Okay. Human Growth Harmone....
It's not illegal to take the stuff. It's illegal to take the stuff, much like steroids, without a prescription. It is, however, currently banned by baseball. And we all (I hope) understand why. But here is my problem: much like any other 'performance enhancing substance', hGH has been a banned substance in baseball for a while. A short while.
Before then, it wasn't a banned substance. Therefore, if before 2005, when it became a banned substance by major league baseball, even if prescribed, if a person had a legal prescription for hGH, and used it for a relatively short period of time, that would mean that they did something within the legal and professional parameters.
I'm utterly sick of the complete bastardization of the 'sports news' when it comes to this particular substance as well as steroids. While neither are currently allowed in any sport, both have a place in this world as a prescription substance that people have taken to recover from injury. If you ask your doctor to give you a prescription for a medication to improve your life, then you're doing something that many, many Americans do. They watch the television, they listen to their friends and they find out what will make them feel better. What some athletes did was the very same thing. I'm rather certain that if you were an athlete and were told: this can help you recover from injury faster, and it's legal (with prescription), you would take the medication. Seriously, it's your career you are concerned about. And if you discovered it was bad for you, or you realized that taking something would be bad for your career... you would stop taking it. Some athletes did that.
I'm just saying, if what a person did was legal, why the hell does it matter now? If a person did what was not banned by their workplace (baseball, football, etc) then who gives a damn about the fact that they took a legal substance to aid in recovery from an injury?
Now, I'm not a Pollyanna who believes that all of the players accused of taking hGH and steroids were trying to get over an injury (not the intended use of hGH) or that they did it legally, but a few players in the last few months have been highlighted as taking an illegal substance. But in the stories, after the hyperbole and the accusations, I have begun to realize that they aren't taking an illegal substance, they took a substance by a legal prescription from a legal doctor prior to it being banned. I'm not proclaiming their innocence, since I don't know the whole story, but I am saying we are rushing, way too fast, to castigate these people and then discover that there is nothing there. So, the next time you wish a few people would 'just go away' because they are linked to an illegal, banned substance, do me the favor of trying to learn the whole story before you throw around accusations.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Sunday, September 2, 2007
ESPN Radio doesn't belong to the NFL Network
Despite what you might think, if you are a regular listener like I am, ESPN Radio isn't part of the NFL network.
I love almost all sports. I scream at the television when there is a bad call (or at least acknowledge it, if it's in favor of my teams). Give me football of any variety on most days, and I would watch it. I also have a love for many other sports. And it distresses me, during this time of year, that the only sports on talk radio are 15 minutes of baseball to every hour of football.
It doesn't matter that most of the divisional races are not even close to being decided. It doesn't matter that the 'Greatest Road Trip in Sports' is drawing to a close (it's what is playing on my television right now, go Sybille!) I can hear Al Michaels talking about Football Night in America and all I want to say is.... It's not October yet, and we haven't had yet another surprise finish in the World Series, so hush!
Besides, haven't we all decided that pre-season football is pointless? It's the same people who say that who also prattle on incessantly about the sport. I don't get it.
And I love football. Give me my Indianapolis Colts any day! But let me watch my Cardinals try to make it to the post season, then I'll worry about how many yards Peyton has thrown for the week!
"System Ready.... Launch!" Gosh I love tennis!
I love almost all sports. I scream at the television when there is a bad call (or at least acknowledge it, if it's in favor of my teams). Give me football of any variety on most days, and I would watch it. I also have a love for many other sports. And it distresses me, during this time of year, that the only sports on talk radio are 15 minutes of baseball to every hour of football.
It doesn't matter that most of the divisional races are not even close to being decided. It doesn't matter that the 'Greatest Road Trip in Sports' is drawing to a close (it's what is playing on my television right now, go Sybille!) I can hear Al Michaels talking about Football Night in America and all I want to say is.... It's not October yet, and we haven't had yet another surprise finish in the World Series, so hush!
Besides, haven't we all decided that pre-season football is pointless? It's the same people who say that who also prattle on incessantly about the sport. I don't get it.
And I love football. Give me my Indianapolis Colts any day! But let me watch my Cardinals try to make it to the post season, then I'll worry about how many yards Peyton has thrown for the week!
"System Ready.... Launch!" Gosh I love tennis!
Friday, August 31, 2007
This MLB doesn't quite belong to me, thank you!
What the heck is up with Major League Baseball?
Terry Francona can't wear a sweatshirt? Let's see, health problems aside, no self-respecting manager should ever wear a sweatshirt. Yeah, right. And the reason why they wear uniforms is that they could play again? Or is it tradition? If it's tradition, then why not respect the idea of a guy who just can't feasibly wear the uniform properly but can still coach?
I also must add, hot young pitchers can't pitch anymore. I understand that the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is a heated one, and you have to keep the players in check, but Joba Chamberlain is a fairly young pitcher in a major league game that he has barely played. Even if he's spot on, he wasn't aiming at Youkilis' head. Seriously. I don't like the Yankees. I'm not a fan of the Red Sox. I just don't like it when the game seems to be corrupted in opposite directions.
The deal with Terry Francona was ridiculous. I haven't seen a single sports column out there (and if there is one, please tell me) that says that MLB was right for inspecting Terry Francona's uniform while his pitcher was on the mound. Yes, in the middle of the bottom half of the inning.... It's ridiculous. I wouldn't even shed a tear if he were to sue the MLB for something like "harassment" because that was all that 'uniform inspection' was: unequivocal harassment. This smells of the same marketing that guides what the NFL coaches will wear. I long for the days of 'what the coaches wanted to wear. And to me, it still smacks of pure harassment in more senses than one.
And I can't get past the fact that no longer can pitchers use the ball to intimidate the batter. A batter can hit a ball back to the pitcher and he would never get fined. I'm just saying. This is a ridiculous baseball world we live in.
On the bright side, both things happened in the most over-hyped rivalry in the United States.
Terry Francona can't wear a sweatshirt? Let's see, health problems aside, no self-respecting manager should ever wear a sweatshirt. Yeah, right. And the reason why they wear uniforms is that they could play again? Or is it tradition? If it's tradition, then why not respect the idea of a guy who just can't feasibly wear the uniform properly but can still coach?
I also must add, hot young pitchers can't pitch anymore. I understand that the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry is a heated one, and you have to keep the players in check, but Joba Chamberlain is a fairly young pitcher in a major league game that he has barely played. Even if he's spot on, he wasn't aiming at Youkilis' head. Seriously. I don't like the Yankees. I'm not a fan of the Red Sox. I just don't like it when the game seems to be corrupted in opposite directions.
The deal with Terry Francona was ridiculous. I haven't seen a single sports column out there (and if there is one, please tell me) that says that MLB was right for inspecting Terry Francona's uniform while his pitcher was on the mound. Yes, in the middle of the bottom half of the inning.... It's ridiculous. I wouldn't even shed a tear if he were to sue the MLB for something like "harassment" because that was all that 'uniform inspection' was: unequivocal harassment. This smells of the same marketing that guides what the NFL coaches will wear. I long for the days of 'what the coaches wanted to wear. And to me, it still smacks of pure harassment in more senses than one.
And I can't get past the fact that no longer can pitchers use the ball to intimidate the batter. A batter can hit a ball back to the pitcher and he would never get fined. I'm just saying. This is a ridiculous baseball world we live in.
On the bright side, both things happened in the most over-hyped rivalry in the United States.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Barry, What Will We Do When You Are Gone?
So, since I don't like to mention death and anyone who's obviously alive in the same breath, I had a difficult time thinking about this one. Not really, but that's the world I live in. That's the way I feel like I am supposed to think. But philosophy aside, I was walking through my office the other day and tripped into a conversation. I rarely walk through the sales portion of my office. They don't need me, and they can't really chat, as they are on the phone, seemingly all on the phone.
But it was a Friday afternoon, they were about to have a meeting and they were not on the phones. And I stumbled, tripped and nearly fell forward into a conversation. Barry Bonds. "Barry Bonds needs to have his arm broken...." interrupted with, "Almost no one would miss him if he died next week." And the person sitting in the cubicle next to him said, "Almost? Don't you mean no one?"
And I didn't say anything because I had a task list a mile and a half long and I was only a quarter mile into the thing. As I was working on a nearby computer, I listened to the conversation. After the heightened hyperbole of the wish for Barry's death, the conversation turned to the relatively reasonable conversation. The woman who wanted Bonds' arm broken didn't step away from her wish. But the conversation about his death went to the side.
What is it about this man that makes us so convinced that he's guilty of something? Game of Shadows? Or is it that you helped him shoot himself full of steroids? I'm not professing Barry Bonds' innocence, by any stretch of the imagination, because I don't know he didn't do steroids or any other performance enhancing drugs. Simply put, baseball is full of cheaters. We don't know why they cheat, but if you have watched baseball, then you know that cheating is a part of the game (Black Sox and Spit Balls anyone?)
I've read tons of commentary about the idea of cheating in baseball (just put Black, Sox, Spit and Balls into your search engine and you'll find some of it) and at the worst, we seriously think that Barry Bonds cheated. He's smaller now, and he's still hitting home runs. But the average sports fan doesn't take that into account.
Do I want Barry Bonds to hit 756? Not really. Do I want him to bypass the man who's character helped him hit his baseballs when no one else would support him? No, not really.
Do I want Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols or any other guy to more quickly pass by whatever number Barry puts up? Sure. But that's mainly my dislike for the person. Do I wish him ill? No. I dislike the person that Barry puts forward in the media.
Through it all, many people still seem to like the guy. Okay, a few people, most of them living in the Bay Area, but still people seem to like the guy.
I personally think, no matter how many people like or dislike the man, it's a weird world that we live in, where we put people like the Babe on a pedestal, but Barry, we want him in the sewer.
A very strange world. Now, I step off my soapbox of moral relativism.
But it was a Friday afternoon, they were about to have a meeting and they were not on the phones. And I stumbled, tripped and nearly fell forward into a conversation. Barry Bonds. "Barry Bonds needs to have his arm broken...." interrupted with, "Almost no one would miss him if he died next week." And the person sitting in the cubicle next to him said, "Almost? Don't you mean no one?"
And I didn't say anything because I had a task list a mile and a half long and I was only a quarter mile into the thing. As I was working on a nearby computer, I listened to the conversation. After the heightened hyperbole of the wish for Barry's death, the conversation turned to the relatively reasonable conversation. The woman who wanted Bonds' arm broken didn't step away from her wish. But the conversation about his death went to the side.
What is it about this man that makes us so convinced that he's guilty of something? Game of Shadows? Or is it that you helped him shoot himself full of steroids? I'm not professing Barry Bonds' innocence, by any stretch of the imagination, because I don't know he didn't do steroids or any other performance enhancing drugs. Simply put, baseball is full of cheaters. We don't know why they cheat, but if you have watched baseball, then you know that cheating is a part of the game (Black Sox and Spit Balls anyone?)
I've read tons of commentary about the idea of cheating in baseball (just put Black, Sox, Spit and Balls into your search engine and you'll find some of it) and at the worst, we seriously think that Barry Bonds cheated. He's smaller now, and he's still hitting home runs. But the average sports fan doesn't take that into account.
Do I want Barry Bonds to hit 756? Not really. Do I want him to bypass the man who's character helped him hit his baseballs when no one else would support him? No, not really.
Do I want Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols or any other guy to more quickly pass by whatever number Barry puts up? Sure. But that's mainly my dislike for the person. Do I wish him ill? No. I dislike the person that Barry puts forward in the media.
Through it all, many people still seem to like the guy. Okay, a few people, most of them living in the Bay Area, but still people seem to like the guy.
I personally think, no matter how many people like or dislike the man, it's a weird world that we live in, where we put people like the Babe on a pedestal, but Barry, we want him in the sewer.
A very strange world. Now, I step off my soapbox of moral relativism.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Wimbledon.... What's Up With American Tennis?
Okay, that's all I wanted to say about American tennis. I just want to know what's up with American tennis? I don't have an answer to the question, I just wonder why we don't have a real Pete, Andre, Jimmy or John. We have Andy, a guy who's evolving and might turn into what we thought he would be before. And we have a whole league of second-to-first rate players who just can't beat the people of Europe or South America.
And Roger, while he's an excellent tennis player, phenomenal to watch, just doesn't have the 'it' factor like his buddy Tiger. And he's not American. Normally I'm quite a bit more inclusive (I love the fact that there are tons of interesting people in the NBA and the NHL, as well as the MLB, and I get tickled when there are non-Americans in the NFL). I just think that tennis, being a less-important sport in the US (if Wimbledon were cancelled this week due to the attempted terrorist acts, very few Americans would really care) is in desperate need of American players.
And I know I have heard the Mary Carillos and Johnny Macs of the world ask the same question (and try to answer it).
In the world of baseball, I think my family has hit an interesting point.
We get consistent free tickets to our local minor league (Frontier League) games, and we go. And we keep track of the St. Louis Cardinals with my cell phone. So, my Dad just loves going to the game... and keeping up with his St. Louis Cardinals.
Isn't technology wonderful?!
And Roger, while he's an excellent tennis player, phenomenal to watch, just doesn't have the 'it' factor like his buddy Tiger. And he's not American. Normally I'm quite a bit more inclusive (I love the fact that there are tons of interesting people in the NBA and the NHL, as well as the MLB, and I get tickled when there are non-Americans in the NFL). I just think that tennis, being a less-important sport in the US (if Wimbledon were cancelled this week due to the attempted terrorist acts, very few Americans would really care) is in desperate need of American players.
And I know I have heard the Mary Carillos and Johnny Macs of the world ask the same question (and try to answer it).
In the world of baseball, I think my family has hit an interesting point.
We get consistent free tickets to our local minor league (Frontier League) games, and we go. And we keep track of the St. Louis Cardinals with my cell phone. So, my Dad just loves going to the game... and keeping up with his St. Louis Cardinals.
Isn't technology wonderful?!
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