the NFL we have seen a six seed (Pittsburgh) win the Super Bowl has had no influence on those who can change the way the BCS operates. But why should they?

What people don't understand is, by the thinking of the BCS, the system isn't broken.

The system isn't about choosing a national champion, much like in television, the product isn't about the television show. The bowl series is a delivery mechanism as are television shows.

In television, shows are designed to deliver audience to advertisers - which is what television stations sell - advertising time. They need to appeal to companies that want audience for their product.

The BCS is about making money and they do that hand over fist in the current format. The proposed change was to have a four-team playoff system. Assuming for corporate naming rights/sponsorships to the playoffs, that would set the BCS up for a total of three post-season games. Right now the organization has five games, so in theory, instituting the four-team system would cut into approximately 40 percent of the organization's profits.

Make no mistake, the National Championship isn't what the BCS is about. Money is. And as a money maker, the BCS isn't broken.

One liners and other brief questions

I guess that the following terms and names have new meaning...

• Getting Rogered.
• Jolly Roger.
  
• Taking Clemens deep.
• King Missile.

Anyone else hear Barry Bonds breathing a sigh of relief over the fact that the press isn't paying him any attention because of Clemens?

In Red Sox terms, Feet of Clay are not necessarily a bad thing any longer.

The turf at Fenway might be Bluegrass, but the future of right field definitely appears to be Moss.

If JD Drew is eventually cut (probably no time soon), what's the over/under on the time from the announcement to the first "D(r)ew dropped" headline?

I know it's early yet, but what does it say about major league baseball that the Sox could have a brutal five game slide, and still put together more wins than all but four teams?

Fall-out and other thoughts...

Some of the fall-out from the disintegration of Roger Clemens' reputation before our very eyes in the form of an instant message conversation with my wife this morning...

me: evidently a stripper from Detroit went on the radio yesterday claiming an affair with Clemens

Kelly: egad

8:17 AM me: yeah

so

8:18 AM with Clemens

how is it he isn't a syphilis ridden space case at this point?

Kelly: steroids kills stds?

I guess now we know why he didn't want to travel with the team between starts. Maybe no actual skeletons in his closet, but that's an awful lot of T&A in there.

Rolling stones gather no Moss...

But, evidently, really fast cars do.

Moss has announced plans to get into NASCAR as an owner.

I can't say that I have ever understood the attraction of car racing. The idea of watching people drive in circles for hours at a time just strikes me as the pinnacle of absurdity - only slightly higher on the mountain than golf about which Mark Twain famously said, "golf is a good walk spoiled."

However, if this is what Moss wants to do with his bonus money, then more power to him. If he moves forward with this, he joins the likes of Joe Gibbs (car), and Bill Parcells (horse), who are already involved in racing as a side vocation.

One final C-Note...

A happy birthday/anniversary shout out to our seventh inning stretch traditions...

It's not just the 100th anniversary of the Cubs last time winning the World Series, it is also the 100th anniversary of the writing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." At the time of the song's writing, neither the lyricist, nor the composer had been to a baseball game. It would be two decades before one of them finally made it to a game.

I won't spend a lot of words writing about this, as the link to the Wikipedia link above is quite thorough, but I will note that we seem to sing only the chorus during the seventh inning stretch. There are two versions I have included below.

1908 Version Katie Casey was baseball mad, Had the fever and had it bad. Just to root for the home town crew, Ev'ry sou1 Katie blew. On a Saturday her young beau Called to see if she'd like to go To see a show, but Miss Kate said "No, I'll tell you what you can do:"	1927 Version Nelly Kelly loved baseball games, Knew the players, knew all their names. You could see her there ev'ry day, Shout "Hurray" When they'd play. Her boyfriend by the name of Joe Said, "To Coney Isle, dear, let's go", Then Nelly started to fret and pout, And to him, I heard her shout:
[Chorus] Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowds; Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don't care if I never get back. Let me root, root, root for the home team, If they don't win, it's a shame. For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out, At the old ball game.
Katie Casey saw all the games, Knew the players by their first names. Told the umpire he was wrong, All along, Good and strong. When the score was just two to two, Katie Casey knew what to do, Just to cheer up the boys she knew, She made the gang sing this song:	Nelly Kelly was sure some fan, She would root just like any man, Told the umpire he was wrong, All along, Good and strong. When the score was just two to two, Nelly Kelly knew what to do, Just to cheer up the boys she knew, She made the gang sing this song:
[repeat Chorus]

If I should fall from grace with God where no doctor can relieve me...

Professional athletics comes with many perks - fame...fortune...toadies to stroke the inflated ego. There are, however, other things that some with it - sycophants that do one no favors, increased scrutiny from being in the public eye, and a very high perch from which to fall.

With the increased media scrutiny and leagues becoming more and more image conscious, it has felt like a lot of people have fallen from grace lately. Some from greater heights than others.

Let's take a look at eleven of the biggest falls...

Roger Clemens -

Accused of...
Baseball cheat
Perjury
Witness tampering
Multiple counts of philandering

Creating a new synonym for the term clemency - It started with the Mitchell Report tainting who some were calling the greatest pitcher of all-time (I won't even address the inaccuracy of the hyperbole involved there), which has snowballed. Due to the accusations of Celmens being a steroid cheat for approximately a decade of his career, The Rocket filed a defamation suit against his accuser. This was one of the first of many legal missteps which include a crash-and-burn-act in front of a Congressional committee (including potential witness tampering), and has culminated in the unearthing of a series of affairs with a country singer, a former bartender, the ex-wife of golfer John Daly (were they married at the time?) and possibly the (ex?)wife of a pro wrestler. As Mike Lupica noted, Rusty Hardin must be the Isiah Thomas of lawyers. A smart lawyer would advise his client to cut his losses and settle the defamation suit at this point, a suit based on the premise that his client is a good family man.

With a federal perjury investigation hanging over his head and a new mistress revealed daily, Clemens has gone from one of the most revered pitchers in the history of baseball - often talked about in the same breath as the likes of Nolan Ryan, Bob Gibson, and Sandy Koufax - to being little more than a punchline.

Jose Canseco -

Copped to/nailed for...
Steroid use
Assault
Probation violation

Accused of...
Slander and libel
Blackmail
Extortion

At one time one of the most feared power hitters in the sport (we'll be kind and not talk about his defense), Canseco crashed and burned due to steroid use some time ago. He was a punchline, until his book Juiced turned out to be a fairly accurate catalyst for the Mitchell Report. Unfortunately, his second book came out to allegations of a blackmail operation that was intended to raise money for a film project of his - you give me money, I say you didn't use.

As a key character witness, and the one of the few character witnesses Clemens has been able to produce, Canseco has once again managed to paint himself into the corner of sleazy opportunist with a series of claims that seem to be contradicted by other witnesses and, in some cases, hard evidence.

Michael Vick -

Copped to/nailed for...
Dog fighting
Cruelty to animals
Illegal gambling
Trafficking
Drug use
Transmitting an STD

Once the anointed savior of the Atlanta Falcons and highest paid player in the NFL, is now a jail-bird in a federal prison. After getting nailed to the wall for being the money behind a dog-fighting operation, Vick violated the terms of his house arrest when he was caught toking up a Bob Marley special. Since the criminal issues came to a resolution, Vick has continued to be plagued with legal issues as everyone from the Hawks to companies with which he had sponsorship deals have been trying to recoup their investment in him.

OJ Simpson -

Copped to/nailed for...
Wrongful death (civil)
Battery
Domestic violence
Unpaid income tax
Broadcast piracy
Contacting a co-defendant

Accused of...
Murder (criminal)
Robbery
Kidnapping
Gun charges
Conspiracy to commit crimes

Once one of the best running backs in the NFL, Simpson was able to parlay his fame on the football field into a respectable film career, appearing in close to 30 films over a 20-year span from 1974 to 1994. His post-football career included rolls in Roots and box-office hits like The Towering Inferno and the Naked Gun series.

The film career stopped abruptly when Simpson was put on trial for the murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend Ron Goldman. Acquitted despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt, Simpson vowed he wouldn't rest until he brought his ex's real killer to justice. Despite the acquittal, Simpson was found responsible of the murder in civil court and ordered to pay damages to the families of the victims.

To date, his "search" has revealed no leads and he is now in court for violent criminal violations for the second time in little more than a decade.

Pete Rose -

Copped to/nailed for...
Gambling on baseball
Tax evasion

Charlie Hustle was the hardest working man in professional sports. A player with limited tools and talent, Rose put up Hall-of-Fame-worthy numbers during his career - retiring the all-time hits leader. He was used, for a period, as an example of how to play the game by every little league coach as to how kids should play the game.

Rose was bounced from baseball for violating the game's cardinal rule. Nailed for gambling, and on charges of tax evasion, Rose has become a polarizing figure among sports writers debating his place in the canton of ball-players.

Maurice Clarrett -

Copped to/nailed for...
Gun charges
Armed robbery
Assault
Intimidating a witness
General stupidity

Sure, Clarrett never made it to the pinnacle of professional sports, but he was expected to be a high draft pick. Clarrett screwed the pooch in college, violating any number of NCAA rules in accepting money, and cars from Ohio State boosters, not to mention academic violations.

In danger of being kicked out of school, and already suspended by the NCAA from play, Clarrett unsuccessfully sued the NFL for entry into the draft. It went downhill from there for him.

Barry Bonds -

Accused of...
Steroid/HGH use
Philandering
Tax evasion
Perjury

Once a five-tool player with Hall-of-Fame written all over him, Bonds wanted more, and apparently turned to steroid and HGH use to get it. He went from a svelte, fast player who could play defense to a lumbering muscle-bound freak who could hit the ball a ton, but was a defensive liability prone to injury.

Now Bonds appears to be baseball kryptonite and facing a potential trial on federal charges of perjury. On the plus side, no one ever has accused Bonds of being a nice guy or sterling family man. His fall from grace appears to be almost totally tied into the professional.

Marion Jones -

Copped to/nailed for...
HGH use
Check fraud
Cheating
Perjury

The one-time Olympic competitor, and occasional magazine cover-girl saw everything come crashing down with the BALCO investigation as well as a separate investigation into a check fraud scheme. Now serving time on federal perjury charges, Jones' issues brought not only herself down, but her relay teammates who were stripped of their Olympic gold due to her cheating.

Mike Tyson -

Copped to/nailed for...
Rape
Cannibalism

Iron Mike was the most dominant force in boxing from the '80's into the '90's. Granted, it's not like there was a whole lot of competition in the heavy weight division during that stretch, but really, no one else came close.

Tyson ended up in jail in the early 1990's for raping a beauty queen, and has since squandered his fortune, and been mocked for using Evander Hollyfield as a chew toy during a late-career boxing match.

Isiah Thomas -

Copped to/nailed for...
Sexual harassment
Destruction of a storied franchise

Accused of...
Racism

Thomas' tenure as the general manager and coach of the New York Knicks was an unmitigated disaster. During his time running the show at Madison Square Garden, Thomas has pretty effectively wiped his Hall-of-Fame playing career from the public's minds with his ineptitude, his failure to defend himself against allegations of sexual harassment, and the allegations of racism that surfaced as a result of the case against him.

Along the way Thomas undermined the authority of a Hall-of-Fame coach, destroyed his own credibility, the credibility of the Knicks owner, and put together one of the most overpaid and underachieving teams in the history of professional sports. He has, since, been effectively neutered by the team's new president. His nickname should be changed from Zeke to Gelding.

Mark McGwire -

Accused of...
Steroid use

Big Mac is the only guy on the list whose fall had virtually no impact on his private life. McGwire was a likely lock for the Hall-of-Fame, despite borderline numbers, when the steroid hearings on Capitol Hill started.

His Hall candidacy was mostly predicated on his power numbers. His hall votes dried up when he would not address accusations of using in order to pad his power numbers. To date, McGwire will not address questions regarding his use of supplements during his playing days, and does his best to stay out of the spotlight.

****

Dishonorable mention: Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Steve Howe, Rafael Palmeiro, Ryan Leaf, Adam "Pacman" Jones, Chris Henry, and a bevy of other idiots.

Almost all of those mentioned above in some way or another, brought the fall on themselves - whether through questionable choices, stupid associations, or what have you - the only place these people can realistically lay blame is at their own front door.

Catching up with a busy weekend

But first, more pics of Isiah Thomas in his new roll as Milton Waddams for the Knicks...


Stupid is as stupid does...

So, the Rocket is back in the news, this time for an alleged 10-year extramarital affair that started when he was 28 and the other woman was 15. Roger Clemens' attorney released a statement, not denying a relationship with the now washed up 32-year old country singer, but denying that the relationship was of a sexual nature.

Clemens might be telling the truth here, however, there are a number of things that just don't pass the smell test here.

I want to address some of those things.

First - I spent five years as a teacher at the high school level, and in the 22 years I have spent as a martial arts instructor, I have been friendly with a number of teenagers. I have mentored several of them, but have spent no time with any of them outside of a classroom setting (except in the very rare case in which I am friends with the child's parents - which has always been the case before I had the child as a student). I would not call any of them a sustained relationship over a ten year period, no matter what my age.

Second - What ended the "platonic" relationship after ten years? Sure, I have friends, going back to elementary school, whom I don't talk to or see as often as I once did. But I would not describe those relationships as ended at the time we stopped talking as often.

Some of those friends I talk to once a year, sometimes less, and see those people even less frequently, but they're still people I consider to have a relationship with. The relationship hasn't ended. Just changed.

As for women with which I had physical or romantic relationships - yeah, most of those had definitive endings complete with hostilities and cessation of interaction. Some I can pinpoint the dates on, if I really went back to think about it. None of those were platonic.

What I have to ask at this point, would any of this have hit had it not been for The Mitchell Report?

Two by Two

The Celtics stomped on the Atlanta Hawks in the first two games of the playoffs, winning by an average of 21 points in those two games. The Hawks have been slightly better than the Celtics for the last two in Atlanta, averaging a seven point margin in their wins.

I mention this for the following - the series returns to Boston for game five.

A basic fact about the two teams -

Through the season and including the playoffs, the Celtics are 37-6 at home and 31-12 away. Atlanta, is a respectable 27-16 at home. In 43 road games the Hawks have only won 12 - or to put it another way; Atlanta has won a little better than one in every four road games while the Celtics have lost a little less than once in every six games at the Garden.

Unless the Hawks can rise to the occasion and steal one in Boston, the best Atlanta will do is make a respectable showing by forcing the series to seven games. I just have a hard time seeing the Hawks taking one on the road.

Panic attack

The Sox have lost five in a row to slip into second place, mere percentage points behind the Rays and Orioles. The skid coincides with a flu that has run through the Sox clubhouse, forcing the team to start Jon Lester on three days rest (for everyone knocking him - yes it wasn't a great start, but he still gave the team an opportunity to win, giving up four earned in five innings - the same number of runs the team put up over the same number of innings). The bullpen screwed the pooch, and the offense went away.

A pretty good description of what has happened with the team during the skid.

In the next game, rookie Justin Masterson spun a six inning gem, giving up one run. The offense was decent, scoring five runs over the course of the game, but the bullpen gave up six over the final three innings.

Even Tim Wakefield qualified for a quality start, making it through six innings and giving up only three earned runs against the Rays, Clay Buchholz gave up two runs in eight, and Beckett only one earned in seven. Even when the Sox put runs on the board, the hitting failed in the clutch.

All that noted, it's way too early to panic. Sure, JD Drew has reverted to 2007 Drew, but he's not the only one to have disappeared at the plate. For the most part, David Ortiz hasn't shown up yet, and only Julio Lugo and Dustin Pedroia got hits in the Sunday night game that made the Rays' James Shields look like the second coming of Nolan Ryan. The night before only Drew, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie, and Jacoby Ellsbury hit the ball. This won't last.

It's the end of April. It is way too early to panic.

Weekend observations

Mister Freeze...

I love games played in the snow. I loved 'em when I played in high school. I loved 'em when I coached. I love watching them.

I have an appreciation for the difficulty that's added by playing on a slick, hard field - when the cold hurts your hands, and the idea of hitting one's opponent can become distasteful, because it inflicts as much pain on the tackler as the tackled. The game becomes a contest of wills.

That game in Green Bay was a thing of beauty. After a shaky start, putting the ball on the ground twice, undrafted free-agent running back Ryan Grant imposed his will on the Seahawks, accounting for close to half of the Pack's 408 total yards (201).

As much as Brett Favre's arm got the Pack to the game, Grant's legs were responsible for getting them through the game.

Punched in the Mouth

The Jaguars were the team that was supposed to give the Patriots fits.

Their top ranked (AFC) running game was supposed to keep Tom Brady on the sideline, and take advantage of the Patriots AARP members manning the linebacker position. They were supposed to stuff the run, take away Randy Moss and make the Patriots win with Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, and Ben Watson.

Instead, Laurence Maroney became the Beast from the AFC East, rushing for more yardage (122) than the entire Jaguars team combined (80) and more combined yardage (162) than the Chargers' one-two punch of Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor combined (129).

Even as a Pats fan, had anyone told me that Maroney would have almost as much yardage on the ground as the Jags backs had combined, I would have scoffed. Hell...combined yardage for the Pats runners v. the Jags? 207 to 129. And that was the place on offense that the Jags were supposed to have a distinct advantage.

I guess as the saying goes, on any given Sunday...

Upset Sunday...

I'm not going to dwell on the early game. The Colts played poorly on defense, struggling to beat a Chargers team that was lining up players by the end of the game that make one think more of a fourth pre-season game than of a playoff game. And the Chargers won in spite of some mind-numbingly, bone-jarringly stupid play calling on offense.

Even with the win, that game gave me no confidence that Norv Turner can bring this team a championship. The only reason they got out of Indy alive is that the Chargers defense was playing out of their collective minds down the stretch.

Texas Toast (or, The Mouths that Roared)...

Does anyone out there remember the "I love you, man," Bud Light commercials? Is it just me, or is that how Terrell Owens seemed in his postgame press conference? I can just hear Tony Romo right now..."No TO, you can't have any of my Bud Light...now go eat your popcorn."

Sincerity is not that man's forte. His defense of Tony Romo, while accurate (the Giants in the second half were beating the daylights out of Romo because the line just couldn't stop wave after wave of blue-jersied defenders), just came off as disingenuous.

And of course, the Dallas receivers just can't put their money where their exceedingly large mouths are...

Take, for instance, this tidbit from the postgame of their October match-up with the Patriots -

"If they make it to Arizona, we will see them again. Seriously, I'm not backing down from that statement," receiver Patrick Crayton said Monday, a day after a 48-27 loss to the Patriots.
Terrell Owens wasn't in the locker room Monday, but said after the game, "We'll see them down the road."

I guess they'll be in the stands?

Or how about TO's line that he'd be playing at a high level in this past Sunday's game during his interview with Deion Sanders? Four catches for 49 yards and one touchdown. During the regular season he averaged 5.4 catches per game for 90.3 yards per game. I wonder how TO defines a "high level."

Texas Toast, part II...

Well, it already appears that Roger Clemens and his handlers are backing off providing any actual denials under oath. According to reports, the Rocket and his legal team won't commit to providing congress with a deposition before the hearing, with his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, claiming that it could interfere with civil case.

The implication here is that testifying under oath to congress wouldn't, or at least, that's what Hardin would have you believe. Hardin from the AP report -

"There has been absolutely no change in Roger's willingness and indeed desire to testify under oath before Congress in a public hearing at a date of the Oversight Committee's choosing," Hardin said in a statement. "Any suggestion that he or we are having any second thoughts about that is absolutely false. All other pre-appearance issues and scheduling we will discuss privately with the committee and do not think it is appropriate to discuss those matters publicly."

A deposition is testimony, under oath (which is why it's admissible as evidence in a court case). As such, what's the issue?

According to legal experts on ESPN, and cited in other reports, a deposition would give the Committee the opportunity to investigate Clemens' defense, and to prepare specific questions in order to discredit Clemens' defense, or to formulate specific questions to ask McNamee, who appears willing to tell the Committee everything.

Hardin can spin this anyway he likes, but it's just one more chink in Clemens' so called defense.

Fuzzy Logic

Fuzzy logic seems to be in abundance these days.

Fuzzy logic comes from fuzzy math...let's start with some fuzzy math - the kind that doesn't add up.

Yesterday Roger Clemens continued his farce with a 17-minute tape of a phone conversation with trainer-turned-informant Brian McNammee. The tape told us absolutely diddly-squat.

Here's the math on this subject -

Clemens' initial denial issued by his lawyer and reported by CNN on December 14...

"Roger Clemens adamantly, vehemently, and whatever other adjectives can be used, denies that he has ever used steroids or ... improper substances," Clemens' attorney, Rusty Hardin, said Thursday.
"He is really, really concerned and upset that he has been named in this report. It's based on the allegations, apparently, of a trainer that he's had in the past. ... That's not a standard someone should be held out in public to have done something as serious as using steroids in baseball."

...

"Roger has been repeatedly tested for these substances and he has never tested positive," Hardin said in a statement. "There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances and yet he is being slandered today."
Hardin told reporters that Clemens had not been given the opportunity to defend himself.

Let's start with the last point Hardin makes. Clemens had plenty of opportunity to defend himself when invited to talk to George Mitchell. He chose not to do so. Let's be realistic about this as well - it's not as though Clemens was going to assume Mitchell just wanted to hang out and talk about baseball. He knew what Mitchell was doing, he had to know that Mitchell called him because he had been named. Issue one that doesn't pass the smell test.

Lidocaine is a class VI drug. Class VI drugs require a prescription for use and is administered by a physician - not a physical trainer. Issue two.

Vitam B12 is a professional sports euphemism for the steroid Winstrol, which is what McNamee claims to have injected Clemens with. Don't believe it, just ask Rafael Palmeiro. Issue three.

Here's my favorite, and it comes from an interview with Steve Phillips on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning - Phillips, for those of you who don't know, played baseball and was at one time the general manager of the New York Mets - "We're talking a strength and conditioning coach. In my twenty years within a major league organization, seven as a player, thirteen in a front office, I have never heard of a strength and conditioning coach giving any legitimate injection to a player. In fact, trainers do not give injections, only physicians give injections."

This was followed up by the former NFL defensive tackle Mike Golic's agreement, "I will say, I was never injected by a trainer...I have never heard of that before." And Buster Olney's statement, "I completely concur with what Steve said. In talking with people around baseball last night, they said they cannot see a situation in which a trainer would be giving injections to players as a matter of routine." Issue four.

From an ESPN.com report -

Asked why McNamee would tell the truth about Pettitte and lie about Clemens,
Clemens said Pettitte's case was "totally separate."

How is it that Mike Wallace didn't follow up on this? How are the cases totally separate? From all accounts, Clemens introduced Pettitte to McNamee. Pettitte confirmed that McNamee was telling the truth in regards to him - why would he then be lying about Clemens? Both sloppy reporting and issue five. He offered no explanation in regards to how Pettitte's case is "totally separate."

I don't buy that the timing of when his lawyers (finally) filed the suit against McNamee as a coincidence either. It came two days after Clemens was asked to appear before Congress along with Pettitte and McNamee. The allows Clemens to, in effect, go in front of the Congressional committee and claim that he can't answer certain questions due to the pending litigation without ever having to take the Fifth. Issue six.

Right now it looks like Clemens is trying to convince the court of public opinion that by adding five and five, you get six.

Fuzzy math part two -

The closer it gets, the funnier the math gets. Somehow, Mercury Morris and his 1972 Dolphin compatriots would have us believe that 17=19. Neat trick, but wrong.

Yes, it would be only the second team in the NFL to go undefeated during a season, but what does that really mean? It means that they had a streak that ran during one season, rather than over the course of two.

The whole discussion always comes back to how hard it is to win 16 in a row. The Tom Brady/Bill Belichick Patriots have done it twice.

Those 17 Dolphin wins included the postseason. The Patriots already have one streak that exceeds that at 21.

The longest regular season winning streak the 'Phins even had was 15 games. The Patriots are owners of both an 18-game and now 19-game regular season winning streaks.

None of this takes into account the fact that the Patriots deal with free-agency, the salary cap, and weighted schedules - all elements of today's game designed to keep the sort of dominance the Patriots have shown from happening.

Sure, the Patriots haven't gone 19-0, and might not, but the self-appointed greatest team to ever play the game would have you believe that 17=19, and that the best the Pats could do is "join us on the mountain top."

Sorry guys. They do it, then they're the king of the mountain.

The slow pitch softball player and the high heater

There are two very different games being played by two central parties involved in the Mitchell Report.

Roger Clemens is playing beer-league softball while Brian McNamee and his lawyers are coming inside on Clemens with some chin music with the high heat.

Clemens, in light of McNamee's claims that he injected Clemens with a pharmacopoeia of performance enhancers, thus far has elected to avoid any lawsuits, choosing instead to fight his case in the court of public opinion. His agents the Hendricks brothers and Rusty Hardin have scripted a series of denials and arranged for an interview with Mike Wallace, an admitted Yankees fan, and friend of both Roger Clemens and George Steinbrenner. No one expects this to be vintage Mike Wallace.

The denials scripted by Clemens' handlers have attacked McNamee, previously called a friend by Clemens, now referred to as "a troubled man," by his handlers. Those denials, of course, have rung hollow in light of Andy Pettitte giving McNamee's claims credence.

Clemens claimed that he would speak at the appropriate time. Evidently the appropriate time, in his head, wasn't when he was initially given the chance by George Mitchell to respond to the allegations in private during the investigation. No. In his head the appropriate time, evidently, was to wait until his use was made public, and then to arrange for an interview with the interviewer of his choice. Really credible set up there

The interesting fact - McNamee was, in essence, under oath while making his highly detailed claims. Clemens, of course, won't be on 60 Minutes, and has failed to initiate any sort of legal action as we close in on a month after the report hit. McNamee's handler's, on the other hand, are coming with the high heat, threatening to sue Clemens for defamation if the 60 Minutes piece airs.

Everything in this smacks of the quintessential flame thrower for the last 20+ years in MLB being nothing more than a glorified softballer when it comes to protecting his legacy.

Philosophical question(s) for the week...

In light of the Mitchell Report and the pending holiday which always invokes, for me, the films of Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life), I am forced to correlate MLB to Mr. Smith Goes to Washington...

Is it just me, or does Roger Clemens somehow come off like Senator Joe Payne (the corrupt politician played so well by Claude Rains) right now and after an early round of skepticism from the masses, George Mitchell as the naive but well meaning Jefferson Smith?

Does that make we, the baseball fans, the boys for which Mitchell is trying to build a camp?

The Baseball Writers Association of America, which is looking at this as "The Steroid Era" as justification for enshrining a generation of cheaters, part of the Taylor Machine?

The bloggers who are expressing outrage reporter Diz Moore? (Diz Moore: [into phone] Throw out that last, take this. This is the most titanic battle of modern times. A David without even a slingshot rises to do battle against the mighty Goliath, the Taylor machine, allegedly crooked inside and out. Yeah, and for my money, you can cut out the "allegedly.")

Just some thoughts...

Paradise Lost

Nobody got off lightly yesterday.

There were questions as to whether or not Mitchell would avoid implicating the Red Sox due to the fact he is part of the Sox ownership group.

The Red Sox team name came up 37 times in the Mitchell Report. That's once every 11 pages.

Current or ex-Red Sox on the list?

Manny Alexander
Jose Canseco
Roger Clemens
Paxton Crawford
Brendan Donnelly
Chris Donnels
Eric Gagne
Jeremy Giambi
Mike Lansing
Josias Manzanillo
Kent Mercker
Mike Stanton
Mo Vaughn
Steve Woodard

Mitchell, by his own admission, has put together an incomplete list. There are 14 players on this list that wore a Sox uniform (Yankees fans, stuff the "where are all the Red Sox names" accusation - they're right here).

Let's address Clemens one last time, because he is the only sure candidate for the Hall. There are many writers saying that they now won't vote for him, others saying that they will because he was a hall of famer before the 'roids started in 1998. Assuming that it was 1998, and not 1996, as I suspect, when he shared a field with Jose Canseco, then this is what his numbers look like pre-1998 -

203-118, 2882 strikeouts, 3.09 ERA, and a 2-3 postseason record.

There are those that argue that Curt Schilling will only get in based on his post-season performance because he doesn't have enough regular season wins. So, if Schilling's 216 wins isn't enough, how could Clemens be a Hall-of-Famer before the rumors of steroid use?

If you adjust for when I think he started, which was the 1996 season, then he only has 172 wins.

No. Clemens was not a Hall of Fame pitcher before the rumors of juicing. He was very good. But he was and is not "the best right-handed pitcher ever," which some baseball pundits have called him over the last couple of years. That distinction still belongs to Nolan Ryan.

Absolution

As I stated in my last post - the names listed there were rumored to be in the Mitchell report. Many of those did not appear in the report - such as Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek. This, however, should not be seen as absolving players that are not on the list.

To the contrary, Mitchell even alludes to the fact that it is not a complete list. It is merely a compilation of the names that came up in the course of his investigation.

There is no relief today in major league baseball.

Some will say this only opens up Pandora's Box, and that the sins that afflict baseball can never be put back in that box. They are wrong.

As much as it pains me to say it - Jose Canseco opened the box. George Mitchell just started digging into the box's dark and fetid corners. The crud he came up with has presented the fans and the Baseball Writer's Association of America with ways to rationalize away putting their favorite player into the Hall of Fame.

Bonds had Hall of Fame numbers before he started doing it.

Clemens had three Cy Young's before 1996.

Everybody else was doing it, so it remained a level playing field.

Me? As much as I have enjoyed watching many of these players, I think as a journalist and a fan, we need to take a stand. No one from this era gets in. Going forward, no one gets in who is unwilling to submit to regular blood and urine testing.

Remember, the Hall is a private organization and it's by-laws have nothing to do with MLB. And one of the most important dictates how voting is supposed to work states, "Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played." Integrity, sportsmanship, and character are three of the key terms here.

Don't tell me that these players didn't know that it was illegal. Why else did they inject in the shadows? Why else do they avoid owning up to it? They keep it secret because they know it was wrong, that it lacked character, integrity, or sportsmanship.

Let's not rationalize away this by just calling it the Steroid Era, and putting in the best players from this era. Yes, a lot of players juiced, but not all of them did. It might even have been most of them. But the assumption has to be made that this created an uneven playing field.

Keep Bonds out. Keep McGwire out. Keep Clemens out. Keep Palmiero out.

Sure, record their records for posterity's sake. Record their numbers because they are, for better or worse, part of history. But don't enshrine them.

They haven't lived up to the standard dictated by the Hall. And it would be an insult to those who did.

Shining a light in the shadows

There are going to be many who will question the validity of the Mitchell Report due to his Red Sox links. Others will question the validity of the witnesses testifying to former Senator Mitchell.

There are a host of questions that can be asked in regards to the report. Regardless of the questions that can be asked, at the very least, it begs a closer look at each of the players named and their career statistics.

Like with any medication or drug, the impact of these "treatments" that the players underwent will vary greatly. Some people named might be innocent, some are likely as guilty as sin. And before I get some steroid apologist who likes to bring up the "well it wasn't against the rules in baseball," argument, one of the key points, made by George Mitchell as he presented the report is, "for more than a decade there has been widespread illegal use of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances by Major League Baseball players in violation of federal law..."

Mitchell does not absolve MLB in this. He does say that the report identified "some of the players," who indulged.

"Each of the thirty clubs have had" a player or players involved in this drug culture, said Mitchell.

Among the players rumored to be on the list that have spent some time with the Red Sox are Roger Clemens (whom I think started use before leaving the Red Sox), Dante Bichette, Wil Cordero, Johnny Damon, Carl Everett, Rich Garces, Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, Jeremy Giambi, Trot Nixon, Jose Offerman, Julian Tavarez, and Jason Varitek. So much for him slanting the report away from the Sox.

I've speculated as much in regards to Garciaparra, and have to admit I have questions as to how Jorge Posada who not only hit .061 points higher than his career average this past season, but has had his only season hitting over .287 (.336) at the age of 35, might not be on this list.

As for Clemens...

Clemens reportedly was taking winstrol in 1998, and approached his trainer at the beginning of 1998 with questions about a bottle of steroids already in his possession. Personally, I believe he was first introduced to the steroid subculture as early as 1996, when he shared a Red Sox clubhouse with Jose Canseco, and pitched over 200 innings for the first time since 1992.

As for some of the other proof - evidently, according to Mitchell, they have shipping records, other eyewitness accounts, phone records, and other evidence. This is going to come down hard on a number of players.

Some quick thoughts...

How is it the Red Sox can dismantle a solid pitcher like Mark Buehrle and then five games later make a mediocre Roger Clemens look like he's vying for the Cy Young award?

Imponderable - If Indians fans are "on the reservation," Red Sox fans are part of "Red Sox Nation," and Phillies fans are "phanatics," does that make Padres fans "pod people?"

A couple of comments on Peter King...

Peter King this week took issue with the NFL's pre-season, noting that football's exhibition season should be shortened from four weeks to three for several reasons. On ESPN radio this week he noted that the Giants suffered severe injuries in last week's game to four players that were likely to make their roster.

In general, I like Peter King - I don't always agree with him, but he tends to put a lot of thought behind his arguments. This was not one of them.

He talked about how the pre-season should be shortened to three games in order to avoid these injuries, using the Giants as an example. Of course the Giants injuries came in the third game rendering the argument...shall we say impotent?

Personally, I'm one of the few freaks that genuinely likes this time of year. I like to see the guys on the bubble, sometimes find somebody to root for to make the team. I will have my butt parked on my couch tomorrow night with the channel tuned to the NFL network to catch that last Patriots pre-season match-up with the Giants.

Also at SI.com, King listed what he felt were the top 500 players in the NFL - approximately the top 30 percent. Interesting read - 21 of the Patriots 22 starters made the list (T. Brady, Watson, Light, Welker, Moss, Stallworth, Koppen, Neal, Mankins, Maroney, Seymour, Warren, Wilfork, Vrabel, Colvin, Bruschi, A. Thomas, Hobbs, Samuel, Harrison, Wilson). Go over there for the actual rankings.

Little more than a week to kick-off. Can't wait.

The number 95 and other thoughts produced by the two cells that are left...

There are a lot of things that Michael Vick should be worried about in this case -

He should worry about the sheer amount of details in the indictment that include where and when dogs were purchased, the actual amounts bet on fights, locations of the fights, and the fact that there are at least four witnesses for the prosecution listed in the indictment.

He should worry that his cousin who was so ready to take the fall for him a month ago, even going so far as to have a press conference during which he admitted culpability and denied Vick has any knowledge, appears nowhere in the indictment.

He should worry about the timing and the fact that the Federal court in Richmond is known as the fastest in the country at pushing cases through the courtroom.

He should worry about the fact that it's the federal judiciary rather than some local like Mike Nifong who was incompetent or Surry County District Attorney Gerald Poindexter who was dragging his feet on the investigation, and likely to let it drop.

Most of all he should worry about the number 95. That's the percentage of criminal cases in federal court which result in a conviction. There are a number of other people who have a lot more money than Vick who are now behind bars after being dragged into the federal judiciary. Anyone remember Enron and their brain trust?

There are claims of racism already appearing in some quarters, others are alleging that it's because Vick's a celebrity, however, I put it to you, ask the average - and I emphasize AVERAGE - Michael Vick fan from a predominantly black community in Georgia to tell you who Ken Lay was...I give an outside chance at best that the individual will know who that was and that he was nailed by the feds.

Also, if this had been some white guy, Samoan, or even black guy who was a back-up lineman making league minimum with the Falcons, I guarantee he would be cut already. If anything, I would say that Vick's celebrity has thus far protected him as anyone of his previous transgressions - the water bottle, flipping off the fans, smoking the roach on the girlfriend's MySpace page - would have gotten a bottom of the roster player cut.

Baseball writers need to...

Get off the Bud Selig's back about attending Barry Bonds perversion of baseball's biggest record. I am no Bud Selig fan, but this constant whining from the writers - particularly the ones at ESPN - needs to stop.

Selig does not need to be there - get over it.

The vast majority of writers turned as blind an eye to the problem as any of the owners - at whom the writers point their fingers, seldom lumping themselves in as culpable. Now they seem to be beating on Selig as though making him the bad guy in all this gives them a pass on "celebrating the record" as it should be...to paraphrase ESPN's Buster Olney. Olney is among those that think it would be a travesty for Selig to not be there, because it would belittle the breaking of the record.

His argument is that it seems as though Bonds has become the scapegoat for the entire era and that people have forgotten that Bonds was not the only one on the juice, and that's not fair.

Nobody has forgotten that others were juicing - Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, and Rafael Palmiero are still talked about regularly. There are still whispers of why Pudge Rodriguez got a lot less pudgy when the testing was instituted and why Roger Clemens, after three years of decline in his 30's, suddenly seemed to be 25 again...after being on a Red Sox team with Jose Canseco

It feels to me like the baseball press is trying to make Selig the bad guy in this just so they can make themselves feel better about covering this travesty. The man has cheated the game and the its fans and the writers will once again be culpable in the sham that will be the home-run record.

I guess there are those that learn history and are doomed to repeat it anyway.

Clemens...a year too long?

Throughout his career Roger Clemens has been an impact player. He has averaged just under 15 wins per year over his 24 seasons (including this one) and only 7.5 losses. Only twice in his career has he finished a season with a losing record, both times with Boston.

He has been one of the most dominating pitchers for the better part of the last three decades. Sure, he's had problems coming up big in the post season. But his wins will help you get there.

He has also been implicated by Jose Canseco and Jason Grimsley in baseball's sordid performance enhancing drug use story. When looked at, one can guess where this might even have started if it is indeed true...

In 1993, Clemens, then 30 and about to turn 31, started a three season stretch where he threw for fewer than 200 innings for the first time since 1986 - throwing 191 2/3's, 170 2/3's, and 140 innings respectively, starting 29, 24, and 23 games in each of those seasons.

During that stretch he had garnered a reputation in Boston for coming into spring training fat and out of shape and garnered a reputation as fragile. A long cry from his current reputation as a workout warrior.

Jose Canseco joined Boston in 1995. Clemens pitched 242 2/3's innings in 1996 before moving on to the Blue Jays.

As bad a rap as Dan Duquette gets, the writing was on the wall in 1995, and it wasn't that hard to read. Clemens was on his way out. He spent significant time on the disabled list in all three of those seasons leading up to 1996, and one healthy season after three straight seasons of decline...that was just too much of a gamble for a general manager with some sense.

Somehow at the age of 34, a year after meeting Canseco, Clemens began a career renaissance. Over the course of a ten season period, when other pitchers are on the decline, Clemens went on a tear during which he pitched fewer than 200 innings only twice, and never pitched fewer than 180.

This season, the Rocket has touched down in the middle of the Bronx, and while still early, is sporting a 1-3 record with a 5.32 ERA and with opponents batting .284 against him. Maybe he's trying to do this without the help he may have had in past years due to more stringent testing in MLB, maybe his age finally has caught up with him, maybe its the difference between pitching in the American League as opposed to the National League.

Either way, it's looking more and more like the Savior of the Yankees has hung on for a
year too long. At the end of last year, Clemens walked away from Houston with a 2.30 ERA, and hitters only accounting for a .214 batting average.

If the season keeps going like this, that's a lot of aging during one off season.