Josh Q. Public: No blogger can blog quite like I can. I'll take a musclebound man and put his face in the sand. -LL Cool J (Sort of)
Public Service Announcement: OK, here we go! I don’t get it. I still just don’t get it. How did this cat get a free pass? Lights Out. Lights Out Shawne Merriman? Shawne Merriman? Super-charged Shawne Merriman? I'm still not over it. You picked this guy? How? How in God’s name, with any conscience, could you have picked this guy? You got a lot of splaining to do Lucy! I know. I know he’s good. I know he gets he things done. Like a Thompson sub-machine gun. Taking out mugs one by one. I know he had three sacks and an interception in his first two games. I know he went on to record 8.5 sacks and made ESPN’s midseason all-pro team. I know his Light Out dance is fun to watch. I know he had four forced fumbles. I know he forces offenses to scheme around him. I know he bats down passes like nobody’s business. I know he ended up leading the league in sacks with seventeen. I know he’s a monster out there. Putting fear into the hearts of men. Worth a million yen. Doing it over and over again. I know all that. But, I also know how did he did it. He did it using performance enhancing drugs. Illegal performance enhancing drugs. Illegal in the NFL. Illegal on the street. It makes him a cheat. Puts him on the hot seat.
Merriman’s positive test was “definitely for steroids…not one of those supplement deals,” said a source with knowledge of Merriman’s suspension. Merriman’s failed a drug test. Failed, and tested positive for the steroid Nandrolone. Pure and simple. Simple Simon met a pie man. Failing a steroid test by all accounts, is tantamount to cheating. It’s that Simple Simon. He cheated. He’s a cheater. Chester the Cheetah. Nandrolone is a steroid you shoot into your body with a needle. It has been the juice of choice for body builders and athletes for years. Making them run like deers. Making them play without any fears. From here to Zaire. As a result, Merriman tainted the outcome of every football game he took part in. Every single one. Jason Taylor: “You really shouldn’t be able to fail a test like that and play in this league, to begin with. To make the Pro Bowl and all the other awards, I think you’re walking a fine line of sending the wrong message.” I couldn’t agree more. All those sacks Merriman recorded are just as jilted as all those home runs Barry and Mark McGwire put up. Yet Bonds and Big Mac are vilified, and Shawne Merriman got a free trip to Hawaii. He had no business being there. Au contraire mon fraire. It just wasn't fair. The system needs repair.
All I know is if you want to hurn an NFL player, you take the Pro Bowl away from them. That's the best solution ever. I mean, I've been waiting for the Pro Bowl all year.
josh q. public. For the public, by The Public. Irreverent sports opinion from a Bostonian in New York. The one blog to read, when you’re reading more than one. Good to the last drop!