American Sports Thread

Started by magickingdom, October 28, 2007, 06:02:17 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Puckoon

Giants -3
Colts-7
Packers -8.5
Detroit kansas over 43.5

20$ parlay.

DrinkingHarp

BYU  vs  UCLA     BYU-7  take them

UCLA QB  might not play
Gaaboard Predict The World Cup Champion 2014

magickingdom

Good article in todays Sunday Tribune re drugs in baseball by dave hannigan...


The senator scrapes the surface to reveal what dopes baseball players have become 


THE strangest thing happened last week. An athlete accused of taking steroids actually confessed to doing so. It didn't take a positive test to force his hand either. There was no ridiculous demand for the jury of public opinion to wait for the B sample to come back. Just an accusation against him that yielded some plain, old-fashioned honesty of a kind you probably thought had disappeared from the sporting landscape forever. Better yet, the frank admission came laced with true remorse, genuine perspective, and a sincere commitment to educate youngsters about the dangers of performanceenhancing substances.

"I stole people's jobs, " said former New York Yankees pitcher Dan Naulty in a searing assessment of the difference drugs made to his career. "That's the part for me that was so wrong. I have to explain to my boys that I took people's jobs by cheating, and that penetrated my soul a number of years ago and still haunts me today. The poor choice I made for the chance of being a majorleague baseball player I was so young and dumb I didn't think about anything except the light at the end of the tunnel, and that light was the fame that baseball was going to provide me."

Despite chemical enhancement, Naulty never achieved that much fame.

A journeyman pitcher who appeared in just 130 games in the majors back in the '90s, he's achieved a notoriety far beyond his wildest dreams over the past ten days. It's not just because accused steroid-users don't usually come clean with this sort of candour, it's because he is the only one of the 90 baseball players cited in George Mitchell's recent report into steroid use who has given a full and plausible account of his actions.

The rest have resorted to a combination of half-truths, badly thought-out equivocations and scarcely credible denials that reek more of the Mahon Tribunal than the Major Leagues.

Half a dozen of the biggest names mentioned have denied steroid use but admitted using Human Growth Hormone for brief periods when struggling to come back from injuries. Other excuses have veered so far this side of unbelievable that it remains just for somebody to come out and admit he once accidentally sat on a needle full of anabolics in a darkened locker room and didn't realise what they were until he saw his biceps enlarge.

"In 2003, when I took one shot of steroids, I immediately realised that this was not what I stood for or anything that I wanted to continue doing, " said Baltimore Orioles' second baseman Brian Roberts, in a typically difficult to believe apology. "I never used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing drugs prior to or since that single incident. I can honestly say before God, myself, my family and all of my fans that steroids or any performance-enhancing drugs have never had any effect on what I have worked so hard to accomplish in the game of baseball."

Even if the fallout from the publication of his findings has been at times surreal, the former Northern Ireland peace envoy deserves enormous credit. He produced something of real substance despite encountering roadblocks at every turn during his 21-month investigation. The Major League Baseball Players' Association (MLBPA) refused to co-operate and with all but a handful of the current players scared to answer calls, Mitchell and his team still garnered weighty evidence from Kirk Radomski, a former New York Met clubhouse assistantturned steroid supplier, and Brian McNamee, a former New York Yankees strength and conditioning coach.

It wasn't enough to expose the true extent of steroid use but did offer a glimpse at how endemic it must have been. To those hoping baseball might finally try to clean up its tawdry act, this pair the were the unlikely heroes of the 409-page narrative. Even if their co-operation was a result of federal pressure relating to other charges, Radomski and McNamee supplied graphic testimony about the decade leading up to the introduction of proper testing in 2004. Of course, the sport's ingrained attitude to the topic is such that one ESPN analyst who you might have figured would laud their contribution to unmasking the liars described them as "sewer rats".

One of the sewer rats gave up the biggest name of all when McNamee recalled injecting Roger Clemens . . . the greatest pitcher of his generation . . . with steroids. Much like Barry Bonds, Clemens' career trajectory always had a disturbing arc to it. As he reached his mid-30s, he began to improve and get stronger at an age when most pitchers start to fade. Despite his best friend, training partner and fellow New York Yankee icon Andy Pettite admitting that the HGH accusations against him in the report were correct, Clemens strenuously denied every allegation, a screed stretching for eight and a half pages in Mitchell's report.

"I want to state clearly and without qualification: I did not take steroids, human growth hormone or any other banned substances at any time in my baseball career or, in fact, my entire life, " said the 45-year-old Texan who came out of retirement to pitch for the Yankees last summer. "Those substances represent a dangerous and destructive shortcut that no athlete should ever take. I am disappointed that my 25 years in public life have apparently not earned me the benefit of the doubt, but I understand that Senator Mitchell's report has raised many serious questions. I plan to publicly answer all of those questions at the appropriate time in the appropriate way. I only ask that in the meantime people not rush to judgment."

Notwithstanding the numerous American sports fans who care not a jot whether their heroes cheat, the cynicism regarding drugs has reached such a level that most sane observers laughed aloud as they read the text of Clemens' denial. Apart from all the circumstantial evidence, his statement came after analysis showed a massive improvement in his performances after the exact point in 1998 when McNamee claims he began dabbling with pharmaceuticals.

Never the most popular player outside the clubs he pitched for on his way to 354 wins, Clemens' dilemma was put in sharp focus by one of his peers.

"So as a fan my thought is that Roger will find a way in short order to organise a legal team to guarantee a retraction of the allegations made, a public apology is made, and his name is completely cleared, " wrote Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling in his blog 38pitches. com. "If he doesn't do that then there aren't many options as a fan for me other than to believe his career 192 wins and 3 Cy Youngs (awarded to the best pitcher each season) he won prior to 1997 were the end. From that point on the numbers were attained through using PED's (Performance Enhancing Drugs)" Clemens may have his day on Capitol Hill before he gets a day in court. Almost as soon as the Mitchell Report was printed up, it emerged Congress would be holding more hearings into steroids and baseball next month. Anybody summoned to appear before that committee must do so under oath and beneath the unforgiving glare of live television cameras.

The last time that a group players were put under that harsh spotlight retired slugger Mark McGwire did so much damage to his reputation he has scarcely been seen in public since. Any Clemens' appearance would also come freighted with talk about the possibility of him perjuring himself.

During a fractious week and a half since Mitchell held his press conference to announce his findings, the one thing everybody agrees on is his report only scratches the surface of this problem. He fingered 90 individuals but most estimates put the number of users between 1995 and 2005 at maybe ten times that number. In a sport where statistics are the sine qua non, that one now trumps all.




Puckoon

Quote from: Puckoon on December 22, 2007, 09:28:04 PM
Giants -3
Colts-7
Packers -8.5
Detroit kansas over 43.5

20$ parlay.


What about them f**king bears then. >:(

DrinkingHarp

Quote from: Puckoon on December 25, 2007, 06:49:07 AM
Quote from: Puckoon on December 22, 2007, 09:28:04 PM
Giants -3
Colts-7
Packers -8.5
Detroit kansas over 43.5

20$ parlay.


What about them f**king bears then. >:(

Sorry Puck
Lovie Smith said the season is not successful unless they sweep the Pack.
Made 300 on the game to cancel out a few bd picks this week.
End of the season is tough making picks with teams resting/evaluating players.


Gaaboard Predict The World Cup Champion 2014

Gabriel_Hurl

So it all comes down to tonight  8) 8)

Puckoon

Id like to see them do it - but Id like the giants to make them play well to accomplish the feat. I took the over at 46.5.

magickingdom

going to stay up for that for as long as i can! hope the pats do it...

DrinkingHarp

Gaaboard Predict The World Cup Champion 2014

ONeill

I wanna have my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames.

FL/MAYO

Quote from: ONeill on December 29, 2007, 11:52:01 PM
Has it been done before?

The Dolphins are the only undefeated team....come on the Giants

Carmen Stateside

Game starts 8 15 eastern.

Think both teams going to be full strength, looking forward to it! Come on Giants! :)

Carmen Stateside

Is that Eli or Peyton :o Good start by Giants!

Puckoon


Carmen Stateside

Go Giants! Really enjoying this :)
Brady and Co aint going to get it easy!
Hopefully a close finish in store :)