Hard-liners in 1961 insisted that Roger Maris`s assault on the Bambino`s single season home run record was a sham.  Even though Maris had to contend with night games and air travel and the relentless Big Apple media,  many old-timers felt that hitting 61 home runs in 162 games didn`t really compare with hitting 60 home runs in 154 games.  Conceding the point, Maris`s record got stigmatized with the dreaded asterisk.

  What is the league to do with the  passel of tainted records set with the aid of performance enhancing drugs?  If Bud Selig was alive today he would have set these records straight! Can you imagine Kennesaw Mountain Landis standing by and letting these bulked up androids reduce the hallowed marks of the game to dust?

  The games earliest cheats gained infamy and are well remembered as the Black Sox.  Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire and Rafael Palmero certainly deserve a similar fate.  No one is going to forget the way they played the game.  Most serious baseball fans remember Denny McLain, whose 31 victory season for the Detroit Tigers in 1968 remains one of the most incredible pitching accomplishments of the second half of the 20th century.   He is remembered more today for being a con-man and a miscreant who gambled on the game and frittered his chance at baseball immortality away.

  Pete Rose earned the nickname "Charlie Hustle" by busting his ass for 24 years of non-stop drive and determination on the playing field.  In retirement, he has earned the sobriquet, "Charlie Cementhead" for his stop-and-start admissions of gambling.  If old Pete would have just apologized and taken his medicine years ago, he would be in the Hall of Fame today.  Americans will forgive you for just about anything if you will just make a sincere apology.  Too late for Pete, though. He has jumped back and forth on both sides of the fence so much that he would make John Edwards dizzy!

  But what do we do about the records?  Were Rose`s records hard-earned, or will he become further smeared by the growing amphetamine or "greenie" stories circulating about players of his era?   Time will tell, but there is a simple solution.  In track and field, the wind is measured at the site of important events to make certain that any times or distances recorded are not significantly "wind-assisted."  If the wind is too much of an aid, the times or distances are disregarded and the existing records stand.   Future generations are welcome to talk about Bonds' "Human Growth Hormone Assisted" numbers or perhaps Mark McGuire`s "Anabolically assisted ones.   Soon  the advent of the metal bat and eventually the laser-bat will certainly signal the eclipse of the games earliest records.  But as Richard Pryor said on the Star Wars Bar set of his short-lived television show:  "Yeah, I know your boy hit 2600 home runs with a laser bat.  But Hank Aaron hit all of his with a piece of wood!"  You would think that would count for something!

As Barry "The Clear" Bonds and his giant head close in on Hank Aaron`s hallowed career home run record,  the thought arises:  Are there any unbreakable records in Major League Baseball?  Until late in Cal Ripken`s career, Lou Gehrig`s Iron Man streak was thought to be pretty much untouchable.

 Pete Rose, bless his little gamblin' heart, finally tallied more hits than the immortal (and insufferable) Ty Cobb.  And of course, Mark McGuire, and a veritible pod of chemically enhanced mutants capped by Bonds, toyed with  the single season home run record owned by Babe Ruth, Roger Maris and an asterisk.

 In this day of greatly superior diet and training methods, superior medical care and a greater understanding of kinesiology and athletic mechanics, not to mention illegal supplementation: Is there any record in baseball that remains unbreakable?

  I believe there are a few.  Perhaps the most sacro-sanct record is Joe DiMaggio`s streak of hitting in 56 consectutive games.  Nothing can help (or hurt) your career more than playing in the media hub of New York City.  I think Mr. Coffee is worshipped a bit more than his statistics warrant.  Baseball is a game of streaks and guys do get hot, and although there have been very few players capable of putting together a streak of more than 35 games in a row of late, I believe this one relies a little too much on luck to stand unbroken.  A broken bat single here, a blooper there, combined with some solid hitting and the string stretches out.

  Unless the game changes its current direction, Ricky Henderson`s base-stealing records look pretty safe.  But the only record that seems impossible to beat is Cy Young`s incredible tally of 511 career victories.  Of course in Cy`s day, pitchers would pitch every other day or come in late and close the game for another injured pitcher.  A pitcher breaking in at the tender age of 20 would need to win 20 games a year until he turned 46 to top this record!  An incredible physical specimen like Nolan Ryan or Roger Clemens comes along once a generation.  The Rocket is now poised for a Yankee comeback, but even with his incredible skills, Clemens stands at 348 victories and would need another 8.5 20 victory seasons to catch old Cy.   He keeps coming back, but I can`t see him pitching into his 50`s!  Frankly,  the chances of even one more 20 victory season for the Rocket are remote.

 Any takers?  Is this the sole unbreakable baseball record?

"There is nothing at all that could have been done for him" said medical examiner  Michael Graham.

Hancock" was very fortunate" said Police Chief Patrick Delaney.

   These disparate quotes, separated by 3 days and the tragic resolution of Josh Hamilton`s involvement with alcohol and drugs, clearly indicate that Hamilton was NOT fortunate in walking away from his earlier accident.  Both incidents occurred within a few miles of each other and in close proximity to a liquor store and the Oz strip club on what is locally called the Yellow Brick Road.

  The investigation into Hamilton`s death found his blood alcohol level to be extra-ordinarily high, nearly twice the legal limit.  In addition,  8.55 grams of marijuana and a glass pipe were found.  Fox Sports reported that the glass pipe was used for smoking marijuana, but it sounds more like a crack pipe-more information is needed.

 In the earlier accident, Hancock reportedly inched out from a stop sign at 5:30 a.m. and had a passing tractor trailer sheer off his front bumper.  It was determined that the truck driver was driving legally.  Amazingly, "No sobriety or breath tests were given to Hancock, and no tickets were issued, Delaney said. The SUV was too damaged to drive home."    How does a young man clearly exercising horrendously bad judgement at 5:30 in the morning, and involved in a very dangerous accident, escape police scutiny?  The investigating officers claimed to be unaware that Hamilton was a ballplayer and claimed that he did not appear to be impaired.   He failed to show up on time for the Cardinal`s game that day, however, claiming to have "overslept on a new bed."  At least his ability to get up on time for work was impaired.

  Josh Hamilton didn`t have to die.  The wake-up call he got 3 days before his death went unanswered by the police at the scene of his earlier accident.   Do you think he bought the "glass pipe" and the marijuana the night he died or might it have been in the vehicle, or at least in use  3 days earlier?   If Josh Hamilton was sitting in jail for investigation of driving under the influence he would still be alive today.  Poor Josh Hamilton`s death is the logical conclusion of enabling

  The welcome appointment of  Roger Goodel to the commisioner`s post in the NFL came at exactly the right time.  His fairly stern handling of the PacMan Jones debacle is certainly a step in the right direction.   Leave it to the brain-trust of the National Football League to bring a saner level of discipline to the professional sports arena.

  The NFL is the only league (except for perhaps the golf professionals) run with any sense of discipline and respect for their fans.  MLB, the NHL and especially  the NBA have the inmates in charge of their respective asylums.  When an NBA team has a player-coaching dispute, it is always the coach who gets the gate.  And just how powerful does your player`s association have to be to enable a guy like the tragic Steve Howe to keep coming back again and again after violating the leagues`s drug policy?  MLB`s handling of the whole Barry Steroid circus indicates that they really don`t have the intention or the means to dispense common sense, much less justice, in their monitoring of the players` activities.  It seems pretty clear that the next Lyle Alzado-type tragedy will come from the MLB ranks.

    It is high time the adults took back control of professional sports.  The leagues used to be able to dispense with malcontents and criminals.  Remember the infamous Detroit Lion guard, Joe Don Looney?  When sent in with a play by Lion`s coach Harry Gilmer, Joe Don responded: "If you want a messenger boy, call Western Union."  Last we heard, Joe Don Looney was working as an elephant boy in India. (Honestly!)  So how do we get the leagues to man up and start cleaning out the stables?

  Well, for starters, let`s admit that Charles Barkley`s oft-quoted: "I ain`t nobody`s role model" was a giant shirking of responsibility and has become the justification for all sorts of boorish and criminal behavior.  As much as I like Sir Charles and his rapier wit, in this case, he was more of a nitwit.  American kids continue to idolize and emulate the professional athlete.  Who wouldn`t want their kid to grow up and be like Peyton Manning or Tom Brady?  These guys get it and have respect for their position and the leagues they are fortunate enough to represent.

  Last fall, one of my employees asked for the afternoon off to go shopping for some sneakers for her son`s birthday.  When I asked what kind of sneaker she was buying, she told me:  " the Allen Iverson model."     You could have knocked me over with a glock.  When you allow thugs like Iverson and Ricky Williams and PacMan Jones to play in your league, inevitably some kids are going to be unable to make the disconnnect between the  god-given physical talents they have and the player`s choices to pursue violent activities, use drugs and generally disprespect authority at every level.   Some kids will just want to "Be like Mike."  This seemed ok when the athlete was Michael Jordan.  Do you want your kid, or anybody`s kid for that matter, to "Be Like A. I.?" 

  Hopefully Goodell`s step in the direction of saner rules and enforcement thereof  will be taken to its logical conclusion in all of our professional sports.   How about these standards:  first arrest:  1 year suspension without pay.  Second arrest: lifetime ban.  The same applies to the use of ANY illegal drugs, whether they are enhancers or recreational drugs.  We don`t need more giant potheads or crackheads who can run a 4.6 40 yard dash.  We DO need role models and there are plenty of great ones in professional sports.  Let`s take the headlines away from the losers in pro sports and concentrate on the good guys once again!

The joy of watching this amazing Indianapolis Colts offense over the past 4 years rests on two pillars of success:  Peyton Manning`s remarkable efficiency and the refinement of the hurry-up offense.

No scheme lasts in the NFL for very long:  the level of coaching is at the purely genious level,  led by the leagues mad equivalent to the Unabomber:  Bill Belichek.  He dresses and acts like  he lives in a shack, wearing his hoodie and cooking up elaborate schemes to thwart the efforts of his erstwhile opponents.  And he is about 80% successful.  There are no secrets in the NFL either,  so any team that gains success against a particular opponent is immediately emulated until the formula becomes the standard approach.

The league`s braintrust discovered this season that the way to beat the Colts was to limit the number of possessions they had by running the ball as much as possible against them.  This sorely tested the injury depleted Colts defense and led to the Colts having the fewest number of offensive possessions in the league.   Most teams coupled this ball control template with a soft nickel package that offered up short gains but refused to allow Peyton to beat them with the long pass.   This too, was largely successful.

In order to achieve the incredible level of success the Colts found under these circumstances, it was necessary to put together multiple 8 to 12 play drives requiring a level of  execution that has not been seen in this league before.   Sooner or later, a receiver will drop the ball, or the quarterback`s delivery will be off the mark, or a defensive player can make a saving play.   Not with this machine-like Colt`s offense, however.  The receiver`s run their routes crisply and almost always catch the ball!  Peyton`s throws are where they should be, whether the receiver shows up there or not.  (Hence, Baltimore`s two picks on rare Marvin Harrison missed routes.)  And the defense, rocked back on its heels and hurrying to the line after every play,  is simply reacting and more often than not, running out of gas.

Belichik developed the art of the tired defender flop.  In previous years, we saw Willie McGinness use this ploy again and again.  After a quarter or more of trying to keep up with the Colts flying freak show, defensive lineman and linebackers start  to become unable to get back off the ground after a play-often leading to an injury time out.   This is either a facade desiged to get the defense a breather and to break the Colts`s momentum, or a genuine indication that the defender`s bodies are breaking down.   We saw this in both the Patriot and Raven sideline shots during the playoffs.   Trainer`s and assistants  were seen working feverishly on tired defenders, trying to help them with cramping and fatique.  We heard Phil Simms` compassionate cries in last Sunday`s Colts-Patriots classic match-up, regaling us with descriptions of how hot it was in the RCA Dome.  Funny that is was only hot for the Patriot defenders.

At least once a game, Peyton catches defenders trying to change personnel and gains a 12 men-on-the-field penalty.   The refinement of "The Lightning Offense" (so named by the Colts) enables Manning to be at the line of scrimmage observing the defense`s attempted changes, and with his players at the ready, he can call for a quick snap and prevent the changes on the other side of the ball.  Or at least he can gain his team another 5 yards and this is often enough to move the chains.

Look for the surest of signs that the Lightning Offense is working come Super Bowl Sunday.  When you see the first injury time out for a Bear defender unable to get back to his feet, you know that the Lightning Offense has begun to take its toll.  The Thunder of Dominique Rhodes and Joseph Addai will soon follow.

Colts 35 Bears 10.