( 4:27 PM )
And Now a Word from our Sponsors
It’s good to see Barry Bonds hasn’t changed one bit since we last saw him at the end of the summer 2004. Bonds addressing the media for the first time this spring training was his usual curt self. It was great to see Bonds using the Joseph talking points and asking everyone why they feel Babe Ruth is revered even though the Bambino never faced a pitcher of color and never used his status as the greatest American alive at the time to advocate for ending baseball’s horrible ‘gentleman’s agreement.’
For those that think steroids have ruined the game obviously don’t know much about or care much about the game of baseball. Baseball is way too strong of an entity, too important to the lives of Americans like myself, to ever be ruined by what Jason Giambi, Jose Canseco and Ken Caminiti injected into their ass. Plus, these guys were never really elite baseball players and should never be held up as what’s good or wrong with the game of baseball.
When thinking about what good remains in the national pastime, how come most writers are at a loss. They moan how they’re going to cover Bonds’ historic chase toward 755, yet they find no comfort on how great of a season we’re bound to have.
Take my New York Mets for instance. America’s Team, as they’re now being called in certain circles, is a bright shining star among league. Great young players like Beltran, David Wright, Jose Reyes, along with talents like Mike Piazza and Tom Glavine have given the Mets back their swagger. While people point at steroids being the story of the year, nobody wants to talk about the fact that rookie David Wright could possibly be the most complete baseball player the league has seen since Scott Rolen entered the league.
But we’re a society that dwells on the negative and we want steroids and the players who love them more and more everyday. I’m sick of people putting down baseball when:
• The NHL couldn’t even field a season this year and may never be relevant in America again.
• When the NBA lets its players beat up people in the stands, then reinstates the players because the penalties are too harsh. Or when washed up stars like Alonzo Mourning can get guaranteed millions for playing less than a half a season, demands a trade from a team that took a chance on a kidney-less aging superstar.
• When college football is too dominated by money to have a real playoff.
• When college basketball consistently rewards former powerhouse conferences while overlooking mid-majors with NCAA tourney bids.
• When pro football players are doped up on painkillers the entire season.
We cheer for Ray Lewis even though he is a criminal. We cheer for Jason Kidd even though he beats his wife. We cheer for hockey players who are known more for their punches than slap shots. We cheer for college hoops players who can’t even recite the alphabet but can perform and produce rap CD’s. However, we boo and hiss Barry Bonds because he packed on a little muscle and won’t answer silly questions from the media.
The game of baseball doesn’t need saving and it isn’t at a crisis crossroads. If we can just get back to letting the players play the game, get back to the box scores and away from mourning its demise, we’d all be better off….
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( 2:36 PM )
The Other End of the Telescope
Relocated down to South Florida, I still haven't gotten over my fascination with the New York Post. Everyday, I buy the paper, which outside of the NY region, costs me a dollar. Actually, it's a $1.06. That makes it the single reason why every morning I leave the house with six cents firmly in pocket.
It took me about a week of trying to struggle through the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel or worse, the Miami Herald, that I realized that the Post, for all of its sensational journalism, still reports and breaks news more often than any newspaper out there. Granted, the Post for a dollar might not be the greatest bargain as the twenty-five cents price it carries within the city, but it still the best read in the country. Got that New York Times and Wall Street Journal people?
The Michael Jackson case is off and running. This features to be like the Clinton impeachment only with inter-racial sex and Diet Coke cans in place of the infamous cigar. Like Clinton, Jackson is revered, respected and can do no wrong in the eyes of their biggest supporters. For Jackson, its his misguided family and all of Old Europe., For Clinton, it was the misguided folks otherwise known as the Democratic Party.
This trial is going to make all American queasy. Not just the subject matter. Man-on-boy sex is not ready for prime time, yet that is what this case is all about and discussion about the merits of the case are unavoidable. The real disturbing trend that will come out of this trial is how far will Americans go to get a piece or part of celebrity.
The Jackson case centers on the following. A sick kid has a wish to meet Michael Jackson. It is arranged and a friendship develops which includes sleep-overs and the like. Now, the family got what it wanted, their kid got a chance to meet his hero. But the family, blinded by celebrity threw their parental reasoning out the window and allowed their son to be placed into the clutches the Jackson apparatus.
Can everyday Americans resist the temptation of celebrity? Mainstream media cares more about the breakup of Brad and Jennifer than they do about the Iraq elections. Both the marriage and the elections were built on shoddy foundations. Americans love celebrities and regardless of whether the celebrity is a suspected pedophile, they will go to great lengths to surround themselves with celebrities.
The Jackson trial might be the first in a series of blows that put celebrities back in their place of being solely entertainers. Celebrities are not political candidates, social critics, non-profit executive directors and the like. They don't live better lives than your average firefighter or councilman.
How many children need to be molested? How many elections need to be lost before we rethink our position that all celebrities are perfect? the parents in the Jackson case were blinded by celebrity. This is a good thing because what's left in front of their eyes is certainly not something you want to look at.
On the other side of the telescope, we see Howard Dean as the frontrunner for the new chairman of the DNC. We've seen Dean in the lead before and watched him fold quickly. I still don't see the reasons why the Democrats want an also-ran leading the Party. Dean, like the New York Mets, look really good on paper but when you look at where he can be effective, you see there really isn't enough space for him to operate.
Dean had no grassroots organization. Solid grassroots organizations don't come in third Iowa. They don't lose the primary in their backyard, nor do they remain woefully silent during the general election. Dean was loved by the national media and that can go a long way to make a so-so candidate look great. You can ask John McCain about that. He was never as good as Newsweek made him out to be.
Dean does nothing for the Democrats, except to fire up the Republican Party even more....
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