re: Schilling's blog

Welcome to my blog...

I've been quiet since the Mitchell Report was released. No surprises, though disappointment, as I expected (see below from my ESPN-hosted blog). I wanted to believe Pettitte was above the dirt, but apparently no one is spared, even professed god-fearing men. (which is why I find so many of these bible-bashers incredibly hypocritical, but that's another topic for another time.) Now, about Schilling: While I personally can't stand Schilling, I do find his blogging generally, um, interesting.

This is not track and field. This is not Marion Jones. This is a team sport with 25 players on a side. Taking away wins is incredibly short-sighted. Who's to say that all 25 guys on the other team are lillywhite pure?

Personal awards? Again, who's to say that #2 was totally, unequivocally clean either? [sidebar #1: How come he didn't mention Gagne's Cy Young award or Tejada's MVP award?]


I'll leave the issues about proving innocence to guys like ShysterBall since I don't have a legal background. (I HIGHLY recommend anyone reading this to bookmark Shyster. Worth a daily visit for a way-above average, intelligent view of the game and the issues)

Again, I am a Yankee fan, born and bred. It's all I know. However, I do my best to maintain a bigger view than most blind Yankee homers out there, or at least I like to THINK I do. I root for the laundry, not the bodies in it in most cases. All that being said, I absolutely believe Clemens is guilty, just as I believe Bonds is, and Sosa, and McGwire, and Luis Gonzalez, Giambi, Brady Anderson, Bret Boone, Darin Erstad, Eric Chavez, Mark Mulder, etc. Speculation, you betchya.

I guess that's my way of saying that there is no way to distinguish the clean from the dirty, and to what percentages those two parties made up over the last 10 years or so. Was it 50/50? 60/40? 80/20? Because of that, I'm just going to have to assume that they are all guilty and any performance during this time has to be mentioned within the context of the era.

[sidebar #2: I consider the clean guys as culpable as any other party in this debacle for not standing up and screaming to the Union leaders. I know they wouldn't go to the press for fear of being blackballed, but they could have handled this more aggressively in-house. Yes, I am looking at you, Curt, Smoltz, Glavine, etc.]



That's all of my ranting for the moment. More to come, maybe. I need some more coffee.



(ewwww, the Schilling/Unit picture is just, um, creepy)




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My ESPN-hosted "blogs" are below:
Some thoughts before the storm...

No name on the Mitchell Report will surprise me. Not one. That's a sad commentary on the players of the last 12-15 years. Also sad: I know I am not alone.

Some names would disappoint me if they are on it. Just so long as Jeter's name isn't on it. Not that I expect him to be a saint, but it would just tarnish everything that I have thought about him, everything I have told my boys he's about. Do I want them wearing his jersey if he's named?

How do I explain to young kids that their favorite players (they like lotsa guys from lotsa teams thanks to The Bigs on the Wii) have been cheating? Anyone have an idea?

Re: Mitchell himself: I don't think anything he reports, short of a phone book full of names, will carry any weight. A collective "so what" or "is that it" will be heard across the land. And sadly, because I think he's done this on the up-and-up, he going to be accused of conflicts of interest due to his RedSox affiliation...someth ing he should have resigned from prior to starting this endeavor. If Papi and/or Manny was on that list, I wouldn't be upset, mind you.

Re: Bud: He needs to stand up and shoulder the responsibility of not doing enough soon enough. He knew it was an issue in the mid-90's and should have screamed from the mountaintop more often.

Re: Union leadership, Fehr, etc.: You BETTER take some of the heat, too. Yes, your job is to protect your constituency but this would have been protecting them, also.

And for the love of all things holy, will any named player stand up and take responsibility for their actions? Enough of this "unknowingly" crap. Be a man. You're man enough to cash the check. Be man enough to say you took stuff to get in the game or stay in the game. We can handle that. Just take responsibility for yourself.

That's it for now. More sometime tomorrow afternoon, if possible.