After Andy Pettitte's first day at spring training, it made me question what he is trying to sell to the sporting public.
Lets attack some of the comments he made:
He claims that he only took HGH to help with an elbow problem and to try and get off the DL. He says that he took HGH not to get an edge, not to get stronger, but because someone told him if he took it, he could get back into the rotation. Well Andy, isn't trying to get back into the rotation getting and edge? You are helping your team gain an edge in getting a decent pitcher back faster and help in the push for a playoff spot. Then we have him admitting now he used a second time after obtaining it from his father, now he is just admitting details after the congressional hearings were complete. So there is some credibility out the window. Maybe he misremembers some of the details?
Next we get the standard "Tell your sons and daughters that what I did was wrong and that they should learn from my mistakes." What says Pettitte actually cares about children, or what people think of him? This is a Yankee P.R. person in his ear telling him to say exactly what people want to hear. He was reading from a prepared statement, which I can't knock him for, it is just sounded like some other prepared statements. I have heard that one before, looking at you Michael Vick and Marion Jones.
Next we have the obligatory playing to the Christian people when he mentions speaking at his church. Have heard that so many times from some of the people mentioned above. I don't know if Pettitte is a devout Christian, but it seems that people only bring up thier religion when their fanny is in the fire. Just thinking out loud.
Too many times I have heard the speech that follows someone who has been caught lying. Pettitte took a massive P.R. hit when he was named in Mitchell Report and saying he only used it once, then admitted using multiple times give him zero credibility. I was never an Andy Pettitte fan and now that he is playing politician trying to appeal to the parents of baseball fans, I really don't like him now.
I don't care if someone is a HGH user, just don't insult my intelligence like Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte did. I commend him for admitting his usage, but then he doesn't give me honest reasons for using.
Baseball has taken over the news only because the NFL is less interesting because the Pats are on bye this week. So I will give you my MLB thinking because everyone else is doing it.
Baseball GM's voted 25-5 this past week to recommend Instant Replay for boundary calls. This is a step in the right direction. Baseball has always run away from change and now they are slowly embracing it. They should institute this system not just for home-run and fair/foul plays, but for trap or caught, and foot on the bag or off the bag calls. I know we won't see this system for a few years, but hopefully everyone ratifies and Bud has no choice to institute this policy.
The A-Rod sweepstakes are heating up with him going around to every team and saying how much they have to pay to acquire his services. Some teams sould be involved, others should stay away for fear of embarrassment. The four major teams that have money to spend are the Red Sox, who aren't looking for a third baseman, the Yankees who said nuts to you, the Mets who have David Wright, and the Cubs with Aramis Ramirez. A-Rod will get the money but from one of teams and maybe the Angels or Dodgers. He will go no where else.
Why are the Florida Marlins allowed to play Baseball??? All they do is develop talent for the other teams in the MLB. Move them to the Triple A level and then they can really be a farm team.
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have changed thier name. Does anyone care? 'Nuff said.
That's all my baseball knowledge for today, because football comes out of a lull in 5 days
Not many stories that deserve a full post, so here is some more Gobbledy ####
I have all the respect in the world for Don Shula, but him talking about an asterisk to be hung on the Pats if they go 16-0, all I have to say is consider where he is coming from. He is the coach of the only undefeated team in NFL history, so you think he wants to keep that record going. Would he be saying this if the Pats didn't have an actual shot of going undefeated?
indianapolis and New England will meet in the AFC Championship game and the coutcome will be similar to sundays game.
Joe Torre will look awkward in Dodger blue. He will struggle in LA because he is not the manager people think he is. Anyone can win in New York with a $200 million payroll.
Baseball managers are paid significantly less than other coaches in pro sports simply because they don't do as much as other coaches. Football coaches make 4-times as much as managers because they do 4-times the work.
With Curt Schilling resigned, the Red Sox are an instant playoff contender.
Andy Pettite is not evry smart for decling $16 million from the Yankees. he won't get that kind of money anywhere else.
Dennis Dixon of the Oregon Ducks will win the Heisman trophy with Tim Tebow finishing second and Mike Hart third.
Darren McFadden is the best pro-prospect in upcoming draft.
Les Miles' thick-headed play calling will cost him a shot at the National Championship.
Notre Dame may have the best recruiting class on paper, but they will struggle over the next few years.
Chris Peterson of Boise State will be the next football coach at UCLA.
I have no problem with A-Rod announcing that he was going to opt out of his contract during the clinching game of the World Series. A-Rod needed that final "look at me moment" before he left New York. A-Rod will get exaclty what he is looking for. When the offers begin to come flying in, every GM will be up on thier hind legs like a trained seal clamoring to try and get him. They will be barking at each other and offering $25 mil. and even more than that to try and land him.
No GM will say that we don't want A-Rod on our team, because that GM will be out of a job the second he is done speaking. It would go like this "We don't want A-Rod, hang on I got a phone call...I just lost my job". Just like that , then he will beg all the reporters to see if he could get a job at any of local newspapers.
A-Rod will go to a team where he doesn't have to be the number one go to guy. He will go to a team that has two or three big stars, he will fit nicely into a place like the Mets or the Cubs. The Red Sox will not sign him unless he wants to move back to short stop and they waive Julio Lugo or find a sucker..I mean team that wants Lugo.
My pick in the A-Rod pool for where he goes is the Cubs because of Lou Piniella and an excellent ownership situation that could potentially involve Mark Cuban in the near future.
I was listening to a radio show, nationally syndicated. A caller said that Curt Schilling gets a lot of calls, from the umpires because he is "Curt Schilling". This caller I could tell from the sound of his voice, and the tone he didn't like Boston, so from my briliant deduction, I discovered he is a Rockies fan.
For this guy to talk the way he did, he had an agende. The way he was bashing the most accurate pitcher I have ever seen in my life was extremely uncalled for and completely wrong . He is an upset Rockies fan who knows the his team is going to go back home down two games with Dice-K coming off an excellent start in game seven of the ALCS, and then Beckett probably in game four.
This jilted Rockies fan is upset that his team is starting a rookie pitcher in a hostile environment, like Fenway against probably the greatest big game pitcher of all time. How can you say that Schilling gets calls, statisticly the most accurate pitcher in the last 30 years. He never walks guys. In big games, he is money.
If Schilling is not the most accurate, and gets calls from umpires because he is "Curt Schilling", then water is not wet, grass is not green, and Tiger Woods = Colin Montgomerie
This years World Series became interesting when the Red Sox came back from being down 3-1. If the two teams in the had been Colorado and the Indians, there would have been only two cities interested in the outcome, Denver and Cleveland.
MLB was praying for a Boston-Chicago or a Chicago New-York World Series. They want those cities because there are fans of all of those teams all around the country. Those teams are in some of the largest TV markets in the US. The Rockies are like Dunkin' Donuts, very regional. The Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs are like Starbucks they are liked all over the country.
I completely forgot that the Rockies were in the World Series over the break. They were to good and swept thier way into the Series and made me forget that they were playing.
Now to pick the Series. My first picks at the beginning of the playoffs were completly wrong. And the LCS picks were half correct. Now hopefully I get it right. Red Sox in Six.
