Juicy....

Where to begin? There's is so much going on right now in baseball I couldn't even begin to cover it all. So we'll see how my random thoughts come pouring out.........

I suppose I should start with the Mitchell report. "Juicy" is probably the best word to describe it. We got what we wanted and that was names, but many names are not in there, and that's simply not right when other names could have been mentioned. I am in the midst of reading the report right now (almost half-way done!) and have found several instances of Sen. Mitchell not disclosing names for one reason or another. A report from a senator should be able to side-step legal disclosure problems, but it didn't and therefore we are left with things like "Player X." We want names and "Player X", in a report that cost millions to conduct, simply doesn't cut it. I've also read from sports sites about how Mitchell wasn't hard enough on Selig or the Players Association. Well I can certainly tell you that through what I have read, the PA is not looking good. It is simply stunning what lengths they have gone to in the past in order to prevent any player from ever getting in trouble when it comes to performance enhancing drugs. Yes, owners and commissioners could have been more forceful, but in my opinion Don Fehr and the PA struck out about 150 times and share the vast majority of the blame when it comes to steroids in baseball.


Everyone should read this article: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3157202

Thank you Mr. Stark!!!!! The double-standard that I have been harping non-stop about between the NFL and MLB is actually agreed upon by a prominent writer! And here I thought I was all by myself on this issue.


I really want to go over some of the more recent off-season moves and steer clear of more 'roid talk, but I will save some of that for my next post. I do want to say that if I had a part in management for the Milwaukee Brewers, Washington Nationals, or Houston Astros (all NL teams, don't get me started on another soapbox in comparing the two leagues) that things would have gone down differently in the days leading up to the release of the report. All 3 of those clubs signed players right before their names came out in the report. If you are a baseball insider, you have to know that Gagne, Lo Duca, and Tejada were possible targets. For someone like me, I only knew about Tejada prior to last Thursday's report. But that was enough. I told one of my roommates on Wednesday that there was no way I would make that trade for Tejada before Thursday. And now the Astros have some extra PR to do for someone who has never even taken a swing for the franchise. I'm not saying they shouldn't have traded for him at all, but they could have at the very least held on to another prospect in the trade after Tejada's name came out. Patience is a virtue, shame on you Houston. And even if Milwaukee had no idea about "Gagme" as he is referred to by Boston fans, the Brewers should not have overpaid for a reliever/closer just because their ex-closer was overpaid for by a mid-market team.

One last thing:
Red Sox are World Series Champions!

'Twas Right Before Tipoff

‘Twas right before tipoff, when all through the stands
Not many were cheering or clapping their hands.
The crowd for Ball State’s Women’s Basketball team
Was depressingly quiet and small, it did seem.
To the Cardinals poor record this likely was due;
They had won three of five but then dropped the last two.
The fans of Ball State were distressed for good reason;
The Cardinals were picked as MAC Champs in preseason.
When out of the tunnel there emerged such a crew,
The crowd couldn’t help but feel confidence renew.
Up to their feet rose the faithful and strong,
Ready to belt out the Ball State fight song.
The scoreboard above gave the court a warm glow
As it shone down upon the arena below.
When, what to the joy and delight of the crowd,
Came a veteran team led by Cardinals proud.
With a lively young coach as the team’s main controller,
I knew in a moment it must be Coach Roller.
More rapid than eagles she huddled her troops,
And gave them a speech about how to play hoops;
“Now Porchia! Now Audrey! Now Julie DeMuth!
On, Lisa! On, Kiley! On, key substitutes!
From the top of the key to the baseline and basket!
Score away! Steal away! Rebound and pass it!”
They’d lost to some schools with big programs and names
As they trudged through their trying non-conference games.
So onto the court strolled the Cardinals solumn,
Determined to once again grace the win column.
And then, in a twinkling, the whistle was heard,
And the Illinois State game was on, in a word.
Though the Cardinals established a lead early on,
After just a few minutes, that advantage was gone.
The Redbirds scored 20 of the next 24,
And the Cards trailed by 14 with half the game o’er.
Their desire to win no one was disputing,
But desire can’t overcome terrible shooting.
Their shots – how they missed! Their free throws sub-par!
With only three-pointers they didn’t get far!
They shot just twenty-seven percent from the floor.
But after the break, the Redbirds wanted more.
They scored the first six and never looked back;
There was no late Cardinal scoring attack.
In spite of a 19-point game from DeMuth,
The scoreboard displayed the unfortunate truth.
Ball State had been handled, outplayed, and was beat.
They ended the game with another defeat.
Superior shooting sent the Cardinals hiking.
They were now 3-5, to Coach Roller’s disliking.
And watching the close of the game they conceded,
And shaking her head, off the court she proceeded.
She turned to the bench, to her team gave a squawk,
And away they all marched to their locker room talk.
But I heard her exclaim, ere she walked out of sight,
“Merry Christmas to all – at least we put up a fight.”