American Sports Thread

[mc_grens]

Niners - Philly isn't it?

[Celt_Man]

Highlights from the Weekend on tonight on BBC 2... Worth watching??

[heganboy]

for the baseball fans, any thoughts on McGwire admitting taking steroids?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/sports/baseball/12mcgwire.html

[Celt_Man]

for the baseball fans, any thoughts on McGwire admitting taking steroids?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/sports/baseball/12mcgwire.html

Is he only admitting it now?? Hardly a surprise really

[Declan]

Saw the highlights last night - Some shoot out alright great stuff. A couple of great one handed TD catches.

McGwires confession is really no surprise - The sport is riddled with it.

[lurganblue]

for the baseball fans, any thoughts on McGwire admitting taking steroids?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/sports/baseball/12mcgwire.html

wasnt sammy sosa caught at that a few years ago too.  Remember their big chase for the home run record one season.  No surprise that they were both taking steroids.

[AZOffaly]

I don't think McGwire is a surprise. I was in the states for that HR chase, and just comparing the body shapes of Sosa and McGwire with what they looked like 2 or 3 years previously was stark. I can't believe no one questioned it at the time. Baseball is a shambles.

[Mayo4Sam]

2 unbelievable catches from Jennings, one for a TD & the other in Q3 was top drawer.
Green bays defence was brutal though in the first half, blocking was comical

[thejuice]

Also, should there have been offensive pass interference for Fitzy's 1 handed touchdown.

[AZOffaly]

Yep. He definitely barged Woodson out of the way, ran straight into him, but maybe Woodson didn't have position, i.e he was moving as well. It looked like it though. Fitz is a physical WR and he obviously decided to try and bully woodson around. Woodson is a class operator though.

[RealSpiritof98]

Regarding the steroid issue in baseball, although the advantages are obvious relating to power etc, i always thought the lads still needed the technical ability to connect sufficiently with the ball, forgive me i am a bit green on this issue but would steroids enhance your ability to see the flight of the ball more efficiently .

[gallsman]

Regarding the steroid issue in baseball, although the advantages are obvious relating to power etc, i always thought the lads still needed the technical ability to connect sufficiently with the ball, forgive me i am a bit green on this issue but would steroids enhance your ability to see the flight of the ball more efficiently .

No, but if you have the ability and pump yourself full of roids you'll be able to hit it a hell of a lot further, hence the HR records tumbling.

McGwire, Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr. were all on track to break the record at one stage, of whom McGwire and Sosa have almost undeniable links with steroids. Throw in Bonds and A-Rod and you see how rampant it was amongst the marquee sluggers.

Sosa also broke a corked bat in a game about five or six years ago, casting further aspersions on his character.

Then there's the likes of Clemens and Pettitte as pitchers who have either admitted steroid use or been proven guilty.

A whole generation of Major League superstars have been tainted and very few of them, if any, will make the Hall of Fame.

The Cards hiring McGwire as hitting coach is a disgrace.

[Celt_Man]

2 unbelievable catches from Jennings, one for a TD & the other in Q3 was top drawer.
Green bays defence was brutal though in the first half, blocking was comical

Aye the one handed catch for a TD was amazing, the ball was flying past him, great skill to pull it down with just the one hand

[AZOffaly]

As said, steroids will not make you hit the ball any more often, and won't help you hit a curveball or a tailing fastball, but what it will do is make you hit it further when you make contact. Baseball is made up of different types of players and people. Big hitting first and third basemen who wouldn't run to the toilet, fast base stealing outfielders and middle infield guys, and the battery people. If you are a big slow guy, with quick hands who can make contact, you have to be able to drive in a lot of runs or homers to make a living in MLB. That means steroids for a lot of those guys.

No one would make the majors without having the hand eye coordination to make contact, or without the necessary arm and control to make pitches, but steroids build on those skills artificially. It also completely destroys the game for people who don't 'roid up, and like to work in the gym and on the practice field. It sends and awful signal. I treat baseball like cycling or athletics now in my cynical view of outstanding performers, and even more so as MLB is paying lip service at best to testing/bans.

In my opinion, every record in the books that was set after the early 90s needs to have an asterix beside it, or even a seperate category. You have NFL records defined as 'since the superbowl era', 'since the 16 game season', etc etc. I think records in this period of baseball should be defined as being in the 'steroid controversy era'.

[AZOffaly]

2 unbelievable catches from Jennings, one for a TD & the other in Q3 was top drawer.
Green bays defence was brutal though in the first half, blocking was comical

Aye the one handed catch for a TD was amazing, the ball was flying past him, great skill to pull it down with just the one hand

That was some catch, but the coverage was there too. The Cardinals are prone to that, looking to make the big interception in the secondary, and biting on pump fakes or selling out to try and reach a ball they can't make. Jenning's catch along the sideline that led to the crazy broken play run was a prime example. DRC should never have tried to make that interception/tip, and concentrated on making an attempt to break up the catch, or at worst tackle the receiver. Back shoulder throws on out routes or corner routes will always turn into big plays against the Cardinals unless the QB misses his target. When they do make an interception it's always a great play, but the risk is too high on getting burned. Far better to make sure your receiver is covered, and only jump routes where there's an error by the QB. That comes with experience I suppose, but lads like Charles Woodson and Ed Reed are the experts at that.