Tag Archives: rules

Cheating Pays Off: Cabrera Could Still Win Title

19 Sep

The San Francisco Giants’ outfielder, Melky Cabrera, could still win the NL batting title despite being serving a 50-game suspension for testing positive for steroids. Major League Baseball despite giving him the ban is not going to get in his way of winning the title. Although I personally think the doping witch hunt in baseball is a ridiculous waste of time, because let’s face it they are all doping, I don’t see the logic in this decision. So you ban a player for taking a drug that makes him better than other players but then could still consider him for an award? It’s like saying we know you cheated but you still won anyways. I thought the MLB was all about cracking down and discouraging doping?

This is of course if Cabrera still wins. Right now he has 501 appearances at the plate which is one fewer than the required amount provided the Giants play 162 games. But under the rules of baseball he could still win if an extra hitless at-bat is added and his average still remains higher than other players.

The best part about this story is that when baseball Commissioner Bud Selig was asked about changing records he responded by saying, “You can’t change records because once you get into that it would never stop.” I think the Commissioner just confirmed my belief that everyone in baseball is doping and if they a start looking into records they would all have to erased. I think right now Lance Armstrong is wishing that the cycling community had taken the same position. It’s a lot easier to celebrate success if you don’t look below the surface.

-M

 

 

The Cowboys Are Strict Parents

27 Aug

Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant is going to be under lock and key. Bryant was arrested back in July for a Class A misdemeanor for assaulting his mother. Apparently there was an argument and he pushed her. She didn’t not need to go to the hospital but the police were still called. Although this was Bryant’s first arrest he previous had an altercation in a nightclub in Miami and was also banned from a mall for bad language and sagging pants. The Cowboys are taking no chances on him getting into the trouble again.

The 23-year old will be adhering to some new rules. Here is what he must do:

1. Attend weekly counseling sessions.

2. Have a full-time security detail. They will be with him all the time: practices, games, lunch with his grandma.

3. Cannot consume alcohol or go to strip clubs.

4. He has a 12am curfew every night.

So basically Bryant is like a 15-year old kid. But on the bright side at least the Cowboys care enough to give him rules. When Chad Johnson hit his wife the Miami Dolphins just sent him packing. And he does get a much bigger salary than the average teenager with a contract of $1.34 million yearly.

-M

 

So Everyone is On Drugs

17 Aug

I’m always amazing that out of all the sports, baseball is the one in the spotlight for steroid use. I understand it takes a lot of power to hit the ball and you need to be able to run fast but I also remember pictures of a chubby Babe Ruth . . . so you can see my confusion. But yet again another player has been suspended. San Francisco Giants’ outfielder, Melky Cabrera, received a 50 game suspension for having high levels of testosterone. Cabrera is an MVP who leads the league in hits with 159 and is second in batting average at .346. The record for highest batting average held by Ty Cobb is .366. (The batting average is number of hits divided by times the player is at the plate batting). So you can imagine losing him will really hurt the Giants.

In reaction to the suspension Giants general manager Brian Sabean was only slightly surprised shocked. Sabean said, “I was actually in the meeting with Bruce when he talked to the players and I kind of got emotional because I didn’t see something like this coming.” Who did see this coming? None other than steroid developer and pusher Victor Conte. You may remember Conte from his involvement in the Barry Bonds case. Conte served time in prison for his distribution of steroids and money laundering through his company, Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative(BALCO).

When asked about the current drug use in the MLB Conte said, “I would say maybe as much as half of baseball. I’m not going to name names but I’ve talked to a lot of top players in Major League Baseball, and they tell me this is what they’re doing. There is rampant use of synthetic testosterone in Major League Baseball.”

Not only that but Conte went on to claim that it is pretty easy to get away with it despite the more strict drug test that have been implemented by the MLB. Players can get rid of steroids in their system in as little as 8 hours.

So what does the MLB have to say about all of these allegations. MLB vice president Rob Manfred said, “There is no way that Victor Conte would have information that would allow him to have any basis on that.” Good job MLB baseball denial is the best way to deal with this issue. Let’s all just keep pretending that this is not happening and it will just continue go away.

As I have said before I think we should all just get real. There is no way to stop players from using steroids . . .  obviously. So instead let’s just make everyone use them. It is the only way to level the playing field. Legalize steroids and pass them out to players. I mean we have no moral problem pumping farms animals full of them so why can’t we just legalize them in purer form? We are all already eating them anyways.

-M

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now That’s What I Call Recruiting

11 Apr

The college basketball world has long suspected Baylor’s basketball coach Scott Drew of stepping over the line in the recruitment process. Now after a three-year investigation it’s official Baylor has been violating the NCAA’s policies. They have been calling and texting recruiting prospects trying to threaten encourage them to attend Baylor. If you read the NCAA’s recruiting rules it clearly states that a coach can only make one call per week to a prospective recruit and that is only in their junior and senior year. As sophomore the coach can’t even call you back if you leave him a message. It was discovered that Baylor staff (including for women’s basketball) had made over 1,200 illegal calls and text to recruits. I think we can all do the math and tell that is way over one call a week. The best part is that in attempt to cover up these illegal correspondences the assistant coach Mark Morefield tried to get the Amateur Athletic Union coaches to lie to the N.C.A.A. Morefield resigned last July from Baylor and is now the fall guy for the whole thing.

Drew was charged with “failure to monitor” his assistant coaches. Drew claims that the violations happened because the coaches didn’t communicate well and no one logged the calls. I find it a little hard to believe that he had no idea that Morefield was constantly calling and texting recruits. Morefield said in a statement that he never “. . . intentionally violated NCAA rules. I will grow from this experience with a better understanding of NCAA rules.” So let me get this straight you never knew you were violating the rules but you asked the A.A.U to lie just in case? The best part is that Morefield worked for an additional year after he was caught sending a text message to Colombian born Hanner Perea saying that if he didn’t sign with Baylor he would be deported. Apparently that didn’t sway Perea and he signed with  Indiana. I feel like Drew and Morefield are like that guy who doesn’t get the message and just keeps calling until you decide to go on date with him just to make him stop.

The NCAA has now decided to accept Baylor’s self punishment for these violations. The punishment includes loss of scholarships, no recruiting phone calls for a month, and only 7 paid visits rather than 12. Does anyone believe they are going to follow these penalties or will new violations be revealed in another 3-years? Unlike Arkansas, Baylor sees no reason to not support Drew, after all Baylor has been playing amazing the last couple of years. Why stop a good thing even if it’s wrong?