The First Steroid Scandal of 2009
You will rarely, if ever see me defending a Yankee. Especially a druggie Yankee. So here we go.
There comes a point when enough is enough. Let’s get some perspective here: plenty of us are having trouble keeping our jobs and our houses. It’s gotten stressful to feed our families. Women are popping out children for cash and reality TV shows. What are our top priorities, America? Let’s see:
- Michael Phelps hits bong; nobody seems to care but the media, who overblows it to all hell.
- Jessica Simpson: FAT FAT FAT FAT FAT
- Crazy mom in California has kids she can’t afford in almost-bankrupt California
- Baseball players on roids; nation is shocked and appalled
Look, I’m all for punishing people when they do something wrong. Clemens and Bonds? Deserved what they got, in my opinion. However, I’m torn on this issue. One one hand, they were promised that the results of these tests would be completely confidential. Nobody was ever to be penalized, or found out, or anything. On the other hand, if you don’t want to get caught using performance-enhancing drugs, don’t use performance enhancing drugs. Sigh.
I don’t want to wake up one morning and see some big fattie headline that says JEFF BAGWELL IS A DOPER, or DRUG TESTS PROVE CRAIG BIGGIO USED STEROIDS. Can we please save some of our dignity? Some of our heroes of baseball, who have gotten us through really crappy times in this country? The Hall of Fame is going to be a very, very lonely place if this witch hunt continues, and I take issue with the fact that American tax dollars are going to pay for this crap when they could be better spent elsewhere.
Yes, I believe that if you used steroids after 1991, you are functionally retarded. I also think that cheating is cheating. This situation though… it just rubs me the wrong way. These guys complied with what they were told to do, and they got hosed. That’s just wrong, on so many levels. And Curt Shilling, shut your obnoxious mouth. This situation is ridiculous enough without you trying to get media time.
A Letter to (really) Big Puma
I’m a competitive swimmer, and have been since 1988. So of course I am crazy interested in the whole Michael Phelps saga (even though I am a Ryan Lochte/Natalie Coughlin fangirl.) I came home from my workout this afternoon to this little nugget of ARE YOU STUPID?:
Lance Berkman doesn’t think Phelps is an athlete; other Lastros agree.
Well, Fat Elvis, I don’t particularly think you’re an athlete. You get paid millions of dollars to stand around like a blob of goo, cracking jokes with people standing at first base with you, and occasionally popping off homers. What’s ironic to me in this is that Michael Phelps has multiple championships, world records, and medals to his name, while Berkman has squat. Ooh, All-Star games and a 2005 sweep by the White Sox. Congratulations?
I seem to have forgotten – Michael Phelps has class, whereas Berkman does not. I can understand where he is coming from (I’m not a complete idiot) but he clearly has no concept of what it takes to be a competitive swimmer. I’m talking eight to twelve hours in a pool every day. Competitions beginning at five in the morning in different cities every week. Swimming events only half an hour to an hour apart from each other. Rivalries. Expenses. Injuries. I’m getting tired of “swimming’s not a sport” and “swimmers aren’t athletes.”
My sport only gets attention during the Olympic years, much like gymnastics. Yet somehow, people who know squat about the sport become experts and feel the need to run their mouths about it. I’d like to see Berkman swim, play football, run track, play golf (well,) etc. He couldn’t do it, and he should probably shut up about one of the most dominating athletes of modern times. Lance Berkman will never be on the same level as Jordan, Woods, Phelps, Patterson, Lewis, or any other American champion.
Cubs vs Astros, July 18-20
I went to all three games in this series, because that’s just kind of what I do when the Cubs are in Houston. Usually, we aren’t in first place.. this time was different.
By different, I mean that Cubs fans outnumbered the Astros fans in their home ballpark. They (we) made a mini Wrigleyville out of Union Station and cheered like crazy people no matter what the score was. I’m told that you could hear us chanting “let’s go Cubbies” and “Fukudome” on TV. That makes me so happy, you have no idea. There were a few dbag Astros fans on Saturday night who harrassed a few of us for being Cubs fans, especially around the fourth inning. This one guy who kept bragging about sneaking in (how is that possible?) was being a complete tool and telling me/my group to quit cheering because the Cubs will always be losers. I was just like.. do you have any idea how dumb you sound? gah, ignorant bandwagon fans.
So we dropped 2 out of 3, eh. No big deal. I chalk it up to All-Star Break, and we certainly looked like we broke that slump today. We sufficiently smoked Backe (who looked so violently angry that it kind of freaked me out) and shut up quite a few naysayers. As of right now, the Cardinals are tied and the Brewers are up 2-0 (still early.) Hopefully our lead is going to increase, I hate this 2.5 games nonsense.
More lies from the Rocket
So there’s this giant billboard off of 45 that says HOUSTON SUPPORTS CLEMENS!
unless
they’re referring to Whitney Houston, I don’t think so. Most of us here
are so frustrated and bored with the whole drama, especially since
every couple of days there is a new report blaming someone else for
poor Roger Clemens’ situation. I think Rusty Hardin has gotten in over
his head here.
The article that set me off today?
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5890333.html
Read the comments for the full effect of how much Houston “supports” Roger.
I
don’t understand why someone who is so clearly backed into a corner and
surrounded by webs of his own inconsistencies feels the need to lie.
It’s very, very obvious that he’s told some fibs during the Mitchell
Report. He’s dragged his entire family through the mud, wasted a
veritable crapload of taxpayer dollars, and pretty much ruined his
entire legacy by not just doing what Pettitte and Giambi did and
admitting he made a mistake.What’s the difference, you ask? Oh, I think
it’s that Pettitte and Giambi still play.
Baseball fans as a
whole can forgive a player who has made mistakes. We love a good
comeback story (hello, Josh Hamilton!) and we love seeing the ultimate
comeback kids (Astros ’05, Cubs ’08, Red Sox ’04, insert your OMGWTFBBQ
baseball legends here.) We have handled strikes, salary caps, horrible
seasons, Buckner, Bartman, golden thongs, new stadiums, horrible
weather, bad trades (thanks for Bagwell, Red Sox,) dumb groupies,
expensive beer, and fifteen inning All-Star Games. What we WILL NOT
tolerate is a liar – this is why we have problems with Pete Rose and
Barry Bonds. Most of us understand that ballplayers are human beings
who make mistakes, and by admitting said mistakes, they
learn/grow/become part of baseball’s fantastic legacy. By lying to the
fans (UNDER OATH MIND YOU) you are doing a disservice not only to the
game of baseball and its brutal fans, you are throwing your entire
family under the bus and destroying your own legacy. I can’t feel sorry
for Clemens. He’s doing it to himself.
I don’t give a crap
about who sold who what, who took what, etc, that is none of my
business. But if you’re going to file a defamation lawsuit against
someone, make sure you don’t have dancing skeletons in your closet,
because they will undoubtedly come out. Certainly, don’t lie about
things under oath, are you bloody insane? Take the McGwire route if you
must, but don’t freaking lie about it. Because of this man’s actions, a
family has been ripped to shreds. A once amazing baseball player has
been reduced to a lying, disgusting, philandering user. Now, an entire
city feels betrayed by what once was their “hometown hero.” Thanks,
Roger.
Josh Hamilton.
If I listened to the media, I would think that Josh Hamilton is some poor junkie that they picked up off the streets and hand-tossed into the MLB, because hey! America loves a feel-good story. Only it’s not true, and it kind of does a disservice to the fans, to baseball, and to Hamilton himself to keep reporting on his past.
Like everyone else who watched the Derby Not for Horses last night, I was very impressed and had the feeling that only happens when witnessing sports history. Ah, but Announcer Who Wasn’t Berman had to go and screw that up for me. Josh Hamilton’s struggles! Josh Hamilton’s demons! Isn’t it just amazing how Josh Hamilton overcame such adversity? Are they trying to inflate this guy’s head with a pump? This has been going on all season; when does the novelty of the former junkie turned heroic ballplayer who has actual talent wear off?
Please don’t get me wrong, he is a fantastic player who has gotten people interested in the game. That is commendable. But running a disease as serious as addiction into the ground by turning it into a drinking game for college kids (“hey, every time they mention Hamilton’s problems, take a shot!”) is not the way to go about doing it. Focus on the talent that he’s got in the here and now, and let his problems, demons, and whatever other cutesy words you have for it be a background, not a foreground, for a pretty amazing baseball story.
The A-Rod Drama.
I really, really tried hard not to post anything about this. I tried so friggin hard, you have no idea. Unfortunately the power of the local Houston news media has compelled me to say something, via multiple articles in the Chronicle and the assault on my common decency by KTRK. So here we go.
Does anyone REALLY care about athletes inserting Tab A into Slot B? Honestly?
My dad cheated on my mom with a much uglier woman when I was eleven years old. Fortunately for my family, he was not a pro athlete, so the only scandal I had to deal with was nosy suburban neighbors. ARod’s family is not so lucky.
As a woman, I hesitate to say “well, she kind of deserved it.” On the other hand, if your significant other is being photographed being unfaithful on numerous occasions and embarrassing the holy snikes out of you in public, kick him or her to the curb, and please don’t use “staying together for the kids” as your lame excuse for staying. Trust me, the kids are better off knowing what a jerk their dad can be from the get go. I don’t particularly understand what Mrs. Rodriguez hopes to accomplish by airing her family’s dirty laundry in public. 99% of the sports viewing population would really like to get back to watching sports, not watching Jessica Simpson vacantly cheer on Tony Romo in the stands or whichever American Idol reject shows up at an NBA game. We don’t care about Roger Clemens’ infidelities, nor do we care about ARod’s. It is common knowledge that many pro athletes fit into the stereotype of the philandering husbands, and dopey women think that they can change that in the name of a meal ticket. They can’t. Move on. The location of a baseball player’s junk after hours has no bearing on his ability to play the game of baseball, so why are we supposed to care about it?
That being said, Madonna? Really? Sick.
What?
Aside from the bonehead move that the Cubs made today (am I missing something? do we miss having half of our rotation on the DL? are we trying to relive the days when Prior and Wood were Bench Butt Buddies?) I’d like to focus on the Brewers for a second.
To all of you who think that Sabathia is your knight in shining armor, your savior, the JC of the NL Central – sorry, try again next year.
We are a week away from the All-Star Break. Now, I might be wrong here, but I’m pretty sure that the regular season ends in late September and/or early October. Do people honestly think that this guy is going to boost the Brewers over the Cardinals and Cubs in the next couple of weeks, and keep them there for the rest of the season? Keep dreaming. A pitcher with a great batting average is a fantastic asset to have, but it’s hit or miss – and let’s not forget that he’s not going to play every night. This isn’t my Cubs homer side talking, this is my ONE PLAYER DOES NOT MAKE A TEAM, TAKE A HINT FROM THE ASTROS side talking. Clemens and Pettitte could not save the Astros or win them a Series; Sabathia will not be able to do so for the Brewers.
Perhaps if the Brewers focused on rebuilding the (very few) weak parts of their lineup, they wouldn’t have to rent players for a year to grasp at a dwindling Series hope. Until then, just let the big boys play. This is not Milwaukee’s year.
Hall of Fame 2012
Regarding this post, I kind of want to cry foul, but then I remember that this is about baseball and not my personal opinions of players (that does not stop me from wanting to barbecue Roger Clemens tomorrow.) I’m still upset that Buck O’Neil was not inducted into the Hall. I’d like to see Joe Girardi, Don Mattingly, Mo Vaughn, and Mark Grace in the Hall. I doubt it will happen, just as I doubt Andre Dawson will be inducted. Balloting has become pretentious and turned into a popularity contest, a sort of award for surviving the court of public opinion.
Breaking it down:
Craig Biggio (retired) – he and Jeff Bagwell should both be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Their accomplishments on the field speak for themselves.
Mike Piazza (retired) – yes. definitely.
Roger Clemens (limbo) – see Bonds. I hate him, but he’s a great player.
Barry Bonds (limbo) – asterisk or no asterisk, you can’t deny what he did for the game. I’m sure there are plenty of players already in the Hall who took steroids at a time when they were not banned in the league. Being a jerk shouldn’t keep you out of the Hall of Fame.
Sammy Sosa (no idea) – aside from 1998 and the race with McGwire, I’m a little bit iffy on Sosa.
There are plenty of players who deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. I disagree with banning people who used steroids at a time when they were not banned from the league from Cooperstown. This bs about protecting the “sanctity” of the game is just plain ridiculous. You can’t punish the league, the players, and its fans because of something legal (at the time) that may or may not have happened ten or more years ago. Just my two cents, anyway.
Cubs vs Astros: Cubs Win
I am from Houston. I grew up going to the Dome, watching Glenn Davis,
Alan Ashby, Billy Hatcher, Terry Puhl.. and later Jeff Bagwell and
Craig Biggio. These guys shaped my life, until I hit the age of seven.
When I was in first grade, I came home and watched afternoon baseball
on WGN. And I was hooked. I was now a Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, and Cubs fan for life.
Now,
pushing twenty years later, I’ve grown to hate the entire city of
Houston – including the Astros. Houston doesn’t value anything of its
culture or history, they just tear it down and forget about it. The
people here are fickle and ridiculous; “Astros fans” are mainly
bandwagoners in it for Free Food Thursday and a change to bag a
ballplayer. The Astros of my youth valued diversity, teamwork, and a
community spirit. Lance Berkman aside, all of that disappeared with the
retirement of Biggio last year. The Astros trade any good player they
get their hands on (Beltran, Taveras, Scott, Burke, etc etc etc..) for
“prospects” that never pan out. This is why I cannot stand them. The
way that the “fans” basically ran Brad Lidge out of town bothers the
crap out of me, as well.
The Cubs are not saints. We’ve run
pitchers into the ground on Dusty Baker’s watch, we’ve ruined a man’s
life for trying to catch a foul ball, and we’re perpetual underdogs.
All of that’s fine. We play in a fantastic old stadium, we sell out
EVERY home game, we have a loyal following in every city we travel to
(on many, many occasions there have been more Cubs fans than Astros
fans at the Juicebox..) and we’re a community of baseball lovers, not
bandwagon fans. We sneer at pink jerseys and revel in our history. We
hit up Harry Caray’s after the game and perpetually say, “it’s only
April.. it’s only September.. we can come back.. oh there’s always next
year” rather than giving up on our team.
so, to my alleged
“friend” who’s enjoying telling me how wonderful the Astros on and how
the Cubs suck and will never hang on to their first place lead? at
least we have class.
Carolina
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