Everyone in America and those abroad who know of baseball and it's rich history also know the name "Shoeless Joe Jackson." It's a name that has been mired in scandal since 1920 and to this day it's a name that has been banned from MLB HOF.

After the White Sox unexpectedly lost the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds, eight players, including Jackson, were accused of throwing the Series to the Reds. In September 1920, a grand jury was convened to investigate.

During the Series, Jackson had 12 hits and a .375 batting average--in both cases leading both teams. He committed no errors, and even threw out a runner at the plate. Jackson did bat far worse in the five games that the White Sox lost, hitting .286, with no RBI until the final contest, Game 8, when he hit a home run in the 3rd inning and added two more RBI on a double in the 8th, when the White Sox were way behind. Nevertheless, this lower average during the team's losses is not necessarily indicative of anything more than the fact that teams usually fare better when their star players have good games and are more likely to lose when they do not.

The Cincinnati Reds also hit an unusually high number of triples to left field during the series, far exceeding the amount that Jackson—generally considered a strong defensive player—normally allowed. It, however, must be noted that an eight game series is a very small sample size upon which to make any definitive conclusions based upon outlier statistics.

In testimony before the grand jury, Jackson admitted under oath that he agreed to participate in the fix. He also admitted to complaining to other conspirators that he had not received his full $20,000 share. Legend has it that leaving the courthouse during the trial, a young boy begged of Jackson, "Say it ain't so, Joe." In his 1949 interview in Sport Magazine, Jackson debunked this story as a myth.

Jackson never responded, but in 1921, a Chicago jury acquitted him and his seven White Sox teammates of wrongdoing. Nevertheless, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the newly appointed Commissioner of Baseball, banned all eight accused players, claiming baseball's need to clean up its image took precedence over legal judgments. As a result, Jackson never played major league baseball after the 1920 season.

To this day, his name remains on the Major League Baseball Ineligible list. Jackson cannot be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame unless his name is removed from that list. However, he spent most of the last 30 years of his life proclaiming his innocence. In November 1999, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a motion to honor his sporting achievements, supporting a move to have the ban posthumously rescinded, so that he could be admitted to the Hall of Fame. The motion was symbolic, as the U.S. Government has no jurisdiction in the matter. At the time, MLB commissioner Bud Selig confirmed that Jackson's case was under review, but to date, no action has been taken that would allow Jackson's admittance.

In recent years, evidence has come to light that casts doubt on Jackson's role in the fix. For instance, Jackson initially refused to take a payment of $5,000, only to have Lefty Williams toss it on the floor of his hotel room. Jackson then tried to tell White Sox owner Charles Comiskey about the fix, but Comiskey refused to meet with him. Also, before Jackson's grand jury testimony, team attorney Alfred Austrian coached Jackson's testimony in a manner that would be considered highly unethical even by the standards of the time, and would probably be considered criminal by today's standards. For instance, Austrian got Jackson to admit a role in the fix by pouring a large amount of whiskey down Jackson's throat. He also got the nearly illiterate Jackson to sign a waiver of immunity. Years later, the other seven players implicated in the scandal confirmed that Jackson was never at any of the meetings. Williams, for example, said that they only mentioned Jackson's name to give their plot more credibility.

I think it's time that Selig and MLB allow this player who was one of the greatest to enter the Hall of fame. If there is no eveidence to support he threw the series and his own teamates have said he wasn't part of this scandal. If a court of law has aquitted him, isn't it about time MLB has done the same?

New Orleans is a very unique city in America. We love to eat and drink probably more than what's healthy for us. It's home to two of the largest music festivals within the united states, Jazz fest and Essence fest of which the former just passed a few months ago and the later is this weekend. New Orleans is also home to what us locals call "Carnival" officially beginning on the Feast of epiphany, which locals sometimes refer to as "Twelfth Night". The Carnival season is often known (especially by out-of-towners) by the name of its last day, Mardi Gras (Frenchfor "Fat Tuesday"), which is held the Tuesday before the beginning of the Catholic liturgical season of Lent, which commences on Ash Wednesday.

One other thing we love and take much pride in is our sports teams. New Orleans is home to a wide variety of sporting events. Most notable are the home games of the New Orleans Saints(NFL) and the New Orleans Hornets (NBA), New Orleans Voodoo (AFL),The New Orleans Blaze are a women's football team in the National womans football association.

The annual Sugar Bowl, the annual Zurich classic (PGA Tour) and horse racing at the Fair grounds race course, the nations third oldest thoroughbred track. Also, New Orleans regularly hosts the Super Bowl, the college football BCS National Championship game, and the NCAA college basketball Final Four.

Special Football Games:

 Special Basketball Games:

Many Americans will be doing their annual family gathering to BBQ and all other sorts of activities this Memorial day. The one thing that to many Americans will not be doing is stopping for atleast a minute or two to honor those who died serving this country so that you and I may have the freedom afforded us.

 To my heart that is saddening. My Father served this country in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam war. I've heard the countless horror stories of what war is like. I feel very blessed and fourtunate that my father was able to return home from such a horrible circumstance. Though he wasn't well recieved from the masses when he did. I know in my heart that what he and those that he served with all had one purpose. That is America though not perfect is the greatest country for any one individual and even more a family can live. Live with the most freedom one can have because they lost limbs and even their lives to be sure that it remained that way.

 So please all my friends here if for even one minute stop and give thanks and prayers to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for all us Americans. Freedom isn't free at all.

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.

As long as there's been athletic competition involving money, there has been cheating. As early as 388 b.c. a boxer named Eupolus of Thessaly bribed three other boxers to take bribes in the Olympic games. Athletes have been cheating ever since.

It's important to keep this in mind when you hear people yearn for the good old days. "Steroids are ruining our hollowed records they'll say." How can my kid  root for criminals?" And don't for get this one, "These guys are so overpaid they don't care if we win or lose." Ultimately it's all nonsense.

These problems have been with sports as long as people have been receiving money to perform them. The truth is we alway idealize the way sports were when we was kids for exactly that same reason: we were kids.

The other stuff was there as Reggie Jackson was overpaid, ####lord Perry was a cheater, and Denny McLain was a crook. But how did our team do today Dad is all that matterd, so should it be now. Why should we realy care if the N.E. Patriots cheated? It isn't the first time and certainly will not be the last time a team or athlete will cheat to win.

Maybe I'm a rediculous optimist, but I truly believe that at the end of the day, when an athlete steps onto the field of play, he doesn't care if he's awaiting a trial date for a handgun possesion. He just wants to win...badly. More so than our saturated world of internet,radio and T.V. coverage will give him credit for. As fans that's what we should care about most and that's winning.

Can the sports world be a better place? sure it can. The ball however is in our court. We need to stop allowing the leagues to take advantage of us with start times later than our bed times. We need to stand up for our rights as fans. If owners will take our money to hear us scream in their arenas and stadiums, they can listen to us scream outside of them as well.

Ok my friends and anyone else who just so happened to come in here. If you want a real good laugh at my expense give this site a look.  http://moondogsports.com/2008/03/04/joke-of-the-d
ay.aspx

This guy is very funny and a good friend that I have had the privalege to meet here at fox sports. He is no longer a member here but has his own site. However that hasn't curved our friendship one bit. He is also one heck o####ood writer whether it be sports related or just world events. He's very insightful and I feel very honored to be a friend of his. Although I am a good sport and can laugh at myself, there will be a price to pay for this. So please give it a look I promise it's very funny.