"You Don't Need Sterroids....Anymore."

This commercial was run back to back this morning on ESPN with the new Frank Thomas ZizzZaz commercials (see below). I don't exactly understand who they're reaching out to. People who already take sterroids probably aren't going to switch. But, by describing them as a subsititute for sterroids, they've also pretty much ensured that I won't be buying morphoplex for my hypothetical children.

Hearing Crickets

Forget his reputation as a team destroyer. I really believe that the impact of his personality is minimal here. Certainly, his history of being a me-first guy would scare some teams away. But, more often than not people are willing to completely look past those character flaws if you have the kind of talent that Terrell Owens does.

I am living proof of this phenomenon, as I sit here hoping that somehow Plaxico Burress will get off on his gun possession charges so that I can get back to the good old days when he would show up late to practice, skip workouts, and butt heads with the coaching staff and front office on a regular basis. I should not want him anywhere near the Giants training facility. But I do, because what he does on Sunday afternoon totally makes up for his behavior during the rest of the week (accidental self-inflicted gunshot wounds included).

Historically, Owens has been able to draw suitors regardless of what he might have done to tear apart his previous locker rooms. Someone was always willing to give him another shot. He makes his team better on the field. Nobody can dispute that. You can't coach height and you can't coach speed. That's what they say about guys like this, and it's true. Unfortunately for TO, you also can't coach youth, and that is why the 35 year old receiver has very little leverage in this situation.


The kind of contract that TO will be looking for is typically backloaded pretty heavily. I can see a team dumping a lot of money into TO for one season, but Drew Rosenhaus will no doubt be trying to get his volatile client something more long term. But, if you're a GM, how in the world can you justify pledging a large sum of money to a 37 or 38 year old Terrell Owens? I know the guy is a freak, but all the hyperbaric chambers in the world won't keep his speed from diminishing as he approaches 40. And, as his skills diminish, so to will his role in the offense. And then....once his physical skills are less of a factor.....his personality suddenly seems so much more important. This is not a guy who is going to be willing to take a lesser role for the team, and he's certainly not the kind of guy (a la Vinny Testaverde or Sam Madison) that you bring in to help mentor your younger players. There is just nothing positive that an almost 40 year old TO can bring to your franchise.

This whole thing reminds me of the Manny negotiations in a way. Teams will be happy to pay big bucks in the short term, but are going to be hesitant to fork over long term money. Drew Rosenhaus (like Scott Boras) will drag it out because he will be completely unwilling to accept any reasonable offer (which I have no problem with. These two are very good at their jobs). In the end, TO will end up settling for something less than he wanted and more than what he really should be getting. And, because teams already know that they either want a happy and motivated TO or no TO at all, they are not even going to bother entering the sweepstakes.

There are really only three teams stupid enough(yes, I have a group of smart teams and dumb teams) to pay TO the way he might want. The first one just cut him. So I guess they're out.


The second is the Raiders. Al Davis has no fucking idea what's going on in terms of the cap, and he clearly has no concept of how age can affect one's performance at work. It's hard for me to believe they have cap room to make this happen after all the contracts they took on last season, but if he wants it bad enough, it can happen. All he has to do is give the order. People will make cap space or heads will roll. He's just crazy enough to do it. He loves players with character issues. He loves the long bomb down the field and refuses to incorporate the principles of the West Coast offense into his team's offensive system. TO would be a nice fit here.

The third is the Redskins. Nothing they do ever makes football sense (except signing Albert Haynesworth. I'm surprised they knew that was a good idea). It's all about increasing ticket sales. They also have a long and well-documented history (at least over the past 8-10 years) of dishing out huge amounts of money for old veterans that are clearly past their prime. It started with Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders is probably the most memorable, and most recently it was Jason Taylor. TO could be the next link in the long line of washed up veterans to receive handouts from Dan Snyder.

God Bless America and Blockbuster Trades

Trades of this magnitude so rarely happen these days. Superstars in this era usually change teams through free agency or are unloaded for rebuilding (see KG to Celtics for the Al Jefferson prize pack). In fact, the only recent trade I can think of that got my fires burning like this one was the Clinton Portis-Champ Bailey deal. There was no more fitting time than the eve of election day for this to happen, because there is nothing more American than the Blockbuster trade.

The Nuggets now have Chauncey Billups locked up through 2011, with a team option for 2012. I love this move for them. They have seemed like a team desperate for some kind of identity for several years now. After Allen Iverson was brought on board, the question everyone was asking was "Can AI and Melo share the ball." The answer to that question was yes, but it proved to be inconsequential. What we should have been asking was whether or not AI and Melo sharing the ball was a recipe for success.

With Andre Miller out and AI in, the Nuggets offense lacked method and rhythm. Looking more like members of the And 1 tour than a professional basketball team, their inefficiency on offense was jaw-dropping. Furthermore, they were giving up well over 100 points per night despite having a All-NBA defensive player in the middle (the now departed Marcus Camby). There seemed to be no master plan in place, and without Marcus Camby this team seemed destined to disappear into irrelevant oblivion in 08-09. Things will be different now.

Billups will provide veteran leadership, championship experience and moxie, and the offensive stability that has been so lacking. He's got some great weapons in Melo, JR Smith, Kenyon, Martin, and Nene. I expect them to be utilized more effectively than we have ever seen. How could Carmelo Anthony, now in his sixth season, ever be expected to flourish as nothing more than one of the revolving planets in Denver's Answercentric offense? Don't get me wrong, I love AI. He is the essence of spectator sports. He is supremely talented and exciting, and he gives every ounce of what he has every night regardless of the score or his team's current standing. But, he takes a lot of shots. He also turns the ball over a lot, and his overall level of play has also declined. Billups will protect the ball more and shoot less. This will lead to more efficient, methodical, and effective possessions for Denver. Chauncey is also an improvement on the defensive end, where he defends on the ball extremely well.


Although the circumstances have been different, Detroit has also been stuck in a rut. They have been clinging to a song that has grown tired and stale. After failing to make it out of the Eastern Conference Finals for the third straight year, Joe Dumars made it clear that nobody's job was safe. Chauncey Billups is the logical choice for the chopping block. The length of his contract handcuffs the pistons, who see their point guard of the future in Rodney Stuckey. It still remains to be seen how AI will fit into Detroit's offensive system, which has traditionally been a more grinding half-court scheme. But, nobody can deny that this team needs a change. They need a shot of life. They also need to score more points. They have brought in the ultimate competitor, and a guy who has the third highest scoring average of all time.

Regardless of how things play out in Detroit this season, this was the right move. This trade is not about what Allen Iverson can do in 08-09. This move is really about Allen Iverson's expiring contract. Now, don't confuse that with Theo Ratliff's expiring contract. There is a real talented superstar to go along with it, and I expect AI to have a great season in Detroit. But, what fueled this move for Joe Dumars was the cap space that it will open up this summer. Iverson and Rasheed Wallace's contracts alone will wipe 34 million dollars off of Detroit's books, allowing them to rebuild without ever needing to sink too low. I'm sure it was hard for Joe Dumars to pull the trigger on this one, and I'm sure Detroit fans are sad to part with the floor general that has guided them through so many great years. However, this is the nature of pro sports in the 21st century, and I think Dumars has set his team up very well for the future.

A Rant

As a Red Sox fan, I couldn't be more appreciative of the way that Curt Schilling has played over the past four seasons. His skill, grit, and leadership abilities have been instrumental in helping the Red Sox win two World Series, and I appreciate the fact that he was willing to take less money in order to re-sign with the Red Sox. He has all of the on-the-field intangibles that you could ever want from a starting pitcher, and he has a colorful personality to boot. I really do appreciate everything that he has brought to the Red Sox. But, sometimes I wish that he would keep his mouth shut.

Last week, in a post on his blog, Schilling stated that Roger Clemens should be stripped of his final four Cy Young Awards (1997, 1998, 2001, and 2004) and have his numbers from 1997 on erased if he is not able to prove that he is innocent of the accusations brought against him in the Mitchell Report. Curt is certainly entitled to his opinion. However, I have to take issue with much of what he said. First of all, how in the world would Schilling like Clemens to prove his innocence? This has been the single greatest question I have for all of the reporters out there who have called for the players claiming their innocence to "prove it." I understand the sentiment, but I just don't see how they are supposed to do it. I hate to harp on this point, but there are no drug tests from these years. So, unless Roger has had somebody videotaping him 24 hours a day for the past ten years, I really don't see how he can prove his innocence. In fact, if anybody out there has a feasible way that Roger Clemens can prove to all of us that he is innocent, please let us know. I'd be very interested. So, first off, I take issue with the fact that Curt is suggesting that Clemens be stripped of all of his accomplishments of the past ten years (even though we have no real proof of his guilt) unless he is able to do the impossible.

Kevin Garnett just hit one of the sickest turn around jumpers that I have ever seen. I'm a little worried about the fact that we are tied with the Sonics right now.

Secondly (and again, I feel like a broken record here, because I've covered a lot of this before), Schilling is suggesting that Clemens be punished in a way that would be totally unprecedented under the current league drug policy. Under today's league drug testing policies, a player who is found to be guilty of using PEDs is suspended. They are not stripped of all previous accomplishments. It is totally outrageous to suggest that Clemens, for whom we have no failed drug tests, should be stripped of his accomplishments. The idea that we have enough here to definitively say that Roger's accomplishments are not legitimate is ludicrous.

Only up by one at half against Seattle. What the hell is going on here. And Delonte gave KG a hard foul from behind. I don't like this at all. It's hard for me to be upset at Delonte.

Thirdly, I have a hard time supporting any action against the names listed in the Mitchell Report for several reasons. The first is that the evidence is inconclusive in all cases. The second is that the Mitchell Report is based on very few sources, and yet it produced a great deal of names. This suggests that if we were somehow to gather a full battery of information from everyone in baseball, we would find that this was a problem that ran so rampant that it is impossible to punish individuals. I have a hard time accepting any form of punishment that focuses on the players rather than the powers that be in baseball. Perhaps I'm an apologist, but in my mind this problem falls squarely on the shoulders of Major League Baseball, not its players. Imagine that you spent your whole life working hard to fulfill your dream of becoming a professional baseball player. Imagine that you knew steroids would allow you to excel as a pro, become a superstar, and become a multi-millionaire. Imagine that you knew Major League Baseball did not have a testing policy and tons of other guys were doing the same thing, so you were really at a disadvantage by staying clean. Wouldn't you do it? Of course you would. Everybody would. That's why these leagues need to police themselves. Baseball had its first hints that players might be taking steroids in the late 80's, and yet it chose not to act. It is baseball that deserves to be punished, and they are. Their punishment is coming in the form of unanswered questions and unsatisfied fans. It is not fair to the fans, nor is it fair to the players who were clean. However, there is no way for baseball to go back in time and fix this problem.

BIG THREE FROM PIERCE, UP 6!

I hope that this is the last time I'll feel compelled to write about these issues, because frankly I'm tired of hearing about them. In ending this post, I would like to state that I sincerely hope that we will now see an end to the involvement of Congress in the issues of Major League Baseball. It just doesn't seem right to me. I highly doubt that Congress would step in to stop corporations like Wal-Mart, Starbucks, or Burger King from mishandling their affairs and driving themselves into the ground. Why should baseball be any different? Baseball doesn't deserve the help of Congress. The lack of regard that they have shown for their fans over the past 20 years is inexcusable (I can't say that it's worse than what we've seen from the NHL lately, but I can't definitively say that it's not worse). It didn't feel right when Congress forced baseball to come up with a drug testing and punishment policy. It didn't feel right when current and ex-Major Leaguers were dragged before Congress in 2005 to discuss the issue of steroids. It didn't feel right when an ex-senator was spending a great deal of time and money investigating the past use of steroids, and it certainly doesn't feel right now when I hear people discussing further investigation into the accusations of the Mitchell Report. Baseball fucked this up, and it should be their responsibility to fix it without any help from Congress. Hundreds of plant workers in the Boston area alone were laid off from their jobs this holiday season. Companies all over the country are losing money. Thousands of city dwellers have been evicted from their homes this winter. Thousands of families celebrated the holidays wishing that their children were home instead of marching around the Middle East wearing about 70 pounds of protective Kevlar. Thousands more of those same children are being seriously wounded and coming home to receive sub-par heath care. I'm not trying to make any type of political statement, and I certainly don't know the solutions to any of these problems. However, I do believe that Congress has more important issues to spend their time and money on than baseball.