I’m going to talk about Manny Ramirez and Alex Ovechkin but its time to take care of business.
Music to listen to: Untitled Song by The Mercury Program
The People’s Champion asked me I pick so many instrumental songs for my music choice on the Blog. Its not intentional but that seems to be the type of music that I listen to when I’m lounging here writing. Usually I have the Pandora Web site going with my music and the stations that I have tend to lean towards this. When I’m home at night, I don’t like to blast the heavy rock that I usually play during the day. So that’s a long winded way of saying enjoy The Mercury Program above.
Crush of the Day: Lynn Collins
Saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine tonight. Good movie, solid action but I was blown away by Lynn. Tremendous talent.
OK, on to the subjects of tonight’s post.
1) So Manny was pinched by MLB for taking a performance-enhancing drug. The integrity of the game argument has been stated by almost everyone. Yes, taking PEDs are against the rules and should not be tolerated but why are each of us acting shocked that this is taking place. Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sosa, Miguel Tejada, Andy Pettite, Juan Gonzalez, Alex Rodriguez, etc. All of those men are part of a short list of people who have either tested positive or are accused strongly of using PEDs. Ramirez isn’t the only guy to do it and he won’t be the last.
Every sport has had cheaters. Its an unfortunate result of having athletes compete for a common prize that is substantial in nature, whether its money, fame, glory or the general belief in winning.
What does this mean for Ramirez? Honestly, not much. He’s still going to make the Hall of Fame. You can’t have a Hall of Fame with maybe only Ken Griffy, Jr. and Jeff Bagwell from this era. I think you have to look at how players did relative to other players of their particular period. What this means is that we know that PEDs are an element in baseball that didn’t exist as much 30 years ago, so trying to compare Ramirez to Reggie Jackson doesn’t work.
If people can get their heads out of their behinds and realize that PEDs are a part of baseball for the rest of eternity and move on, we will be better.
Furthermore, f*ck the Hall of Fame anyway. Its an old building that honestly only about a quarter of baseball fans care about anyway. Its similar to the steroid problem. The media, particularly baseball writers, try to elevate things like the Hall of Fame and the steroid problem when the reality of it is that many people don’t care about it.
Fans will still show up to Dodger games and cheer Ramirez when he comes back because its what fans do.
One more thing, screw your kid as well. I’m sick and tired of hearing the “think of the children” argument. Bill Simmons, who I enjoy 95% of the time, wrote one of his weakest articles in some time, when he did a hypothetical situation when he was talking to his son five years from now along with his own father celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2004 World Series win of the Red Sox. Check out the article here, I’ll wait: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090507&sportCat=mlb
The article was weak because we treat children like they are some innocent commodities. People suck, bottom line. The earliest a kid can learn this the better. Sports is a great metaphor for this. I learned as a Mets fan back in the late 1980’s that Dwight Gooden was taking drugs and that was hurting himself and the team. He was an a-hole, I learned this at eight years old, it didn’t scar me for life and I moved on.
You want to know how this conversation would take place in the Pourtout household? Glad you asked
Little Elliot or Ashley (yeah, I named my kids already): Papa, what’s up with this Manny Ramirez stuff?
Me: He took a performance enhancing drug to filter an illegal steroid to perform better.
Kid: Is that legal?
Me: No, its cheating, he has been suspended.
Kid: But he’s my favorite player and he helps our team win.
Me: That’s true but you have to realize that people aren’t perfect, make mistakes, do things to cheat and shouldn’t be idolized.
Kid: This is so sad (the kid starts to cry)
Me: You need to stop that or I’ll give you something to really cry about.
End scene.
See how easy that was. Child raising at its finest.
2) The NHL playoffs have been extremely entertaining for so many reasons. The revitalization of Chicago and Boston. The continued excellence of Detroit. The spunk of Anaheim. However, the one part that has caused the most intrigue for me has been the Pittsburgh vs. Washington series.
Let me say first that I like Sidney Crosby as a player. The guy may be the best overall player in the game today. However his pussy…cat ways have rubbed me the wrong way over the years, especially when he complained about the Capital fans throwing too many caps on the ice during one of the earlier games in the series when Ovechkin had a hat trick. This isn’t the first time that Crosby has criticized Ovie.
But I think that Crosby represents the old guard of NHL fans, particularly Canadian ones, who see Ovechkin as a threat. A threat to what is what I want to know.
Ovechkin is an extremely exciting player who likes to celebrate his goals in an exuberant way. He’s physical, charismatic and makes me want to watch hockey. Honestly, he’s been a major reason for me getting back into watching hockey.
However, you get guys like Crosby and old figures like Don Cherry mocking down Ovechkin’s antics. What these guys need to realize is that the old, humble and silent type of hockey player act is nice and appreciated but is also a major reason that the NHL is struggling.
The NHL lacks color and I don’t mean racially, even though you can make a case about that, however, another time and another place.
The league DESPERATELY needs more players like Ovechkin to elevate the sport with the masses. What guys like Crosby and Cherry need to realize is that while their sport may be watched in Canada, its dying here in the USA and if that continues to happen, in 40 years, the league doesn’t exist anymore.
I’m not saying that Ovechkin is a saint but lay off the dude.
That’s it. Good fight and good night everyone.
1 comment:
i generally hate bill simmons, but i think you missed the point that he actually paints his hypothetical 6-yr-old son as the cynical one of the three. also, his overall point with that one is that "everyone did it, so there was actually a weirdly level playing field" (and also the idea that the fans were complicit in it), which is another take on the exact point you were trying make. that said, i'm glad "pancakes" is back for my reading pleasure at work. :)
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