The Babcock Report

So, big happenings in the world of sports. I had the pleasure of sitting in snow bound traffic for three hours yesterday afternoon which really sucked. Even though the commute was a giant goatfuck and my tailgate was down the entire time (unbeknownst to me) on the bright side I was able to hear the entire Mitchell press conference and the ensuing analysis on talk radio, and nothing fell out of my truck. I have to admit that I have been looking forward to this moment for a long time. The implications of the list of players was intriguing to say the least, and overall, I have to say I was surprised by the list released. First, Roger Clemens. This is by far the biggest bombshell of the report. His attorney/agent has allready released a statement proclaiming his innocence but at this point he would be better off admitting his guilt. I highly doubt that he would have been included in the report if there was any doubt in the commissions mind that he was in fact guilty. His denial further proves that he is a pompous asshole and I hope that people give him as much shit as they have done to Barry Bonds (probably unlikely, but I can hope).


Second, throughout the day as names were leaked there were some tough moments for Red Sox fans. Initial reports on MSNBC.com listed Julian Tavares and Jason Varitek among the players on the list. I'll leave Veritek out for a second. I thought to myself, man, If Julian Tavares needed steroids to play in the Major Leagues than what would he be doing if he hadn't taken them? My top two guesses would have to be 1)Bananna Salesman and 2)Bartender at a discotech in Santo Domingo. I was glad to see Tek's name cleared, however, it is a shame that these leaked lists were erroneous because a lot of people are too stupid to do any research. I heard one kid claim, without a doubt in his mind, that Josh Beckett was on the list. Alas, he was poorly mistaken, and on top of that he was also drunk and trying to bang my girlfriend's roommate in the bathroom when I had to pee.


I have to admit that I got a good laugh when Eric Gagne's name popped up on the list. Fortunately for Gagne I don't think that fans around here could hate him any more at this point. Although, I am sure some fans are pissed because he certainly pitched like a pitcher in dire need of some performance enhancers this fall--apparently his connection had trouble locating his Boston mailing address. Lets hope they can find his Milwaukee home so that he can earn at least a little bit of the $12 million that the Brewers just signed him for.

After mulling over the report and the implications of the list of named players I have to say that I'm not exactly sure I can take a definitive stance here. I am certainly glad that MLB went through with this investigation; indeed they really needed to in order to maintain some shred of dignity in this situation. I am glad that a list of players was released although it is certianly not complete, (admittedly so) and in some cases there may be mistakes and innocent people may have been named. This is, I guess, some of the collateral damage of this whole mess. At the end of the day the players who took steroids, HGH, whatever, had a choice to make. If they chose to cheat than they have no one else to blame. However, they were not acting inside a vaccum, and the culture of Major League Baseball, from the owners to the managers to the commissioner himself, all must share responsibility for the irreparable damage this has done to their sport.


Personally, I have been trying to make sense of the role of the Players Association and their responsibility to the players themselves. I understand that the Union must protect its members, that is the point of a Union. But honestly, does it appear to anyone that they protected anybody who wasn't a cheater? The players who did not use performance enhancing drugs are the biggest losers here. Not only are/were they forced to compete against players with a distinct and illegal advantage, they really could do nothing about it. How is that protecting its members? Curt Schilling, self righteous and abrasive as he may be, explained on talk radio this morning that there were numerous instances where clean players spoke up in support of stricter testing measures and spoke out against the use of these drugs--but no one would listen. All the Union would do was innact a code of silence, effectively gagging many to protect few. They reccommended that no one cooperate with the investigation and by and large no one did. Isn't the Union hurting its own members by not helping to rid the league of these cheaters? Their spokesman has allready come out and said, essentially, that maybe they could have done more, sooner. No shit! The whole thing reeks of political backwardness and does nothing to make me feel better about the game of baseball moving forward, as everyone seems so ready to do. I guess the way I see it the Union did a good job of keeping this whole thing under wraps so that some of its members could continue to make enormous amounts of money while (I believe) putting most of its members at a severe disadvantage! Is that crazy or is it just me?! Didn't most major leaguers lose out on this whole deal?


As far as those individuals named in the report, I say, if you are innocent prove it. To do nothing is an admission of guilt as far as I am concerned. I feel that the Mitchell report, as narrow in its scope and potentially flawed as it may be, provides, really for the first time, some real solid evidence linking individulas with the use of steroids and HGH. Unfortunately, now that the cat is out of the bag, inevitably we will be left with a string of denials (i.e. Clemens), and not much else. There are really no teeth here per se in terms of prosecution, except, I guess in cases were players were known to have distributed the drugs. I have heard the phrase "The Court of Public Opinion" thrown around, and sadly, thats pretty much what we're left with. No real answers, no real guilt, no real action. Bud Selig has proven to be little more than a joke throughout his tenure and I highly doubt that he will be able to do anything substantial in terms of discipline. Some people will vote for Bonds and Clemens for the Hall of Fame, some will not. It didn't take the Mitchell report to change my opinion of baseball, but it did serve to solidify my view on the sport as a whole and the organizations-players, owners, and league officials -that have effectively raped the integrity of the game. I don't know what to make of all this, as I am sure few people really do. A strange paradox. As more and more layers are peeled back we know more and yet we know less too. Who do we believe? Who don't we believe? How do we judge one guy vs. another guy? Do we need heresay? The "eyeball test"? Receipts? Ultimately this report shows us that we will not ever know the full extent of this problem, and we don't know the extent to which players are now using indetectable HGH, and we don't know what players will be using in the future either. I'm guessing that they will be using something, because, at least in my lifetime, they always have been.


Well, I have just made myself depressed, and I apologize if its rubbed off on you. I'm never going to stop watching Baseball or any other sport for that matter. I won't pretend to be on such a moral highground that I denounce professional sport and turn my focus to abolishing AIDS in Africa and listening to a lot of U2 albums. I'm just confused, and frustrated, and a little bit pissed. I am sure I will be coming to terms with this for a while, and my views may change as "new shit comes to light". But, it is Friday night so I'll get over it.


Moving Along: A rundown of my week of trivial Sports musings:
It was great to see Kedrick Perkins back in the lineup tonight after he...ahem...followed in the footsteps of another Celtics big man --Pervis Ellison-- and injured a toe in a freak furniture accident. "Never Nervous" Pervis (aka "Out of Service Pervis") went down for the year after a marble table top dropped on his foot while he was helping a friend move some furniture. I had already lined up "Hardly Workin Perkins" but I guess I'll have to shelve that one for a while, which I am glad to do. Also, Perk has got one of the meanest gamefaces in the NBA. The guy always looks pissed. I am also 95% sure he could remove my head from my body with his bare hands.

You say Petrino I say Paterno...
I loved LaRocque's point about being a High School player considering Arkansas and having to consider playing for a coach who changes teams as frequently as Popeye Jones pays for sex (often). But consider this...Joe Paterno turns 81 a week from today. Who do you think is more likely to be around in a year? Patrino or Paterno? Penn St. still has no contingency plan for a Paterno replacement, I mean seriously, does this guy's contract only expire when he does? Patrino can't garner much respect especially when Joey Harrington calls out your manhood. JOEY HARRINGTON! But would you rather play for him or a man who is slowly morphing into a bepsectacled version of Yoda? I swear, sometimes the Penn St. sideline looks like a scene from Weekend at Bernies, only with an older Bernie Lomax wobbling around and arguing calls with the officials. I know, I know, I'm going to hell.


Random Fact
Randy Moss is listed at 6' 4" 210lbs, which, if you check is the same exact height and weight of Jason Kidd. Wierd huh? However, when it comes to having an ugly child, Jason Kidd is head and shoulders above most humans not living in the third-world.




No way Jose!
I had to smile when I heard that Jose Canseco attempted to barge into the Mitchell press conference and was turned away by security. Part of me wishes that he had made it in...what a compelling piece of footage that would have been! Canseco storming the podium, knocking the elder statesman Mitchell to the ground while waving a copy of his book around and yelling about ARod. So close, so very very close. On another note, is it wierd that Canseco, as big of a self promoting sleazeball as he is, has basically been right about so many things? Would we have even made such a big deal about all of this if he hadn't started dropping names and put the subculture of steroids into print? He was right about many of the players on the list, and scarily enough, he might be right when he claims that many of today's stars are using, or have used performance enhancers at some point. AND he banged Madonna. Its blowing my mind...