Big Papi.....Big Phony ?

The company that brings you "all the news that's fit to print" has come out with a report that David Ortiz is on the list of 104 players that failed a drug test in 2003.
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Surprised? Nothing surprises me any more, at least not on this topic.


If Thursday's New York Times report is true, Big Papi, who earlier this year suggested anyone caught failing a drug test should be suspended for one year, will now be linked forever with A-Roid, Barry Bonds, Sosa, Clemens, Manny-wood......and on and on the list goes and goes as it grows and grows.
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His initial reaction to the news was that he wanted to get some answers before commenting on the topic.
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Okay, I'll give you a pass for a day or so, give you time to circle the wagons and get the PR machine working. Don't wait too long though, the society - the judge and jury in this case -that is still waiting for O.J. to find the "real" killers won't wait forever.
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Here's some advice............if this is true, admit it, say you're sorry, apologize to your legion of fans and show some true remorse.
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This is a forgiving society to its athletes that can still entertain its fans. That is the reason Bonds and Clemens are forever doomed, they are at the end of their careers and this tag will dog them until the end of time.
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For Ortiz, the bomb has gone off. True or not, his name is stained forever. Come clean and come clean now, denial will only make things worse.
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How this news stains the 2004 and 2007 World Series titles for the Roid Sox is a discussion for another time.
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The sad thing about this is, for Major League Baseball, just when the steroid furor seems to die down, another big name comes from "the list" of those who failed a confidential drug test.
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Get the list out in the open, let the discussion go for a short time and move on with it. The longer the question is out there, the longer this ugly topic will remain in the forefront.
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If you've read my words before, you know that I subscribe to the notion that life isn't fair sometimes, but you have to deal with the reality of things.
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Big Papi has to deal with this reality, how he handles it will be his defining moment.

A Day of Redemption

Soooooooo...........Michael Vick has been conditionally reinstated by NFL commish Roger Goodell.
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The former poster boy and marketing stud for the league turned convicted felon now has the chance to return to the NFL, if someone will give him a job (and that is going to happen so don't hold your breath that 32 owners will collectively find a sense of morality).
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As much as it pains me to say it, Goodell's decision is the right thing to do.
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What Michael Vick did was heinous, disgusting, inhumane, and much, much more.
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However, Vick has done his time. He was issued a jail sentence for his behavior and has completed it.
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That is how our judicial system works, folks.
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St. Louis Ram DE Leonard Little was involved in an alcohol related accident in 1998 that killed a woman. Little did 90 days in jail, served his probation, was suspended for eight games and returned to the NFL.
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Michael Vick committed a crime and, right or wrong, has paid his debt to society. If Roger Goodell deems Vick suited for his league, the decision should be supported.
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Someone, somewhere, will offer Vick a contract. I'm sure the suitors have already been on the phone. Cleveland, home of the Dawg Pound, is too easy. Oakland is possible if only to make my life miserable. New England has been rumored as the Pats have the organizational leadership necessary to keep Vick in line.
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There will be serious public relations matters and you can reserve a spot in the PETA picket lines now as there will be plenty, but the furor will die down over time.
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Remember, what is fair isn't always right, and what is right isn't always fair.
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Good or bad, that is how this country works.
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Rose to Cooperstown, officially?


Word on the street is that MLB commissioner Bud Selig is reviewing Pete Rose's banishment from baseball.
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Pete Rose knowingly broke the game's most sacred rule....gambling on the sport. He lied for years and has turned a profit for his misdeeds for 20 years.
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That said, I've yet to see evidence that MLB's all-time hit leader ever gambled on the sport as an active player.
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I don't know why that matters to me, but I think Rose deserves enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.