A Monday morning potpourri…
1) When it was revealed that Alex Rodriguez was linked to a positive drug test in 2003 (I love that weasly-speak, “linked to a positive drug test,”), it was also revealed that there were actually 104 players on a list who were “linked to a positive drug test.”
Huh? While the mainstream media continues to harp on A-Rod, doing its very best to destroy both Rodriguez and baseball, it has somehow ignored the other 103 players (I guess the names weren’t big enough for a decent witch-hunt) on the list.
Which brought about the first sane, rational response to this media-race-to-see-who-we-can-call-a-cheater this week…
“I feel a little violated, because this was supposed to be a survey test and those results were supposed to be confidential,” said the recently-retired Sean Casey. “The only reason we opened up the collective bargaining agreement was on those terms.”
Thank you, Sean.
The agreement between MLB and the Players Association was clear. NO names at all were supposed to be linked to these tests. In fact, the release of any name simply suggests that no one involved at baseball’s highest levels can be trusted to keep his word. Ever!
If in fact the release of this alleged list is true (Which, of course, it might not be. Who’s to say?), then Commissioner Bud Selig, and everyone around him is a two-faced sack of lying crap and the MLB PA should immediately strike and shut the sport down again.
I’m like most real fans — and by “real” that means, people who actually buy tickets to watch games. I don’t give a rat’s ass what happened in 2003, especially when you’re handing me something as nebulous as Rodriguez and Barry Bonds being “linked” to positive tests.
Explain how the names were released, explain how MLB reneged on its agreement, explain to me once again why steroids are bad for consenting adults, explain to me why I should care about the test results and not about the fact Major League Baseball lied when it negotiated these anonymous tests from the players.
Right now, I don’t care about Rodriguez’s test — positive or not. I care that the people who run MLB couldn’t tell the truth if the truth stepped on their pencil-necked throats.
2) On Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, Kevin Harvick won the Budweiser Shootout with a last lap pass of Jamie McMurray to win the 28-car, 75-lap manufacturer’s race.
Frankly, as it is almost every year, it was a sensational event. Especially on HD TV.
In fact, this race was so good, so exciting, that it makes one wonder why every NASCAR race isn’t the same: 75 laps, 28 cars, 2 ½ hours, no more.
If NASCAR really wants to save money, it should bury all of its 43-car, 200-lap monsters and cut the races off at 28 cars and 50-75 laps. That’s plenty of time and lots of competitive driving in order to declare a winner and it will also save the circuit billions in tires, fuel, cars, engines and sheet metal.
And, frankly, NASCAR will also see its declining TV ratings rise because 43 cars, 200 laps and 4 1/2 hours of going around in a circle is getting B-O-R-I-N-G.
3) He is, arguably, the best player in football today and on Sunday, there was absolutely no doubt about it.
Larry Fitzgerald, the 25-year-old Arizona Cardinals wide receiver whose dad is a sports writer in Minneapolis (and for full disclosure, a person I would call a friend) caught five passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns as he led the NFC past the AFC 30-21 in the Pro Bowl.
It might have been a meaningless game for a lot of players and even a lot of fans, but it wasn’t meaningless for Fitzgerald. He went to the all-star gakme and played as hard as he could and that tells you something about the kid’s character.
He might not have been told this in so many words, but the highest compliment you can pay an athlete is to pay money to watch him play. Fitzgerald understands that. He plays hard and makes you believe that he’s the worth the price of admission every time he plays.
That, in itself, makes him the best player in the game today.
