This is what we get from the "Steroid era" a group or players who normally would have been sure fire Hall of Famers now on the fringe of getting in now, or even ever.  Let's consider the cases of some of these players.

Barry Bonds - this really is a no brainer.  steriods, HGH, cream or clear, Barry Bonds would have been a Hall of Famer even if we take his home run total out of the mix.  Before Bonds bulked up in size he was already one of the top players in the game with at least 2 MVP awards to his credit before he even got to San Fransico.  Having seen Barry turn into the abominable homerman he was one of the most electrifying players in the game.  Can we view his 73 home run season as tainted? Sure.  Can we also balk at the all-time home run mark he will surely set?  Yes we can.  But  what we cannot take away is that Barry Bonds even minus the long ball has been a great player throughout his career.

     Do we penalize him for suspicion of steriod use?  Do we penalize him for being a jerk to the media for the majority of his career?  Let me answer the latter first.  No, and i only need to bring up one name to prove my point, Ty Cobb.  Cobb was notably was of the biggest jerks (and that's putting it nicely) to ever to play the game.  But he was also one of the greatest players in history.  In fact he would probably unquestionably be named the greatest player ever if it wasn't for his personality.  But this isn't about Cobb.  So now the steroid question and it's affect on Bonds status as a Hall of Famer.

Impact - little to none.  Make any case you want about intergrity (which there has always been a large lack of in the history of baseball) he is a sure fire Hall of Famer and first ballot to boot. barring any convictions or new revalations in the 5 years after he retires.

Mark McGuire - To me this has already become one of the greatest travesties / causalties of the steriods era.  Long before he even got to St. Louis  McGuire was one of the top power hitters in the game and hit 48 home runs in his second season (my facts my be a bit off on that, but i know it was @ 50 homers extremely early on in his career).  

     To me it is a disgrace and total hypocricy for him to be excluded from the Hall on the first ballot.  One of two men who is credited with "saving" baseball pushed aside for what?  For being vague and not answering questions at a congressional hearing?  The real problem I have with his exclusion so far is this, He took andro.  Reporters knew about this during the summer of 98. Andro was not a banned substance at the time.  It wasn't even illegal.  Anyone who worked at any kind of suppliment store at the time could tell you it was availble there, including large chains such as GNC.  If Creatine is banned can we somehow negate the achievements of those who weight trained with that supplement?

     One of only 2 moments in my 28 years of life where I could tell you exactly what i was doing and remember vividly the details is McGuire's 62nd home run.  McGuire said what he had to at that hearing.  Sure he could have talked about using andro, but even though ok when he took it and availble over the counter, it was a substance on the now banned list and would have made him look like a wrong doer even though even though he took a legal supliment. 

Verdict - It's really up in the air, McGuire has been the first victim of this era however, as time passes I do believe he will make it into the hall where he belongs.

Sammy Sosa - I'll try and keep this one as short as possible.  The only player to have 3 60 home run seasons.  Pretended he didn't know english at the hearings. Probablity of steriod use, high.  Use of a corked bat, yup. 

His numbers - Juiced or not 600 home runs is an impressive number.  Take away those three 60 home run seasons and he still has over 400 home runs. 

Corked bat? - Am I the only one who knows about experiments conducted to see if a corked bat really makes a difference in hitting home runs?  Simple answer, no it doesn't make any sizable difference.  However if they used a dimpled ball.... anyway.  600 home runs is too many to ignore, not to mention those 3 60 homer seasons.  500 may be no longer automatic induction into the hall, but i believe 600 sure is.

Verdict - In.  Sosa continuing to play will help him cause it will be many years to he even comes to vote for the Hall and by they a lot of the burning issues and sentiments over this should have cooled down enough for a possible first ballot guy.

Rafael Palmerio - 500 home runs, told congress he didn't use steriods, then gets caught the very next season. Let's be honest, even before steriod talk came up, there was a lot of discussion about him being the first player with 500 home runs not to be inducted into the hall of fame anyway.

Verdict - On the bubble to begin with and steriods sealed his fate, no Hall of Fame for Raffie   

     Well after a much need break, and the end of a NGS contest with a basketball theme, the Saint has finally found some computer time.  But wait, what's that?  It's the yawning of a sports fan doomed to root for teams that just plain stink. 

     The Phillies - ok, so like most july's my preseason excitment has turned into, how much did they lose by tonight?  Lucky for the Phils the rest of the NL East stinks worse than they do, except the Mets.  Usually 2nd place in the division is better than expected as a Phil's fan, this year however, it's looking like a big old pile of blah.  The only real excitment left in the year is to see if my preseason prediction of Charlie Manuel getting fired before the All-Star break comes true.  After the all-star break i can look forward to.....well I'll let you know when I think of something.

     The Flyers - Once again the Flyers filled the roles of underachievers, but they did manage to set a record this off-season, 14 guys on the team are having off-season surgery.  So if i do my math correctly, that means they have a total of 6 guys on the team not having surgery.  Guess this means that it will be the first slow off-season in the trade department for the Flyers, considering that players traded do need to pass a physical. 

     Soccer - How bout the good ol' USA, err wait, yeah they wound up leaving a heaping pile of....Bruce Arena is stepping down, which is fine by me since he deserved to be fired.  Let's just hope that USA soccer doesn't listen to the coach who wasted some talented teams by not knowing how to coach them and hire a national team coach from somewhere else in the world, not from the MLS.  Remember way back what Bora did with a then bunch of nobodies?  On second thought, scratch that, hire some slob from the MLS, then in 2 years when the Germans get sick of Klinsman he can coach the US squad.

     So after sunday there won't be much on TV to watch other than baseball for a few months.  Unfortunately baseball too has gotten dull.  Unfortuntely living in NC has left me devoid of at least going to an MLB game in person and enjoying an otherwise meaningless game at this point in the season.  I have a hard time stomaching watching the low A Florida Marlins affiliate the Greensboro Grasshopers.  Maybe I should just drive a half an hour in the other direction and watch a bunch of guys that I won't get to see when they are playing in the pro's because, well no one watches the Devil Rays.  Rather than bothering going to see the Durham Bulls I think i'll just settle instead for watching Bull Durham a hundred times and hoping that the summer ends sooner rather than later...

     For those wondering where i've been (all 3 of my fans), the Saint has been on the road again and this time has landed in the Greensboro NC area (Dudski all the way! I saw that on the back of a car yesterday, it was probably Dudski himself).  Well, it's time again to test my sporting aliegences pitting my orginal hometown teams against my new hometown teams.

Sixers vs Bobcats - There aren't many teams the Sixers are better than these days, the Bobcats however are one of them.  In fact the Bobcats remind me of the post Barkley teams of the Sixers that made me swear off basketball for years after.

The Sixers take this easy.

Flyers vs Hurricanes - Ouch, toughie here.  The 'Canes have three of my all-time favorite Flyers in recent history, Brind'amore, Williams and Recchi.  The 'Canes have always been my number 2 team, and will stay that way.  But their enjoyable brand of hockey will be watched often for sure.

Cards vs. Panthers - Many will criticize this, but It's the Cards for me.  As you may remember the Cards won me over as my only Arizona flip-flop.  This is another easy call for me.  I hate the Panthers.  I generally dislike any one player overhyped team.  That was the Panthers to a tea last year.  It might be rough come football season around here, but to escape too much persecution, i might just claim to be one of the leftover skins fans around here when asked at the sports bars.

Phillies vs. Braves - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA right, like any diehard Phillies fan is ever going to route for the Braves, ever.

No other draft pick in sports has been seconded guessed more than that of the Trailblazers selection of Sam Bowie at number 2 over Michael Jordan.  We've all lamented over this seemingly bonehead move, hindsight is always 20/20 of course.  But, let's look at things from a different prospective.  What if the Blazers actually did select Michael Jordan?  How would the Bulls, Trailblazers, NBA and the world be different is they did pick him?

            Scenario 1 - Jordan and the Trailblazers win 6 NBA titles.  This isn't a real stretch.  The Trailblazers were a competitive team even playing against Jordan's Bulls in the NBA finals.  So how would things be different?  Obvious but important statement alert!  Portland is not Chicago.  Gee thanks, we didn't need to be told that, but it is important to the over-all scheme of things.  Name some Trailblazers?  Walton, Drexler...... Pippen, problem is that are these guys really remembered as members of the Portland Trailblazers?  Pippen was and always will be remembered as a Bull.  Drexler comes close to being remembered as a Trailblazer but he won his rings in Houston thus wiping out the average fans recollection of him as a Trailblazer.  Walton is maybe the most recognizable player as a Trailblazer. That is if you conveniently forget that he also won a championship with the Celtics or could even remember him as a player and not a loud-mouth announcer. 

            Playing in the West those days meant almost anonymity unless you were playing for the Lakers.  Sure, there are always exceptions to the rule, but overall it was a sea into which many players would get lost.  Having said that, in all likelihood Jordan and the Trailblazers could have won more than 6 championships.  If not they would have been to more NBA finals playing in a then weaker conference.  But, let's get back Portland is not Chicago.  One of Jordan's lasting memories apart from basketball is his endorsement deals. 

            Back then Nike signed Jordan to an endorsement deal and the rest is history.  Nike has become the most popular brand of shoes and their Jordan line a smashing success.  Even after his playing days customers still shell out $125 + for his line of shoes, classic Jordan's and even new ones each year.  He's spawned his own Brand Jordan line-up which currently includes Carmelo Anthony and Derek Jeter.  The big question is would this have happened if Jordan played for the Trailblazers? 

            Jordan signing with Nike while playing for the Trailblazers most definitely could have happened.  Nike got started in Oregon, seems like a perfect fit right?  At first thought, yes.  But, let's look at this from a marketing prospective.  Portland is not Chicago.  I really can't say that enough.  What would be more appealing to a company looking to further its influence across the nation.  Signing a local NBA player to a deal or choosing a player from one of the top markets in the country.  Nike would have been looking to do just that, Jordan might have been on their list, but they wanted to broaden appeal and escape a regional market in the Pacific Northwest.  Taking this into consideration Jordan most likely would not have been their target for an endorsement deal.  So who would they have targeted for their poster boy? 

A New York player, how about the nations 4^th largest market, Philadelphia, Charles Barkley entered the draft the same year.  L.A. would be of interest but, being on the west coast would not have expanded Nike's market as much as a large eastern city would.  Barkley does indeed have a deal with Nike, but instead of being second fiddle to Jordan the roles easily could have been reversed. 

Nike opened up further endorsement deals for Jordan.  Would we be saturated with a plethora of sports drinks today if it wasn't for Jordan and Gatorade.  Gatorade wasn't new to the market by a long shot when Jordan signed on as an endorser.  However he brought it to the mainstream.  What catchy song would be singing if Jordan didn't take place with Gatorade, "Like Dominique, if I could be like Dominique...." (or insert other fun names like Chuck, Larry or Ervin).  The world would definitely be a much different place.  (However I believe that people would still buy Haines endorsement deal or no endorsement deal). 

Scenario 2 - Jordan and the Trailblazers flop.  This doesn't seem as unlikely as it sounds.  The Trailblazers were a consistently good team (give or take a few years) over Jordan's time.  However, sometimes it's a matter of right player, in the right place, at the right time.  Maybe Jordan doesn't get to see the playing time he did in Chicago as a rookie.  Endorsement deals wouldn't be coming his way or for any player coming off the bench.  

Maybe Sam Perkins career, or lack of, is a direct result of playing for the Trailblazers.  Jordan could have just been remembered as a great college player and nothing more.  He might have only enjoyed moderate success in the NBA.  Sure we could scoff at that statement knowing what we know now, but it could have happened. 

Although the use of athletes for marketing of products was not a new invention, it seems to have helped spawn a multi media marketing frenzy across sports as we know it.  Athletes and company's seem to go hand in hand these days.  Jordan's success as a spokesman has played an integral role in that.  All I know is this, had the Trailblazers selected Jordan with the 2^nd pick in the draft that year the world as we know it would be a much different place. 

     Some of you may have been wondering how exactly one receives the nickname "The Saint".  Well, the most obvious would be a religious context.  Well this "Saint" is anything but.  One thing I have been well known for through-out my days however is my ever changing appearance.  This is how my nickname came about, an ever changing appearance much like Val Kilmer in the movie, "The Saint".  So without further adieu I will reveal some of the many faces of "The Saint" in some of my most popular roles.

 The Saint as.....

Ben Rothliesberger

 The Saint as....

Sal Fasano

The Saint as....

David Eckstein

The Saint as.....

A young HillBilly Jim

That's just a few of the many faces of the Saint... more to come.