The Sports Rumors

So Now What?

Where do you we go from here? We got all the dynamics we could have imagined thrown into one scrum. You have the evil Barry Bonds and you have the mostly liked, respected by all Roger Clemens. You have the hitter and you have the pitcher. You have the good guy and you have the bad guy. You have the race element. You have the family man and you have the adulterer. But the fact remains, both “allegedly” used.

So now what? Everyone screamed for an asterisk next to Bonds name in the hall of fame. Are you going to do that for Clemens? Where do we put the asterisk? Does it go next to every single mark he has? I mean, you can’t just have it for the records. What about his career ERA? What about his wins? What about the Yankees championship teams? Do you put an asterisk next to them, considering the fact that Clemens had arguably the best two game pitching performance in league history; the same year and timeframe he is accused of using.

Everything is tainted. Everything. There is no clear cut right and no clear cut wrong. The entire era is tainted. You can’t single out a few select players who hold records and make them the scapegoats for all the players and owners who are at fault. The following suggestion is not mine, and I want to make sure that is clear. Bob Costas, one who I sometimes love and sometimes hate, is without a doubt an extremely bright individual. His idea goes a little something like this.

Put a page at the beginning of the book of records or somewhere in the hall of fame that makes the following clear: Baseball for as long as we’ve known it, has been tainted in some way shape or form. There was the baseball before integration. There was baseball with all day games versus both day and night games. There was baseball with the flat mound versus the elevated one. There was the cocaine era of the late 1970s. There was clear and rampant gambling in baseball. All these eras preceded the Steroids Era. Fans should be aware that baseball has always had something different taking place, some different era which needs to be taken into careful consideration. Baseball has always adapted for the better. And just like any other era, the Steroids Era has now come to a conclusion. Fans should know that they need to take all eras that made up baseball’s history into consideration when making their own personal judgments about which records mean how much.

I agree with Bob Costas because this is the only way I see feasible and just in making a note in history about what we’ve gone through the past 10-15 years. We don’t need asterisks. We don’t need to blacklist players. We need to simply recognize and state in writing for historical purposes, what exactly happened. You can’t change the past; you can learn from it. A document stating this will show that this unfortunate era happened, was learned from, and that we moved on from it.

Mitchell Report List

· Brady Anderson

· Manny Alexander

· Rick Ankiel

· Jeff Bagwell

· Barry Bonds

· Aaron Boone

· Rafael Bettancourt

· Bret Boone

· Milton Bradley

· David Bell

· Dante Bichette

· Albert Belle

· Paul Byrd

· Wil Cordero

· Ken Caminiti

· Mike Cameron

· Ramon Castro

· Jose Canseco

· Ozzie Canseco

· Roger Clemens

· Paxton Crawford

· Wilson Delgado

· Lenny Dykstra

· Johnny Damon

· Carl Everett

· Kyle Farnsworth

· Ryan Franklin

· Troy Glaus

· Rich Garces

· Jason Grimsley

· Juan Gonzalez

· Eric Gagne

· Nomar Garciaparra

· Jason Giambi

· Jeremy Giambi

· Jose Guillen

· Jay Gibbons

· Juan Gonzalez

· Clay Hensley

· Jerry Hairston

· Felix Heredia, Jr.

· Darren Holmes

· Wally Joyner

· Darryl Kile

· Matt Lawton

· Raul Mondesi

· Mark McGwire

· Guillermo Mota

· Robert Machado

· Damian Moss

· Abraham Nunez

· Trot Nixon

· Jose Offerman

· Andy Pettitte

· Mark Prior

· Neifi Perez

· Rafael Palmiero

· Albert Pujols

· Brian Roberts

· Juan Rincon

· John Rocker

· Pudge Rodriguez

· Sammy Sosa

· Scott Sc hoenweiis

· David Segui

· Alex Sanchez

· Gary Sheffield

· Miguel Tejada

· Julian Tavarez

· Fernando Tatis

· Maurice Vaughn

· Jason Varitek

· Ismael Valdez

· Matt Williams

· Kerry Wood

· Brady Anderson

· Manny Alexander

· Rick Ankiel

· Jeff Bagwell

· Barry Bonds

· Aaron Boone

· Rafael Bettancourt

· Bret Boone

· Milton Bradley

· David Bell

· Dante Bichette

· Albert Belle

· Paul Byrd

· Wil Cordero

· Ken Caminiti

· Mike Cameron

· Ramon Castro

· Jose Canseco

· Ozzie Canseco

· Roger Clemens

· Paxton Crawford

· Wilson Delgado

· Lenny Dykstra

· Johnny Damon

· Carl Everett

· Kyle Farnsworth

· Ryan Franklin

· Troy Glaus

· Rich Garces

· Jason Grimsley

· Juan Gonzalez

· Eric Gagne

· Nomar Garciaparra

· Jason Giambi

· Jeremy Giambi

· Jose Guillen

· Jay Gibbons

· Juan Gonzalez

· Clay Hensley

· Jerry Hairston

· Felix Heredia, Jr.

· Darren Holmes

· Wally Joyner

· Darryl Kile

· Matt Lawton

· Raul Mondesi

· Mark McGwire

· Guillermo Mota

· Robert Machado

· Damian Moss

· Abraham Nunez

· Trot Nixon

· Jose Offerman

· Andy Pettitte

· Mark Prior

· Neifi Perez

· Rafael Palmiero

· Albert Pujols

· Brian Roberts

· Juan Rincon

· John Rocker

· Pudge Rodriguez

· Sammy Sosa

· Scott Sc hoenweiis

· David Segui

· Alex Sanchez

· Gary Sheffield

· Miguel Tejada

· Julian Tavarez

· Fernando Tatis

· Maurice Vaughn

· Jason Varitek

· Ismael Valdez

· Matt Williams

· Kerry Wood

BREAKING NEWS: ROGER CLEMENS SUPPLIED WITH STEROIDS

10:07 AM

Sources say that a trainer has informed Senator Mitchell that he supplied Roger Clemens with steroids. More to come as I hear it.

Today’s Rundown 9/10

*Roger Federer has closed the gap in Grand Slam Final victories to two behind Pete Sampras, who has 14. Federer won the U.S. Open for the fourth straight time, becoming the first to do so. Details on the match as well as perspective can be read on the new page titled “Colin’s Corner“. He was at the U.S. Open Sunday.

*More fallout from the Florida Pharmacy-Rick Ankiel mess. Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons has been linked to the pharmacy and allegedly purchased steroids and HGH, both of which are banned by the MLB. According to SI.com,

“Between October 2003 and July 2005, Gibbons got six shipments of Genotropin (a brand name for synthetic human growth hormone), two shipments of testosterone and two shipments of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), SI.com said, citing a source in Florida with knowledge of a Signature Pharmacy client list.”

*Chien-Ming Wang got his 18^th win of the season as the Yankees completed their sweep of the Kansas City Royals, extending their wild card lead to 4 games over Detroit and 5 games over Seattle. Oh, some guy named Alex Rodriguez belted his 51^st and 52^nd homers of the season also.

*Michigan senior runningback Mike Hart has guaranteed a victory against rival Notre Dame next week. Both teams will square off for what has to be the most hyped 0-2 vs. 0-2 matchup in college football history. When Michigan Head Coach Lloyd Carr was told about the comments and the guarantee Hart made, he had this to say:

“I’m not surprised by anything Mike Hart says,” Carr said, according to the Free Press. “Do I like it? He said it, and he’s got to back it up. We’ve got to back him up right now, I guess. What do you want him to say? We’re not gonna win?

Way to sound confident coach.

*Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terry Glenn will get a second opinion on his leg injury before deciding to opt for season ending surgery. Losing Glenn for the season would be a major blow to the Cowboys, as Glenn was the most productive receiver they had last season.

*I will have a full recap of week one of the NFL season at the conclusion of tonight’s two games. Look for the power rankings and the recap tomorrow. I will have my preview of the Ravens-Bengals game up shortly, with my pick vs. the spread. I’m 3/4 so far this week vs. the spread; trying to make it 4/5. Check back soon for that.

*On a serious and sad note, Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett will spend another day or two in sedation as doctors try to learn the severity and the extent of his spinal cord injury. Everett was injured and fell limp at the start of the second half during a collision with a Denver player. It is not known whether Everett will be able to walk again, so keep him and his family in your prayers.

Golf: Remove Any and All Doubt

As I’m sure you’ve read or heard, Tiger Woods won his 13^th career major at Southern Hills yesterday, putting him only 5 away from the mark set by Jack Nicklaus of 18. It is without a doubt, an amazing feat by Tiger to be going at the pace that even he said was unforeseen. I’m not going to go into details about the weekend because you can turn to any other sports website for that information. Instead, I want to throw in my two cents about a topic I heard discussed on Mike and Mike this morning on my way to work.

Josh Elliot and Michael Smith were substituting for Greenberg and Golic this morning and Elliot brought up a very interesting topic; should golfers be subject to steroids testing? ESPN’s Michael Smith, one I agree with the vast majority of the time, said that golfer’s should not be subject to testing because golf isn’t a game about strength, it’s a game about finesse and mental strength. He also said that any testing put into place would be aimed at Tiger Woods because he is the buff, top golfer in the world.

I have to disagree with Smith on this one and here’s why. Though it is true that golf is not a game of pure strength as maybe football is, it still requires physical ability. The golf courses have gotten longer and you have to be able to get the ball to travel the distance for you to have a chance at being competitive. Also, the misconception about steroids is that it only gets you jacked like Barry Bonds or Shawn Merriman. That is false. Steroids also help you heal quicker and keep your body more fine tuned, artificially of course. Golf is a year around sport and anyone who has played the game before knows the toll it can take on your back and your knees. Healing quicker would be an obvious advantage, one in which steroids can provide the aid. Smith also pointed out that the steroids testing would be aimed to make sure Woods is clean. This is true but that’s because whenever you have a star athlete who is so gifted and above anyone else in competition, naturally, doubters will come along. Throw in the fact that Woods is in excellent shape and you have a recipe for intense scrutiny and questioning.

I personally have no suspicions of Tiger Woods being on any type of performance enhancer that would be deemed illegal. I view him as a very competitive person who does whatever he can to stay ahead of the competition and takes care of his body as any superstar athlete should. However, just the fact that in recent months, the topics of steroids has been raised in golf is reason enough to implement the testing. Why leave any doubt in the public’s mind, even if it’s the minority. Tiger Woods will go down as the greatest golfer to ever live. I’m sure he has nothing to hide. Putting a steroids policy in place will do nothing but prove to everyone, once and for all, that Tiger is the best at what he does; without artificial support.

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The Steroids Era: 1998-August 7th, 2007

The steroids era has officially come to an end. Last night, as Barry Bonds’ 756^th homerun sailed into right centerfield shattering Hank Aaron’s record, it brought along the conclusion of the most damaging time in MLB history. We don’t know the exact figure of how many MLB players were juiced up from the end of the 90’s through 2004. We know how many were caught, but not how many were really using. The fact of the matter is, we never will. Pitchers and hitters both used steroids to better themselves and for the most part, the MLB turned a blind eye and allowed it.

However, it is clear that the poster boy of the entire steroids era was Barry Bonds. He was tagged with the villain figure. The MLB and Bud Selig have done everything, and continue to do everything to isolate Barry Bonds from the game of baseball and make him the scapegoat. Fans and media have also taken a liking to putting the tag on Bonds. Whether it was fair or not, he was given that role because he was the one chasing down the greatest, most hallowed record in sports. The goal of the entire steroid investigation wasn’t to catch every player who had used during the given time period. Stiffer testing policies were put in place to prevent players from using in the future. The goal wasn’t to go after those who used in the past because the MLB knew that if they tried to do that, and even if they were successful in doing so, they would have to suspend over half the league.

Most of players who were juiced up during the past decade simply stopped when the testing got tough, they went back down to their average numbers, and essentially got a free pass. Players like Luis Gonzalez, who out of no where blasted 57 homeruns in 2001 at age 33 (when his previous career high was 31) are back down to their 20 homerun average and free and clear of any trouble. The media doesn’t go after these players though. They go after the big fish. The big fish were Sosa, McGwire, and most importantly, Barry Bonds.

The whole reason MLB went after Bonds so hard was because they knew that if he broke 755, there would be nothing they could do about it. They knew that once that record fell, they could suspend him for life if they wanted, but he would still be the king of homeruns forever. They knew that the all time leader of homeruns would have come from the steroids era. That’s not good for baseball. Having a villain and an accused cheater as the king of all records important is not something baseball could stomach. Well karma is a hell of a craze isn’t it?

Bud Selig and baseball rode Barry Bonds’ curtails to the high ratings, the increased sales, the sold out stadiums, the television contracts. They turned a cheek to all that was going on, all that was wrong with baseball. Well they got what they deserved. Baseball got exactly what it deserved. The record is forever broken and until Arod breaks it down the road, Barry Bonds is king.

Hank Aaron appeared on the video screen with a congratulatory message for Bonds after he broke the record last night. It was unexpected and very surprising to me. I was disappointed at first that Aaron wasn’t going to be a part of the celebration because it’s awkward to break someone’s record, without having them there to pass the crown onto you so to speak. However, Aaron came through with immense class and showed a lot by delivering the congratulations to Bonds. The approval of Aaron meant a ton to Bonds despite what he had said before and I’m sure it changes the views of the public, at least some of them. Hank Aaron’s endorsement means a lot in this equation. It was indeed a great moment.

Bug Selig delivered a message saying that what Bonds accomplished was great, but hinted quite bluntly that there was still an investigation going on. Well guess what? It’s too late. The fans have recognized Bonds as the homerun champion, the media for the most part has, and now it’s time for baseball to drop it and let history be what history is. No matter what happens from here on forward, whether they find something on him and suspend him, whatever happens, Barry Bonds hit 756. No one can take that from him or from history.

As number 756 dropped into the stands of AT&T Park last night shortly before midnight, I came to a realization. I realized that I just saw a huge part of sports history. I also just saw the last big homerun that Barry Bonds, the best player of this generation and one of the best of all time, will ever hit. His final homerun won’t have the excitement and anticipation as 756 did. I’m never going to stay up like a little kid, glued to the TV to see if Barry breaks the next record in line because he is now at the top. He climbed the mountain that a lot of us didn’t think he could conquer at various times during the past five years. Despite everything, all the hate, the negativity, the investigations, the 24/7 media coverage, Bonds overcame it all and now stands alone at the peak. I respect that.

I turned off the TV, got into bed and went to sleep last night knowing that the steroids era was finally over. I went to sleep knowing that I got to witness history; that’s a good feeling.

(It’s all over now. 756 is in the books.)