Is it A-Rod, or A-Roid ?

Is it A-Rod, or A-Roid?
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It appears as though there is an answer to that question as, according to Sports Illustrated, it appears that Alex Rodriguez failed a steroid test in 2003.
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And I thought there wouldn't be anything to talk about with the Super Bowl complete and March Madness being six weeks away.
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Yes, I must admit, ripping A-Rod is a favorite hobby of mine. I think he comes off as a phony and he seems to have a difficult time handling the adverstiy that comes with making more cash during than the entire Florida Marlins team.
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I enjoy his annual October failures more than most and I'm eagerly awaiting a statement on this report that has merit. His inital response of "You'll have to talk to the union" isn't good enough.
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In the court of public opinion, anything other than a denial is an admission of guilt. Since I'm a member of the court of public opinion, and this is my blog, I'm annoting myself as judge and jury, I'm going to believe the SI report that was verified by four sources.
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The other part of this is that I don't think Rodriguez has the intestinal fortitude to come out and admit it. He won't face jail time and the failed test was prior to Major League Baseball instituting its testing policy.
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Jason Giambi came clean, so did Andy Pettitte and others. Society is forgiving to those who show remorse. They have gone on with their careers.
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Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have been defiant, look where they are right now. Mark McGwire didn't want to talk about the past and Rafael Palmeiro lectured legislators before failing a test later that season.
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Chances are, none of those listed above will see the Hall of Fame. The early thought out there now is that neither will Rodriguez.
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It wasn't all that long ago that Jose Canseco came out and name A-Roid as a steroid user. Rodriguez denied the charge.

In his time since leaving the big leagues, Canseco has said many things. At the time, most were viewed as self-servent and as an outrageous attempt to peddle his books and make some coin.
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As time goes forward, Jose Canseco sounds more and more like the only guy with enough guts to tell the truth.
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Is It That Time Already????.

So, I'm at work the other day when the email arrives.........yes, it is time for the annual NASCAR pool at my place of employment, free of charge.

.Fifty-One weeks of fun with hard-driving cars making left turns, revved up engines and tons of chewing tobacco and motor oil.

I couldn't have deleted the offer quick enough.
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Instead of trying to figure out why this sport ---I'm not even sure this qualifies as a sport any more --- is so popular, I'm not going to bother showing an interest. I just don't care.
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In that spirit, I'm deciding where NASCAR fits in my viewing plans when going over options of sports that I'd prefer to view.
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NFL Football? Check.
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Baseball? Check
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Hockey? Check
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College Hoops? Check
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College Football? No Brainer
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Golf? Yep, like to watch that one also.
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Tennis? Don't really care but I'd put it over NASCAR....NFL Pro Bowl? I'm checking in on that along with watching an NBA game over the Daytona time trials so I guess those two items are higher.
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Curling? Yep....underrated and up and coming sport. Women's soccer? Yeah, but its close.

Okay, now we know where the line is. I'd rather watch NASCAR than men's soccer and WNBA.
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Check back next year motorheads, we'll see where your sport ranks then.

Mussina was solid, but HOF'er ?

Word is circulating that Mike Mussina is set to retire from baseball. Mussina was always a solid, but not dominate pitcher during his years with the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees.

After struggling mightily in 2007, Mussina rebounded to win 20 games for the first time in his career for the Yankees in '08. Mussina has 270 wins in 18 years, during an era highlighted be offense and will finish with a career record of 270-153.

The Hall of Fame candidacy has already begun. I'd vote if I could, but nobody is knocking on my door with a ballot for me so I'm relegated to just an opinion.

Mussina was never considered to be one of the dominant pitchers of his era. That is something that should be taken under consideration when deciding the Hall of Fame legitimacy of a player.

Jack Morris was the winningest pitchers of the 1980's and is a post season legend for his performances with the '85 Tigers and '91 Twins. He isn't enshrined in Cooperstown. In 18 seasons, Morris was 254-186 and authored one of the greatest World Series performances with his 10-inning 1-0 shutout win in Game 7 of the 1991 series against Atlanta.

Until Morris gets to Cooperstown, Mussina's name shouldn't be discussed. Sorry, Moose

Pacman Returns




Serious ?

In defense of the Big 12

For those SEC fans who might be thinking the South has the best football, think again.

The Big 12 is the best conference this year, hands down.

I get a chuckle from those who bang on the Big 12 for its defensive stats. With a wide-open conference with QB's like Sam Bradford, Graham Harrell, Colt McCoy, Chase Daniel, Zac Robinson, and Joe Ganz, the defensive stats are bound to suffer.

This is the greatest collection of quarterbacks in one conference that has hit college football.

Look for the Big 12 to be a major player in the bowl season this year.

Prediction Time

Texas Tech has had the best season in school history. The Red Raiders have cleared all hurdles this year and erased all doubts as to their ability to win on the big stage. The Sooners are missing all-everything LB Ryan Reynolds and top DE Auston English.

I'm dying to pick the Red Raiders, but I can't. Oklahoma is playing as well as anyone in the country and are playing at home. Colt McCoy was the early leader for the Heisman Trophy, Graham Harrell of Texas Tech is the current front runner for the award. For now.

Oklahoma will win this game, 44-41. His performance Saturday night will be enough for OU quarterback Sam Bradford to hoist the Heisman Trophy next month in New York City.

Congrats to JJ

While I just can't grasp the allure to NASCAR, congrats to Jimmie Johnson on his third straight championship.

Each year, I try to drum up some interest in the sport but can't do it. Without the crashes, I just can't sit thru a race to care enough about it. I know there is a lot of strategy involved between the teams but there are too many left turns in this sport for me.

My lone enjoyment of NASCAR comes when I pump up the virtues of Jeff Gordon, who most NASCAR fans seem to hate. Not sure why, but it seems to get under the skin of those who detest the driver of the 2-4 car.

The only real positive I can put on NASCAR is that it isn't soccer.