Bonds* Busted

From the "Gee, what a surprise file".

Relevant quote:

"During the criminal investigation, evidence was obtained including positive tests for the presence of anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing substances for Bonds and other athletes," the indictment reads.

He is also charged with lying that Anderson never injected him with steroids.

I wonder what the Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* supporters...er...apologists have to say now?

The indictment itself says that Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* tested positive for steriods so you can't even use the Lance "I've Never Tested Positive" Armstrong defense anymore. The flaxseed oil and arthritic balm excuse is downright laughable. If Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* is that gullible, then it is a wonder he's lasted as long as he has in the Major Leagues.

Back when he broke the record, I said it was tainted then and today's actions only taint it further. But let's assume (and we all know what that does) that Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* was duped by his trainer, Greg Anderson. Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* still should have had the respect for the game to retire and end his chase of Aaron's record. But it was never about the game and it was never about his team, it was all about the personal glory of Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds*.

And how, who wants to make a fool out of themselves and attempt to argue that this story would be just as big today if Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* had retired before breaking the record and admitted his either intentional or unintentional steroid use?

Almost Too Good To Be True

The story of Rick Ankiel reinventing himself as an outfielder after flaming out as a pitcher has been one of the feel good stories of this year. And like just about everything else that has been good for baseball in recent years; the ugly issue of performance enhancing substances has reared its ugly head.

You gotta love the legalism here, the agent hiding behind medical privacy laws and the "shipments stopped after it was banned." Of course the overt delivery of Human Growth Hormone stopped. These guys aren't entirely stupid. Even Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* maintains that he was a innocent victim of circumstance who didn't know what his trainer was having him take.

Stories like this really makes you wonder just what in the world the Mitchell investigation is going to come up with and what the fallout of the findings will be. Landis barred for life players who knew of gambling related activity, did not participate in it, but failed to report it. While these are different times it would be in the "best interests of baseball" for all past steroid and HGH users to face some kind of sanction.

IMHO it would be the only way baseball can save face in light of this ever growing scandal.

Viva Las Vegas?

With my father, a few of his friends, and myself on our way to get John Kruk bobbleheads here in a little bit I'd thought I'd throw out there this bit of "lost" news earlier this week about a new Las Vegas Arena.

The universal opinion of course is that the NBA isn't going to touch Las Vegas with a ten foot pole in the aftermath of the Tim Donaghy scandal. However don't lose sight of the fact that the proposed Las Vegas Arena is being built by AEG, the same group that built, owns, and operates the Sprint Center in Kansas City and currently owns the L.A. Kings. They too are looking for any possible tenant from the NBA or NHL to come in, though the only NBA franchise seriously looking to move is the Seattle SuperSonics and they're looking hard at Oklahoma City.

But the groundwork for NHL expansion is quietly being laid and that should concern all NHL fans.

And speaking of the NHL, we all remember the indignity that the NHL suffered this past May when the Buffaslugs-Ottawa Game 5 was bumped from NBC to Versus in favor of the Preakness pre-race coverage. Well, as I said at the time, at least you had a chance to continue watching the game if you wanted to unlike viewers of the Edmonton-Saskatchewan CFL game this past Saturday night. That game was delayed for over 55 minutes in the fourth quarter because of a power outage at Mosaic Stadium in Saskatchewan caused by thunderstorms. Once power was restored and play resumed CBC did not return to the game broadcast, opting instead to stay with a showing of the Nick Nolte classic The Good Thief.

At least the NHL got bumped for a Triple Crown Horse Race...

Looking through the various sports books, I can't find print outs of the odds for the 2008 Stanley Cup Championship. I did find it oddly amusing that the sports book at South Point has the Eagles (10-1) only slightly better favored over the Redskins (11-1) to appear in Super Bowl XLII. I say that because the last time I saw the World Wide Leader in Schlock, their "experts" told us that the Eagles are the team to beat in the NFC East and the Redskins will be lucky to improve upon their 5-11 record of a year ago. The bettors believe that Chicago (6-1) and New England (6-5) will go to Glendale Arizona next year. Detroit is still the longest shot in the field to make Super Bowl LXII at 30-1.

To win Super Bowl LXII, the Redskins are 30-1 after opening at 55-1. The favorites to win it all is New England at 2-1 after opening at 9-1. The long shot is Houston at 90-1 after opening at 100-1 though the Oakland Raiders opened as the longest shot of 150-1 but has fallen to 50-1.

Finally, yes I noticed that 30-3 pasting the Rangers laid on the B.O.'s Wednesday night and even watched some of it in horror. While I have no love for the B.O.'s and this is a very good moment for Schadenfreude, I personally think the score is just as embarrassing for the Rangers as it was the B.O.'s. 16 of the 30 runs were scored in the last two innings when the game was well in hand. There was no reason for the Rangers to continue to swing the bat the way they did against the B.O.'s. This ranks right up there with High School basketball teams that win games 150-2. There's no excuse for running up the score, especially in the major leagues. While it would be even more embarrassing for the batters to either intentionally step on home plate while bunting or walking to first base on a ground ball (commonly done in High School and youth leagues to end a monster inning), there's no rule that says they must swing the bat while at the plate. The Rangers could have gone to the plate and looked at every pitch the B.O.'s threw and I doubt that anybody would have really noticed or been upset that they did. The game was over, there was no need to continue the slaughter, especially when you still had the double-header night cap to come which is why the B.O.'s hung their relievers out to dry despite pitching batting practice to the Rangers.

(Now that I've defended the B.O.'s, I need to delouse...)

However, the funniest line referencing that game came from the Houston Astro's announcing crew during last night's Nats-Astros game after the B.O.'s had lost their third game in a row, "give some managers an extension and they just stop managing."

Take Your Record And...

Watching the Nats-Giants game last night, you could tell very early on that Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* was going to hit a home run and break the record of Hank Aaron. Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* was "locked in" as they say and with Felipe Lopez, Austin Kearns, Brian Schneider, and Bengie Molina all hitting homers ahead of Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds*, you knew the ball was flying out of AT&T Park.

Now let me first say that Bud Selig should be left alone. Yes, the guy is a National Disgrace and the sooner he steps down as MLB Commissioner, the better. However when it comes to Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds*, Selig is in a no-win situation. By "ho-humming" the chase and the achievement, Selig is getting ripped for snubbing and slighting Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds*. However had Selig gone out and been the lead cheerleader for Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds*, Selig would be getting ripped for promoting a cheater and a fraud by the same people who are ripping him for snubbing and slighting Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds*.

And don't think for a second that Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* doesn't have his cheerleaders and people quick to say "innocent until proven guilty" to begin with. However, this isn't a court of law where innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt applies. This is the court of public opinion and the rules are entirely different. But I have to wonder what the "innocent until proven guilty" ostriches think of Orenthal James Simpson? He was acquitted of murdering his wife and an unfortunate soul in 1995. I also question their "innocent until proven guilty" attitude as it relates to WWE Owner Vince McMahon who was acquitted of steroid distribution in 1994 (a fact he proudly wears on his chest ) in light of the recent Benoit family tragedy. Scooter Libby was convicted of perjury based entirely upon "he said-she said" evidence while Marion Barry was acquitted of using crack cocaine despite being caught on video using the drug. Our legal system sometimes leaves a whole lot to be desired.

It takes a special kind of dense to look at all the available evidence in this case and still believe that Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* did not take steroids. The fact that his trainer and other close associates sit in jail while he's under investigation himself is pretty damning. And even if you try to take it half way and believe Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* when he says "he didn't know" he still IMHO has a responsibility to take responsibility for his actions.

Instead Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* likes to play the victim card while he pursues his own personal glory. Make no mistake, what happened last night wasn't about the San Francisco Giants as a baseball team. It was all about Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* as he came out of the game after breaking the record in the fifth inning. Did you know that the Nats ended up winning last night? One can only wonder just how the game would have turned out had Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* stayed in and played the entire game. As stated before, he was "locked in" going 3 for 3, scoring three runs, and needing just a triple to complete the cycle. But nope, it was party time for Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds*, and his team lost for the 63rd time, 2 more times than what was supposed to be the worst team ever assembled in the history of Major League Baseball.

Finally, not only is Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* chemically enhanced, it turns out he's also mechanically enhanced too (I found that on Drudge Monday), but hey, we're all just jealous or racist or Yankee fans right? And so Mike Bacsik becomes the footnote to history and graciously as well. Personally I would have walked Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* but I don't get to make those executive decisions.

At least now the circus is over and the Nats and Giants can get back to playing and worrying about nothing but baseball. Maybe the Giants can find a way to make a run to improve their record now that Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* has his precious record. It's too late for either team to challenge for the playoffs but the least they can do is to play hard for the rest of the season instead of phoning it in like I suspect a certain player will.