03.26.08
Posted in Steroids, Baseball at 7:37 pm by tim
Jose Canseco has written his second book that rats out former colleagues, teammates and friends for using steroids, and the most notable mention was New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
In “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars and the Battle to Save Baseball,” Canseco claims he introduced A-Rod to a steroids dealer (although he never actually saw him use anything), and that A-Rod was trying to sleep with his wife. It’s that last part that makes me wonder how valid this is.
Canseco’s been right before, but my gut tells me he’s wrong about Rodriguez. And my gut’s almost never wrong, unless there’s gambling involved. Maybe it’s his relatively normal sized body and forehead, or that he’s been consistently great for years. I’m not sure.
Why in the world is he accusing him of going after his wife? What does that have to do with steroids, or baseball? Now it just seems like Canseco doesn’t like him. “I asked Alex if he had eaten my cookie and he said no. But there was clearly chocolate on the side of his mouth, and I had shown him where he could find the cookie.” Maybe he did try to sleep with his wife and that’s why Canseco’s trying to bury him in this new book.
Another question that must be asked, is why wasn’t this in the first book he wrote? Sports Illustrated’s Phil Taylor wrote a column with some great perspective on the situation, including the fact that Canseco’s first “tell-all” book was supposed to…tell all.
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03.18.08
Posted in Basketball at 6:41 pm by tim
Wow. I can’t believe this one. Who criticizes Kevin Garnett’s effort and commitment?! The guy’s probably my favorite current player in the NBA, and it’s because of his intensity. But Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor would disagree with me, at least if we’re talking about the end of last season.
A local newspaper columnist suggested it might be time for the team to start “tanking” at 16-50, and had hinted that that’s what they did a year ago when they finished 32-50 and Garnett missed the final five games. Taylor saw it a little differently.
“It was more like KG tanked it. I think the other guys still wanted to play.”
I don’t remember the injury, I don’t know if he “tanked it,” and I absolutely do not care either way. You can not criticize a guy that played that hard for you for 11 years without complaining about how you never gave him any teammates. Nobody played harder than Garnett in the last 11 years, and nobody was given less to work with on the court. That starts at the top, with Taylor.
Where was his commitment to winning when he had a superstar center for a decade? It’s disgraceful for a team to have a player of that caliber and never make a real push for a championship. When a guy wastes 11 years playing for your garbage team, whether or not he takes five games off, you either talk about how great he was or keep your mouth shut.
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03.09.08
Posted in Culture, Olympics at 4:23 pm by addisport
With all the noted wrongs with the Olympics happening in China — human rights allegations above all — terrorism just has to trump the moment.
God!
The only thing worse than a report that a plane looked like it was being hijacked and suspected terrorists were nabbed is that it was in China.
The irony.
Wasn’t GW just giving some tough talk on human rights there and scaring Americans about the threat of terrorism all in one stroke last week? I believe so.
See, the greatest gathering of athletes has always been intertwined with politics. And bombings have take place before, on American soil nonetheless. And yet, the one country that has consistently shown its dominance in the business world, consistently shown its disregard for life in Darfur and consistently has disregarded freedom of speech is a bigger hosse on terror than badass GW himself.
I don’t have any numbers to quote, but I believe China has just surpassed Bush and his terrorism legacy in number of plots foiled. It also happens to cloak an event in which we, now the world’s second super power (yes, I said it), are going to try to nudge China on their fledgling efforts to address human rights issues (i.e. Darfur again, and freedom of speech).
Can Bush legitimately make an argument, being little brother and all? I don’t think so. Clearly, China stands two legs above America — even in the terrorism business.
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03.08.08
Posted in Culture, Steroids, Baseball, Morality at 12:33 pm by addisport
I was cruising through my e-mail this morning when I spotted this piece of art handed down from the assistant sports editor from the Boston Globe. He said it was from an anonymous source, so I take my hat off to whoever is out there that wrote this.
It’s god damn hilarious.
Check it:
Clemens: You want answers?
Congressman: I think I’m entitled to them.
Clemens: You want answers?
Congressman: I want the truth!
Clemens: You can’t handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has
baseballs. And those balls have to be hit by men with bats. Who’s
gonna do it? You? You, Congressman?
I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep
for steroids and you curse HGH. You have that luxury. You have the
luxury of not knowing what I know: that HGH - while illegal - probably
sells tickets. And my existence - while grotesque and incomprehensible
to you - sells tickets.
You don’t want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don’t talk
about at parties, you want me on that mound. You need me on that
mound. We use words like fastball, slider, splitfinger… We use these
words as the backbone to a life spent playing a sport. You use ‘em as
a punchline.
I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man
who rises and falls asleep to the Sportscenter clips I provide! And
then questions the manner in which I provide them! I’d rather you just
said ‘Thank you’ and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick
up a bat and dig in.
Either way, I don’t give a damm what you think you’re entitled to!
Congressman: Did you order the HGH?
Clemens: (quietly) I did the job you sent me to do.
Congressman: Did you order the HGH?
Clemens: You’re god damn right I did!!
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03.07.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Morality at 9:13 am by tim
We’ve got a new O.J. on our hands in the sports world, and oh God how I hope a new trial for CNN to cover. This time the “alleged” murderer is golfer Tripp Isenhour, charged with killing a red-shouldered hawk “on purpose” for making noise while he was filming “Shoot (At Birds?) Like A Pro”. Who can blame him really? It’s a game of concentration.
Apparently this bird is migratory, which means it flies around, probably, and that means absolutely no killing it with a golf ball. Not even for fun. Not even so it’ll shut the hell up. And the max penalty is 14 months in jail and $1,500 in fines. At least he’s got a good excuse - he didn’t think he could hit it. Looks like he’s a better golfer than he thought.
Once he hit the bird, it fell to the ground and was bleeding from both nostrils. I didn’t even know birds had nostrils! Shouldn’t Isenhour be rewarded for making the shot and educating the scientific community? Personally, I believe the guy when he says he didn’t think he’d hit it. Now, if he had started whacking it with his club while it was on the ground that would be a different story.
He’s already trying to convince people it was an accident by playing the “I can’t be racist, I have black friends” card, saying he is an animal lover and his family has adopted three cats from a local shelter. DID YOU KILL THOSE TOO, ISENHOUR?!
In all seriousness, I mostly think it’s just a funny story. He should probably pay a fine for possibly wiping out a species, but jail time isn’t needed.
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