Unlike my Sunday Rants, I have too many this week to wait.  Here goes nothing:

Motorbikes and athletes:  Why do million dollar athletes insist on riding bikes?  They have ruined the careers of J Williams, Kellen Winslow, Ben Rothlisberger, and now Lavar Arrington.  If you ride a bike you will get into an accident.  It is not if, but when.

Tiger:  He is a daddy now and his career will take a turn for the worse.  He lost this weekend and I predict his win totals will diminish as he will play less and less over the next few years to watch his daughter grow.

Beckham:  Who really cares that David Beckham is coming to the US to play for MLS Galaxy?  I don't.  Sure he is a good looking British athlete married to former ####e Girl, but who watches soccer in the US?  MLS is in its 12th season but I couldn't tell you who won this year or last.   Seems I read somewhere the team in Texas won, but I don't know nor do I care.  It's almost as bad as the NHL which can't pay people to watch.

Orioles:  If they are lucky enough to land Joe Girardi, then more power to them.  Somehow I think Joe may wait for a better club, but I think he is the best managerial candidate out there.  WIth that said, a manager alone can not win pennants.  They need some hitters and bullpen help.

Norv Turner and the Chargers:  Heaven help us in San Diego because this season is going to turn brutal.  I think Norv will turn a 14-2 team into a 9-7 team next year, and that is if LT stays healthy.   Rivers will hit his sophomore jitters and then the Norv curse will set in and then we will see the fans start wishing Marty was back in town.

Kobe:  Please stop the madness.  Kobe can not be traded for anything equitably and therefore it will be nearly impossible to pull off a trade.  If Kupchak did trade Kobe, then it would only validate and magnify his hapless GM abilities.  Kobe needs to stay put and the Lakers need to bring in some talent.  Unfortunately, even if they do that Kobe will lose and his legacy will forever be stained with his incessant whining.  Nobody likes a cry baby. 

SoCalSportsFan

Whenever there is a sports story locally, you can glean a lot of information from the area radio talk show hosts as well as from original sources.  Such has been the case with the Steve Foley case, right here in San Diego.  For those of you who have not followed this incident, it made headlines here as well as nationally on ESPN.  Steve Foley, one of the Charger’s linebackers, was involved in a late night mishap in which he was shot by an off duty officer.  I have waited for quite a while to post anything on this until I made up in my own mind whose fault it truly was.  I may differ from some of our own fellow bloggers, but I shall try to defend my decision and lay out the reasons why I think the only person to blame in this case was Steve Foley.

 

The facts of the case as we know it from the AP wire are as follows:

• Foley was driving home late at night, speeding and driving erratically.
• An off duty officer followed him, presumably to arrest him and to prevent any accidents.
• Foley drove home, which was a cul de sac, and there he and his girlfriend decided to accost this officer of the law.
• The policeman identified himself several times, but never showed his badge.
• He fired his revolver several times hitting Foley in the leg, hip, and hand.
• Foley was drunk, 0.223, according to alcohol tests that were performed.
• Foley has pleaded guilty to alcohol related driving.
• Foley refused to testify on behalf of his girlfriend with him that night.

 

Steve Foley made several bad decisions that evening, including drinking and driving.  The officer who pulled him over also made some mistakes but in his defense, I in no way blame him for shooting Steve Foley.  Foley was warned to stop and he didn’t.  Foley claimed he did not believe the gun was real, but my guess is that was the alcohol talking because Officer Mansker fired into Foley’s car to stop the driver, Lisa Maree Gaut from hitting him.  He also fired into the dirt to warn Foley and yet the football player continued to advance towards him.  Even after the officer shot him in the knee, he continued to come at him.  I don’t know about you, but if someone pulls a gun on me and tells me to stop, I am going to stop.  It sounds like to me that maybe Foley had been borrowing some of Merriman’s supplements and was on a roid rage.

 

Police officers are trained to shoot.  They have to obtain firearm ratings and at the close range in which this happened, I have no doubt that Officer Mansker could have killed Foley if he had wanted to, but he didn’t.  That speaks volumes to me about this officer’s character.  If he wanted to get back at Steve Foley as some have suggested, then why not shoot to kill?  It would have been a very easy thing to do.  If I was a police officer and any NFL linebacker was barreling down on me late at night, I would have shot without hesitation.  In my opinion, Mansker used extreme caution and restraint.  Dirty Harry he was not.

 

Lastly, Lisa Maree Gaut ,(Foley's ladyfriend for the evening) tried to run down this police officer in Foley's car.  Her character is not exactly upstanding.  She had stolen a car and was on probation at the time of this incident.  If she was innocent, why didn’t Foley testify on her behalf.  He hung her out to dry in her trial, and now he has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving in an alcohol related offense.  He is not denying he was drunk which just confirms to me that the officer had every right to follow him and try to pull him over.  That is what we expect from police officers, even off duty ones.  It is their job to serve and protect.

Foley has had many run-ins with the police and by now he should have learned how to respond when an officer asks you to stop.  It is a tragedy because his playing career is over and it could have been avoided.   If Foley wants to give back, maybe he could stand up and take responsibility for his actions and teach other NFL players that there are consequences for one’s actions.  Unfortunately, he is learning this the hard way. 

 

SoCalSportsFan

One of the hot new shows on NBC this year is Heroes.  In it, different characters learn about their special abilities as they try to save the world.  Well, I would like to do a parody comparing certain sports figures to the Heroes of NBC.  Without further adieu, I give you Sports Heroes.

NBC Hero:  Nathan Petrelli, he can fly but has trouble remaining faithful to his wife.

Sports Hero:  Kobe Bryant whose high flying antics include a few trips to Vale.

Fox Blogger Hero:  TravisDW.  Also looks like he has been flying a bit in his avatar.

 

 

 

NBC Hero:  Hiro Nakamura, he can bend the time and space continuum.

Sports Hero:  Ichiro whose swing is from the Ted Williams era.

Fox Blogger Hero:  Dudski whose posts are from a different era.

 

 

NBC Hero:  Claire Bennet the Cheerleader who can regenerate.

Sports Hero:  Scottie Pippen, the ageless one who is trying to regenerate his career. (although you will never confuse his mugshot for that of a cheerleader)

Fox Blogger Hero:  Dusty Outlaw who just never dies.

 

 

NBC Hero:  Peter Petrelli, he absorbs others powers and is possibly the strongest hero of all.

Sports Hero:  Steve Nash, is there anything he can’t do on the court. 

Fox Blogger Hero:  ShooterB who pops up when needed.  His writing is powerful and versatile.

 

 

NBC Hero:  D.L. Hawkins who can pass through solid objects.

Sports Hero:  LaDainian Tomlinson who passes through the walls of linemen in the NFL.

Fox Blogger Hero:  Demonicume who has an obstacle to overcome every day in South Carolina.

 

 

NBC Hero: Niki Sanders who has a deadly alter ego.

Sports Hero:  Pacman Jones who is always causing trouble.

Fox Blogger Hero:  Lisa who has a dark side.  Watch as she defeats her opponents in Rev’s bracket challenge.  Also, she is willing to sleep with the judges for gain much like Nike slept with Nathan to clear her debt.

 

 

NBC Hero:  Matt Parkman who can read peoples’ thoughts.

Sports Hero:  Peyton Manning.  He knows what the other team is thinking when he calls out his audibles from the line of scrimmage.  He also knows what everyone thought of him prior to this Super Bowl.

Fox Blogger Hero:  MeanDovine who always knows what to say to bloggers.

 

 

NBC Hero:  Isaac Mendez who can paint the future.

Sports Hero:  Gilbert Arenas who seems to know when he will score 50 points weeks in advance; if only his predictions were as accurate as Mendez’s paintings.

Fox Blogger Hero:  Norcal who ranks the draft better than anyone.

 

 

NBC Villain:  Sylar, who is very powerful.  He absorbs the powers of the other heroes.

Sports Villain:  Barry Bonds who is about to surpass Hank Aaron for the new all time HR record.  Is anyone more hated in sports?  Also like Sylar, he absorbs his powers from other sources.

Fox Blogger Villain:  You decide who the Fox Sports Villain is and post below.

 

SoCalSportsFan

The 07-0 NFL season just got a lot longer for the San Diego Chargers.  It looks like we will have plenty to talk about during the off season as the Chargers start looking for a new head coach.  Unfortunately, most of the big names have already committed to coaching somewhere.  Who is left for San Diego to choose from?  Jim Mora Jr?  Ron Rivera?  Maybe they can lure Jimmy Johnson out of retirement.  Who will want to come and coach here when you win 14 and you are fired. 

For my part I am not that sad to see Marty go, but you never fire your head coach unless you have a replacement in mind.  I sure hope Dean Spanos and GM Smith have someone really good in mind because 14-2 was pretty good.  Now LT and Rivers will have to learn a whole new system.  The defense led by Merriman will have to adjust.  I just don't see it happening, but who am I to judge.   To me it looks like the Chargers are going backwards, but only time will tell.  What are your thoughts?

SoCalSportsFan

Shawne Merriman has decided not to appeal the four game suspension thereby all but admitting his guilt in regards to testing positive for steroids.  Prior to this he had said that he tested positive by taking tainted supplements.  My guess is that he realized his appeal would only delay his suspension because there was very little hope that he would be found innocent. 

Furthermore, I believe he filed he first appeal under false pretenses.  He knew that the Chargers were playing the Rams this week and they needed him to win that game.  Now two of the games he will miss are against two of the worst teams in the league, the Browns and the Raiders. 

Merriman is guilty and he knows it.  His own team mates have all but admitted it.  Here are the words of his teammate, Shaun Phillips,

"He's upset because he let his team down, but we're OK,"

It appears Merriman will apologize and soon all will be forgotten unless the CHargers lose 3 out of 4 of the next games and miss the play offs. Just one man's opinion.

SoCalSportsFan

Where have we heard that line before?  It's the same old song and dance routine no matter who the athlete is.  Floyd Landis said his tests were possibly the results of something ingested, Barry said he unknowingly used steroids, Raffy said he was injected with what he thought was vitamin B-12 by Tejada, and now its Merriman who is saying that his supplements were tainted.

Is it possible to have tainted supplements?  Absolutely!  Merriman's attorney complained about the nutrition industry because he feels the feds need to regulate them more.  If only the federal government would regulate these products my clients would never get in trouble.  (OOPS, then I might be out of job.  Never mind.)

This is one of the reasons that several major sports franchises want you to buy your supplements from them and not from outside sources.  They certify that the supplements are steroid free.  That makes you wonder why any athlete would continue to buy them from sources that will not make that guarantee.  Maybe they want the steroids.  Maybe as long as they buy from tainted sources they can blame it on the "industry".  Either way, I don't think he will win on his appeal, but stranger things have happened.

SoCalSportsFan

Steroid problems are nothing new in athletic competitions.  They have been an issue in the Olympics going back to the days when the East Germans were sending half male women to compete against the rest of the world’s elite women athletes.  The countries behind the Iron Curtain experimented with all sorts of hormone cocktails to give their ladies an advantage. 

 

 

Today, MLB gets a bad rap, especially Barry Bonds (who has never tested positive), while the NFL gets virtually no attention at all.  Well this is all about to change with the suspension of Shawne Merriman.  Merriman was Defensive Rookie of the Year last year and he is a formidable opponent.  The Charger’s defense will not be the same with him gone over the next four games.  His suspension could very well cost them a date with the post season.  So how did Merriman get to the point in his career where he felt it was safe to use steroids?  How did he think he could possibly get away with it?

 

To start with, the NFL keeps a tight lip on its suspensions and the players who are suspended.  Any information we get is always a press leak from someone who supposedly knows and chances are they are right to a degree.  Once the suspension is in place, we will know for sure that he was guilty of using something or the NFLPA would never stand for it.  But the way the general public views NFL player’s using steroids is vastly different than its view on MLB.  If a player uses steroids in MLB, he is labeled as a cheater whereas if an NFL player uses steroids he is often revered as a “god” if he is a great player. 

 

 

Bill Romanowski used steroids for years as did Lyle Alzado.  Alzado died of cancer that may have been linked to his steroid abuse.  He became an outspoken critic of steroids in the NFL the year before he died.  Romanowski has always had “anger” issues and many have speculated that his rage may have been “roid” induced after the incident where he punched his own team mate at a practice.

 

Today the NFL has taken a tougher stance on steroid use and for that I am glad, but I still get the feeling that the average fan really could care less if  300 pound linemen are using steroid creams or injections of testosterone prior to a game.  Where is the outrage over Merriman?  It gets one headline in the main stream media?  I just read an article while doing research for this article on the 2004 Panthers.  Three players were caught filling prescriptions for testosterone prior to the Super Bowl. 

Let me say that before anyone comes down to hard on these guys, it was all perfectly legal and this is my conundrum.  How do you prosecute these guys for obtaining steroids legally to be used for an illegal purpose?  These steroids were legally obtained, doctor prescribed, but no doubt with the intent to give these linemen an advantage in the competition.  Thankfully the Patriots won, but who knows, maybe their linemen were on steroids too.  Who is to say that Barry Bonds own physician did not prescribe him a steroid cream?  This is potentially one reason his case has gone nowhere.  The doctor’s records have been subpoenaed, but no court case for using “illegal” steroids has happened to date.  Instead the FBI wants to pursue “tax evasion” or “perjury” charges but they are not pursuing illegal steroid use. 

So where does the steroid use end?  Are football players given more of a “license” to abuse these types of drugs than baseball players?  Young high school girls are now experimenting with steroids to make themselves look more lean and muscular.  I am not sure what the solution is, but one thing appears certain, steroids are here to stay.

 

 

 

SoCalSportsFan

When I wrote my post yesterday saying that I believe Owners are entitled to everything they earn I meant it.  I have always been a person that believes in the free market system and nothing anyone writes will make me change my mind; however because my post generated so many comments I find that I need to expound upon a few points.  I would also suggest that you read the stories of some of these owners as it is quite interesting.

All owners are not born rich.  Art Rooney, the first owner of the Steelers lived in the second floor apartment of his father’s saloon.  He won between 2500-250,000 dollars gambling and then invested in a football team.  I have included two different links which give varying amounts for his race winnings.

 Alex Spanos, the son of Greek immigrants, had two children and no money in 1951.  He borrowed $800 and started his catering business selling sandwiches to construction workers.   Using all of his business savvy he built this business into his real estate and construction conglomerate of today and he purchased the Chargers. 

Edward DeBartolo Sr. was also an immigrant who is credited with building one of the first strip malls in Ohio and later made a fortune in the development of malls.  His son went into the business with his father and also bought the San Francisco 49er’s.  The point is that the DeBartolo family were also immigrants who worked hard to earn the money their family has.  They were not handed a the things they have, they did it the old fashioned way, "THEY EARNED IT!"

Red McCombs or Billy Joe McCombs was born in 1927 in Spur, Texas as the son of an auto mechanic.  Hardly a rich family, he served in the military, played college football, and then went to business school.  He started his own auto dealership at the young age of 25 and never looked back.  He was one of the only successful dealerships for the Edsel automobile.  He is also cofounder of Clear Communications Network and was the owner of the Vikings, Spurs, and Nuggets. 

Al Davis was a coach for a college team that went on to be the lineman coach for the Raiders.  Later on he became the head coach for 3 seasons before becoming the AFL commissioner.  He worked his way up through the organization all the way to the top.  Can you imagine being a football player in college then the owner of the team you coach one day?

These are just a few of the owners I chose to mention but the point is that not all owners are bad people that come from rich and wealthy families.  These were men who invested in things they believed in, the American Dream.  They went from rags to riches and quite honestly by sheer hard work and determination. 

 As to the players, most of them went to school on a free ride.  They have never worked a day in their life except to work out in a weight room.  They are given huge signing bonuses which unless they learn to be savvy businessmen like the John Elways, they will lose it all when they retire.  I do not begrudge any player his salary nor do I necessarily believe in a salary cap, but the fact is I do not feel sorry for any player.  The argument is always made that the poor lineman does not make as much as the QB.  Do you think in this new CBA the disparity between the pay of linemen and QB’s will change.  It will only get larger.  That argument has no merit in my book.  People go into a career knowing what they want to do and accept what comes with it. 

Let’s look at my business, education, for a prime example.  A school is made up of secretaries who are the lifeblood of any school, janitors, teachers, and coaches.  Which one do you think makes the most?  In most high schools and colleges it is the coach after stipends are applied, then teachers, secretaries, and lastly janitors.  Are they all important?  Most definitely!  Should the janitors rise up and demand more of the pie or the secretaries?  It would not matter.

Let’s look at professional fields.  Doctors and lawyers are two good examples.  If you are a general practitioner vs. a neurosurgeon, who do you think makes more?  Which one works harder?  Well I would say on a day to day basis they both put in the same hours but if my life was on the line that surgeon is going to get more of my money.  They both went to 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of med school, and probably a residency in general medicine and surgery, but each knew what he wanted to do or more importantly what his gifts were.  A lineman does not have the same gifts as a running back or a QB.  He is paid differently and the two will never be paid the same. 

Lawyers all go to school for the same amount of time, but the ones willing to be public defenders and district attorneys will never make what an experience personal injury attorney will make.

Again, I hope the players play and sign a new deal but when will the percentage be enough.  Every time the CBA needs to be renewed the players want more of the pie.  It has been said they deserve raises.  Absolutely, but no one is saying they should not get a raise, but does that means owners should take a loss?  Do owners ever deserve a raise?

Lastly, if it is truly a revenue sharing then all revenues should be shared.  I said this in my last post on this topic, but every player should throw in their individual endorsement deals with shoe companies, tv ads, and any other revenue into the pot and divvy it up.  NFL players want the revenue from their jersey sales for themselves and do not want to share it nor does Peyton Manning want to give up his ability to earn money on the side.  What about the fame that comes with playing in the NFL?  Should players chip in all their appearance fees into the pot?  Just a thought, but playing in the NFL has many perks that the owners do not try and stop the players from enjoying.  By the way, the NFL owners have taken losses in NFL Europe every year just to help develop the game.  Any and all thoughts welcome.

SoCalSportsFan