I think it's time to venture out of the Orioles world a little bit, and cover a national story. I can only write about how bad the O's are so many times in a week...
Sammy Sosa hit his 600th career homerun last night, joining Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and some other guy in the 600 homerun club. Please join me in letting out a collective "So what?"
Let's face it, 600 homeruns ain't what it used to be. I'm not saying that because Aaron's historic 755 is soon to be unjustly relegated to second best ever. I'm saying that because in the age of the steroid, any player who hits 600 homeruns can't be trusted.
The last two people to hit 600 homeruns are Sosa and that other guy. Sosa went on trial before Congress to defend himself against steroid accusations, and the other guy refused to. Sosa has been in the league 18 years, the other guy 21. Sosa, over his career, has averaged 33 homeruns a season, the other guy averages 35. Remarkably, both have done the bulk of their homerun hitting in their twilight years, and neither is deserving of the Hall of Fame.
I wish I could be excited for Sosa. He's a former Oriole, a generally likable guy, and was part of one of baseball's most fun seasons in 1998. Unfortunately, all of that is tainted. His season with the O's was disastrous, and we all know that Baltimore is a hotbed for steroid activity. His likability is limited when you have the thoughts of him taking illegal substances in the back of your mind. And we all know by now that the 1998 season (regarded as a season to save baseball) was a sham. McGwire was juicing, Sosa was juicing, and the whole homerun chase was about as legit as batting practice. Six-hundred homeruns isn't that big a deal when you're physically built to hit the ball 600 feet.
"But Sammy's never been caught using steroids. Why are we putting him on trial more than Bonds?" Well, anonymous question asker, I'm taking Sosa to trial for a plethora of reasons. First, he's in the headlines today. Second, he came back to the majors this year with the sole purpose of hitting his 600th homerun. That, to me, is playing for the wrong reason. It's a totally self centered motivation. He couldn't care how well the Rangers do (which is good, since the Rangers are one of the few teams worse than the O's), and now that his milestone is reached, we get to see him go into shutdown mode before ultimately retiring.
The biggest reason I'm taking Sosa to task today is because he is a known offender. Sure, he has never been caught with the 'roids, but he has been caught cheating. It wasn't too long ago that the headlines were ablaze with news that Sosa was caught with a corked bat. Sosa backpedaled so fast you would have thought he was playing cornerback in the NFL. First, he blamed the batboy. Then, he said it was a batting practice bat. I think in the end he just blamed George W. Bush, and we actually liked that one, so we stuck with it. That, however, does not excuse his use of an illegal bat. Since Sosa has been known to cheat before, how can we be sure that he has not been cheating the whole time.
Baseball is a very high pressure game. Players are called up and asked to perform to a certain standard, and more often than not, only get one shot at the bigs. As a result, players do whatever they can to make sure that the shot lasts as long as possible. For Sosa, it's been a long and rewarding ride. Unfortunately, he is going to end up in a separate annal of baseball lore, alongside "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Pete Rose, Mark McGwire, and ultimately, that other guy. He'll be remembered as one of those players that had the ability to make the Hall of Fame, but made the wrong decisions along the way. It's because of guys like McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds that we all say "So what?" when someone hits their 600th homerun.
Peace.
Showing posts with label steroids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steroids. Show all posts
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
"So Fit, It's Scary"
July is quickly approaching kids, and you know what that means.... FOOTBALL SEASON!!!...
The quote that serves as the title for this post is a quote by Ray Lewis to describe himself after tweaking his offseason workout regimen. In order to lose what little body fat he still had left, Ray added kickboxing, wrestling, and swimming to his routine (I'd hate to have been the guy who had to wrestle Ray Lewis). As a result, Lewis is as lean and as fit as he has ever been in his 11 year playing career. To reiterate, a man who twice won defensive MVP, a Super Bowl MVP, and an 8 time Pro Bowler is in the best shape of his life. That, my friends, might be the definition of scary.
Unfortunately, the world we live in is corrupt, and people can no longer accept accomplishments as just the result of hard work and a passion for your job. I blame this corruption on the over-exposure of obvious cheaters like Barry Bonds. The issue is that ESPN.com posted the story about Ray losing weight and getting fit on it's website. The problem with ESPN.com is that it treats every article like a blog, and allows fans/ haters to post comments to the article, regardless of who wrote it (it was an Associated Press article, for the record). After reading that Ray is now more fit than ever, many of those haters started accusing him of using steroids.
Let me start out by saying that anybody accusing Ray Lewis of substance abuse is stupid and should really be deported. Accusing Ray Lewis of using steroids is like accusing me of working too hard at work (I'm sitting in my cubicle writing a blog post). Ray Lewis is the definition of hard work. He gets to work early, he stays late, and he barely stops during the day. He breaks down tape, practices plays, studies his playbook, breaks down more tape, practices some more, and adds fuel to his considerable fire that he will ultimately unleash on some unsuspecting punk on Sunday. Ray Lewis is a self- made man, who grew up without a father, and helped to raise his siblings just to help his mother out. Everything Ray Lewis has today is a result of the hard work and dedication he has shown throughout his life. He even went back to school during his playing career to finish his degree.
To accuse Ray Lewis of substance abuse just because he got leaner also shows a misunderstanding of what steroids actually do. The last time I checked, steroids build unhealthy amounts of muscle mass. Barry Bonds looked just a little bit bigger than me 10 years ago. Today, at the ripe old age of 42, he looks like the Hulk, and his head is bigger than most watermelons. Ray Lewis, conversely, got leaner, which means smaller. To those accusing him of using, let me restate that: He got smaller. His muscle mass did not grow, and his body fat went down. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's very possible that the kickboxing, wrestling, and swimming could have contributed to the slimming of his body.
The haters of Ray Lewis need to unite against him for one simple reason: If they unite, there's a slim, slim, slim chance they may be able to stop him. A leaner Ray Lewis will be able to run faster, but it's still Ray Lewis, so when he hits you, there's a 30% you will die. From what I could tell, most of the haters came from two distinct and unsurprising groups: AFC North rivals (which I respect, since you have to hate your rivals), and AFC contenders. To the North rivals, I say good luck, because the Ravens are even hungrier than they were last year, and Ray is just the tip of the iceberg.
To the AFC Contenders (Colts, Pats, Chargers), I say you're all cowards. If you are all as good as you think you are, why does it matter if Ray Lewis has reached all new levels of scary? If the Colts offense "can't be stopped" (0 TDs last year against the Ravens), or the Chargers are the "most balanced team in football" (lost to the Ravens), or the Pats made the "best off season moves" (enjoy your headcase WR), then why are the Ravens even on the radar? The answer is the others are scared. They've always been scared of us, because they know defense wins championships. Now the face of that defense is in such good shape, even he thinks it's scary.
The NFL is in for a big shock this year. Ray Lewis is back, and when he gets loose and starts running roughshod all over the opposing offense, it's not going to be a pretty sight, especially for all you haters out there.
Peace.
The quote that serves as the title for this post is a quote by Ray Lewis to describe himself after tweaking his offseason workout regimen. In order to lose what little body fat he still had left, Ray added kickboxing, wrestling, and swimming to his routine (I'd hate to have been the guy who had to wrestle Ray Lewis). As a result, Lewis is as lean and as fit as he has ever been in his 11 year playing career. To reiterate, a man who twice won defensive MVP, a Super Bowl MVP, and an 8 time Pro Bowler is in the best shape of his life. That, my friends, might be the definition of scary.
Unfortunately, the world we live in is corrupt, and people can no longer accept accomplishments as just the result of hard work and a passion for your job. I blame this corruption on the over-exposure of obvious cheaters like Barry Bonds. The issue is that ESPN.com posted the story about Ray losing weight and getting fit on it's website. The problem with ESPN.com is that it treats every article like a blog, and allows fans/ haters to post comments to the article, regardless of who wrote it (it was an Associated Press article, for the record). After reading that Ray is now more fit than ever, many of those haters started accusing him of using steroids.
Let me start out by saying that anybody accusing Ray Lewis of substance abuse is stupid and should really be deported. Accusing Ray Lewis of using steroids is like accusing me of working too hard at work (I'm sitting in my cubicle writing a blog post). Ray Lewis is the definition of hard work. He gets to work early, he stays late, and he barely stops during the day. He breaks down tape, practices plays, studies his playbook, breaks down more tape, practices some more, and adds fuel to his considerable fire that he will ultimately unleash on some unsuspecting punk on Sunday. Ray Lewis is a self- made man, who grew up without a father, and helped to raise his siblings just to help his mother out. Everything Ray Lewis has today is a result of the hard work and dedication he has shown throughout his life. He even went back to school during his playing career to finish his degree.
To accuse Ray Lewis of substance abuse just because he got leaner also shows a misunderstanding of what steroids actually do. The last time I checked, steroids build unhealthy amounts of muscle mass. Barry Bonds looked just a little bit bigger than me 10 years ago. Today, at the ripe old age of 42, he looks like the Hulk, and his head is bigger than most watermelons. Ray Lewis, conversely, got leaner, which means smaller. To those accusing him of using, let me restate that: He got smaller. His muscle mass did not grow, and his body fat went down. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's very possible that the kickboxing, wrestling, and swimming could have contributed to the slimming of his body.
The haters of Ray Lewis need to unite against him for one simple reason: If they unite, there's a slim, slim, slim chance they may be able to stop him. A leaner Ray Lewis will be able to run faster, but it's still Ray Lewis, so when he hits you, there's a 30% you will die. From what I could tell, most of the haters came from two distinct and unsurprising groups: AFC North rivals (which I respect, since you have to hate your rivals), and AFC contenders. To the North rivals, I say good luck, because the Ravens are even hungrier than they were last year, and Ray is just the tip of the iceberg.
To the AFC Contenders (Colts, Pats, Chargers), I say you're all cowards. If you are all as good as you think you are, why does it matter if Ray Lewis has reached all new levels of scary? If the Colts offense "can't be stopped" (0 TDs last year against the Ravens), or the Chargers are the "most balanced team in football" (lost to the Ravens), or the Pats made the "best off season moves" (enjoy your headcase WR), then why are the Ravens even on the radar? The answer is the others are scared. They've always been scared of us, because they know defense wins championships. Now the face of that defense is in such good shape, even he thinks it's scary.
The NFL is in for a big shock this year. Ray Lewis is back, and when he gets loose and starts running roughshod all over the opposing offense, it's not going to be a pretty sight, especially for all you haters out there.
Peace.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Just a Thought
On ESPN2's Cold Pizza yesterday, two baseball "experts" were trying to figure out the cause behind A-Rod's hot start this season. The question asked of the men was, "What has gotten into A-Rod?" I have an idea...
Steroids! I don't think it's that far fetched to believe that the MLB's baby would possibly be on steroids. I now issue my disclaimer that this is all conjecture. I have no facts or support to back this up, but I do have some logic, which I will now draw upon.
A-Rod has all the motivation in the world to be using steroids at this point in his career. He is 32 years old, and starting to enter the twilight of his career. Consider how many players past their prime are on the 'roids (Bonds, Sosa, Giambi), and then realize that A-Rod is no different from the rest of them. To add even more motivation, he plays in New York, where no matter what you do (AL MVP?), it's not good enough. The fact that A-Rod has not delivered any community hardware to the Bronx since he has been there has put him under the finest microscopes New York has to offer. This provides another catalyst for him to foray into the dark underworld of baseball.
In addition to all that, lets just take a quick glance at the numbers as well. Currently, he is on pace for 248 hits, 130 homeruns, and 324 RBIs. All of these, obviously, are MLB records, and probably world records. He won't maintain this pace by any stretch of the imagination, but doesn't it seem a little late in the year to still be maintaining that pace? We are almost one month into the season, and he's still posting numbers like it is Little League. A-Rod has almost double the amount of homeruns as the next closest big leaguer, and has double the amount of RBIs of the man in second. I can't dispute that A-Rod is good, because he is, afterall, a two-time AL MVP; however, this is absolutely ridiculous for a man who averages 192 hits/year, 44 hr/year, and 127 RBIs/year.
Lets suffice it to say that I would not be surprised if come June, July, or August if national headlines read "A-Rod Slapped with 10 Game Ban for 'Roidin'". The only thing that serves as consolation in all of this is that for how good A-Rod has been, the Yankees have been thoroughly mediocre. Yankee pitching is in shambles, the rest of the offense is lackluster, and its only a matter of time before those world famous boos start raining down in Yankee Stadium. At the time of this writing, the Yankees sit 2 games back of first place Boston, and A HALF A GAME BEHIND THE ORIOLES!!!!! Strike up the band and start the parade Baltimore... lets celebrate some good times!
Peace.
(p.s. I have adjusted the settings so that anonymous users can post comments now, so you don't have to have a Google account to post.)
Steroids! I don't think it's that far fetched to believe that the MLB's baby would possibly be on steroids. I now issue my disclaimer that this is all conjecture. I have no facts or support to back this up, but I do have some logic, which I will now draw upon.
A-Rod has all the motivation in the world to be using steroids at this point in his career. He is 32 years old, and starting to enter the twilight of his career. Consider how many players past their prime are on the 'roids (Bonds, Sosa, Giambi), and then realize that A-Rod is no different from the rest of them. To add even more motivation, he plays in New York, where no matter what you do (AL MVP?), it's not good enough. The fact that A-Rod has not delivered any community hardware to the Bronx since he has been there has put him under the finest microscopes New York has to offer. This provides another catalyst for him to foray into the dark underworld of baseball.
In addition to all that, lets just take a quick glance at the numbers as well. Currently, he is on pace for 248 hits, 130 homeruns, and 324 RBIs. All of these, obviously, are MLB records, and probably world records. He won't maintain this pace by any stretch of the imagination, but doesn't it seem a little late in the year to still be maintaining that pace? We are almost one month into the season, and he's still posting numbers like it is Little League. A-Rod has almost double the amount of homeruns as the next closest big leaguer, and has double the amount of RBIs of the man in second. I can't dispute that A-Rod is good, because he is, afterall, a two-time AL MVP; however, this is absolutely ridiculous for a man who averages 192 hits/year, 44 hr/year, and 127 RBIs/year.
Lets suffice it to say that I would not be surprised if come June, July, or August if national headlines read "A-Rod Slapped with 10 Game Ban for 'Roidin'". The only thing that serves as consolation in all of this is that for how good A-Rod has been, the Yankees have been thoroughly mediocre. Yankee pitching is in shambles, the rest of the offense is lackluster, and its only a matter of time before those world famous boos start raining down in Yankee Stadium. At the time of this writing, the Yankees sit 2 games back of first place Boston, and A HALF A GAME BEHIND THE ORIOLES!!!!! Strike up the band and start the parade Baltimore... lets celebrate some good times!
Peace.
(p.s. I have adjusted the settings so that anonymous users can post comments now, so you don't have to have a Google account to post.)
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