Oh Yeah....HIM

In what can only be described as "overdue" at best, the Barry Bonds Perjury Trial got underway last week. There have been numerous delays since the indictment began in 2007, many of which have surrounded Bonds' former trainer Greg Anderson's refusal to cooperate with authorities and testify against his former client. Anderson has done a lot of jail time over the past 5 years, yet is still refusing to talk. The government finally got the hint, but are pressing forward anyway.

It is generally understood amongst most baseball fans that despite Bonds home run totals, Henry Aaron is still the all time home run king. Most baseball fans realize that Barry Bonds was part of something that was way bigger than him, and now view him as just an extreme example of a much larger problem that permeated throughout Major League Baseball for a long time.

As a result, many people are indifferent to this trial. Many people decry the government for "wasting taxpayer money" on this rigorous investigation and indictment. I am not one of those people...

I hate to break it to the stupid and the blind out there, but the government is not going to allow anyone to commit perjury and get away with it-cost be damned. They cannot and will not allow the message that lying under oath is permissible. So please stop with the "wahhhh" routine regarding how much this trial costs because the only reason this trial is taking place at all is because Barry Bonds lied under oath when he didn't have to.

For those that need reminding, when the BALCO trial of Victor Conte was taking place in 2003 the government granted immunity to the athletes that were customers of BALCO for using the illegal drugs BALCO manufactured and distributed. The government told the athletes involved that they were only interested in prosecuting Conte, and that as long as they told the truth in their testimony they would not be prosecuted. Each of the athletes however also received a stern warning from the government prior to testifying. The warning was that their immunity was contingent upon telling the truth, and if the government suspected that anyone withheld even a shred of truth from their testimony, they would be prosecuted lock, stock, and barrel.

The only athletes who didn't take this warning seriously were Marion Jones and (you guessed it) Barry Bonds.

So yes, the only reason this trial is taking place is because unlike his contemporaries, Bonds claimed under oath that he didn't know what he was taking. Bonds claims he thought he was taking "flax seed oil" rather than steroids, and that he was never injected with anything. Obviously that is not consistent with what the other athletes testified to, nor is it consistent with what Victor Conte told the government, hence here we are.

In terms of the trial itself, I believe it's a winner for Bonds simply because the Smoking Gun in this trial isn't talking. Greg Anderson is the smoking gun. Anderson is the one who kept the logs of what Bonds was taking, how often Bonds was taking it, and Anderson was also the only person who injected Bonds with steroids and Human Growth Hormone. Without Anderson's testimony, the government has a lot of juicy hearsay, speculation, smoke and mirrors, but nothing concrete unless they have an ace in the hole somewhere.

Despite how it's likely to end, I'm still very interested in this trial. Like it or not, this is historic. The Home Run Leader is on trial for a crime for goodness sake, even though it was completely avoidable. The only reason Bonds is on trial is because he couldn't admit what everyone else already suspected or knew. Rather than be completely honest as he was required to be by law, Bonds chose to play Jeff Nowitzky, the FBI, the Grand Jury, and everyone else as fools in his game of life. From that perspective, Bonds deserves anything negative that happens to him as a result of his own stupidity in his testimony.

I have no sympathy for "Stupid". Hopefully the jury feels the same way I do.

"NAILS" Indeed

Lenny Dykstra has always fascinated me. He's long been a study in "Never Should, But Amazingly Did" throughout his Major League Baseball career, all the while doing so with a certain assholish charm and a giant ball of tobacco in his cheek. From his walk-off home run in Game 3 of the 1986 NLCS, his flirtation with hitting .400 in 1990, his drunk driving accident that nearly killed him, to his unbelievable 1993 season on one of my favorite baseball teams I've ever watched in my lifetime - the 1993 Phillies. After his retirement from baseball he went on to an even more unlikely success story as a financial wizard (you can see how big-time he got if you click on this link for a fake movie trailer describing it). His rise was so meteoric, it was captured by Real Sports in February of 2008, as well as received Jim Cramer's endorsement for his show Mad Money and his website thestreet.com. He also managed to buy Wayne Gretzky's old house in L.A. worth $17 million at the time as well as fly around in a private jet, and perpetuate the seemingly authentic American Success Story. All of it was indeed too good to be true however. Since that 2008 piece, I'm not sure whether it's more accurate to say that his empire "crumbled" or was nothing but smoke and mirrors in the first place? If you want further details you can read this article from our friends at The Daily Beast and make up your own mind. The article which is an excerpt from a forthcoming book, outlines not only how far Dykstra has fallen, but also details how big of a scumbag he really was to people he owed money to.

The piece that really got my attention though was the other excerpt from the same book detailing Dykstra's Admitted Steroid Use. Lenny has long denied multiple claims - including a mention in the Mitchell Report - that he used steroids in his career. In the excerpt however, he not only fesses up, but described him as a pioneer as one of the first players to use steroids in the game along with Canseco. In terms of the Eye-Test, you can look at the pictures above and see for yourself. Statistically though, the one season that really jumps out is his famous 1993 campaign (Lead the league with 773 Plate Appearances, 143 Runs Scored, 194 Hits, 129 Walks, and hit a career high 19 dingers) where he finished SECOND to Barry Bonds in the MVP vote at the age of 30 (ironic that a then clean Barry Bonds beat a juiced up Lenny Dykstra). Almost immediately after that Dykstra's body broke down, and he was out of the game by 1997.

While Dykstra himself remains a fascinating individual for a multitude of different negative reasons, the main thing I'll walk away with after reading this story, is that Dykstra is yet another example that baseball players that played during the Steroid Era should NOT be given the benefit of the doubt when faced with accusations. Those accusations almost always end up being proven true, and it's only a matter of time before Lenny confirms this publicly.

It's like sex with Kobe Bryant...you can kick and scream all you want Lenny, but it's GONNA happen... 

Galea Update

Doctor Anthony Galea has been formally charged today with bringing unapproved drugs into the U.S. and unlawfully treating professional athletes. In addition to treating Eldrick Woods, Dara Torres, and MLB players. Now comes word that he has billed three un-named current NFL Players roughly $200,000. Those players are also referred to in the affidavit as being "witnesses", meaning they are going to sing like Gary Sheffield and Jason Giambi in December of 2003.

Not that I'm wishing for the integrity of the investigation to be compromised, but it will be interesting to watch if a member of Galea's defense lawyers pulls a BALCO and starts giving sealed information to a reporter(s) looking to write a tell all book, or something of that nature. Game Of Shadows certainly proved there's a market for that type of book.

Galea shouldn't have to worry too much. After all he's got Chris Simms defending him!!

A Picture Is Worth What Again?

It's good to be back from vacation. Plenty of interesting things happening since my last post. The Blackhawks haven't wrapped up their series against the Canucks yet. The Cubs and Sox are still a big bag of AWFUL. Starlin Castro providing early mixed reviews at best so far, while Jake Peavy continues to be one of the few bright spots for his team. Lawrence Taylor managing to top himself in terms of self destruction by being caught with a little statutory sex slave - ouch... The Raiders finally said "Step In To My Office 'Cause You're F*ckin FIRED!" to JaJokeus Russell. Plus Eldrick Woods pulled out of the final round of the TPC because (Wannie voice) "He's Gotta Neckkk..."

The funniest and most ironic story though, was the report of Houston Texans Linebacker Brian Cushing being in violation of the league's Steroid policy. Cushing had apparently tested positive in 2009 and had been appealing the positive test, but the final decision was handed down last week. Cushing will now be suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2010 season. Cushing's story is that he took a non-steroid banned substance but hasn't said which one yet. He also said he's been taking it for the last 10 to 15 years with no issues at all, however that is completely not true.

Cushing (along with another one of my personal most wanted steroid suspects Clay Matthews Jr) reportedly tested positive for steroids at the 2009 Combine, but that report was later proven false. Take a look at the picture above though. As you can see Brian's body has undergone some (ahem) changes over his time at USC. The picture on the left certainly puts the "gyne" in "gynecomastia" doesn't it? I'm not a doctor, so forgive me if I find it hard to believe that some random supplement, or some herbal tea, or a B-12 shot would be responsible for boobies! Cushing can pass all the other tests in the world, but one test he's not passing for sure, is The Beard's Eye Test.

With that said though, I must admit that I believe Cushing is doing exactly the same thing that 90% of the NFL is doing. He just had the rotten luck of getting caught. While I've maintained that I don't want steroids in Major League Baseball for some time, I don't feel the same way about the NFL or College Football. Just to give you the Cliff Notes version as to why I treat the two sports differently :

1. MLB is all about it's numbers, statistics, and ORDINARY men achieving those extraordinary numbers and statistics. Baseball has been around for over 120 years, and those numbers are transferable from generation to generation. Steroids compromises the integrity of those numbers by deflating their significance when the records are broken by guys who wouldn't have been nearly the hitters they were without The Juice.

2. Football is about Large, Strong, Angry, Super Fast men running into each other for our amusement, nothing more. It's not the least bit concerned with it's numbers the way baseball is and to prove it, ask yourself this question - How many rushing yards did Emmitt Smith finish his career with? Odds are, you don't know the number off the top of your head. Yet if someone asks you how many home runs Hank Aaron hit you automatically know the number without even thinking about it, don't you? Therefore due to the numbers being negligible, the use of steroids (over the past 40 years according to some accounts) is much more permissible when it comes to Professional Football, in my opinion.

So while it is amusing that Cushing has maintained his supposed innocence over the years despite damning visual evidence, it's hard to come down on him too hard, since he's now been caught by the NFL's ILLUSION of being against Performance Enhancing Drugs, rather than an actual league trying to prevent it's players from doing steroids.

A Real Hall Of Famer

I know that Albert Pujols is tirelessly giving 100% of himself to the situation in Haiti, and can't stand it when someone wants to ask him about anything else. If he can somehow manage to take a 5 minute break and read this, maybe he'll have a better understanding of why questions about Mark McGwire and the rest of the Steroid Era will never go away until we get to the bottom of it.

I don't have many man-crushes in sports, but one of the few I have made the news this afternoon. Carlton Fisk came out swinging against Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and the rest of the guilty people involved in the Steroid Era today. He pulled no punches, offered zero empathy, got down to exactly why it's cheating, and acted like a true authentic Baseball Hall Of Fame member should act with regard to this entire situation. Bravo Carlton...bravo.

Fisk has always been a watchdog/crusader of sorts as to how the game should be played. Don't believe me? Go ask Deion Sanders. The irony of course is that Fisk indirectly had a hand in sparking interest in weight training being a gateway to prolong a Major League Baseball career. To the point where's Oakland A's then GM Sandy Alderson saw Fisk hit 37 home runs at age 37 in 1985, and instituted a weight lifting program across the entire A's organization the very next season.

Regardless, it still doesn't stop Fisk from being 100% correct, even though his math might have been a little off. Here's hoping more Hall Of Fame members follow Carlton's (and Goose Gossage's) lead and speak out against the players who have been caught, strongly suspected, or otherwise guilty until proven innocent of juicing. The fact of the matter is, MLB doesn't have a commissioner who's interested in getting to the bottom of it. The Players Union certainly isn't interested in getting to the bottom of it. The media and the fans can only go so far. Therefore, in the absence of real leadership, it's now up to members of the Hall Of Fame to take a stand. Let's hope that Fisk's comments today, are just the beginning...

Fun

"I did this for health purposes. There's no way I did this for any type of strength purposes. I truly believe I was given the gifts from the man upstairs of being a home run hitter, ever since I would say birth."

Swing and a miss Mark...

Balls Deep

Lots of sports news making the rounds the past 48 hours. Here are some that seem to be the most interesting:

Plenty of Mark McLiar fallout stories (a ton from this link alone) taking place, post his supposed confession. From Jose Canseco calling LaRussa and McGwire liars. A supposed FBI informant telling the NY Daily News that McGwire was using "super-potent anabolic steroids for about a decade", and not nearly the "very low" amount McGwire suggested he took during his interview with Bob Costas last night. Goose Gossage drawing the line in the sand for all the juicers' Hall of Fame eligibility. Ari Fleischer apparently bizarrely coordinating McGwire's entire confession from start to finish. Bud Selig continuing to try and save his legacy by calling the steroid era "...a thing of the past..." , and justifiably getting destroyed for saying such a ridiculous thing by both the USADA, and WADA. Phil Rogers and Chris DeLuca finally realizing what the rest of us with 3 digit I.Q.'s and common sense have known all along. Imagine that, juicers should not be allowed into the Hall of Fame because it's cheating? Better late than never huh fellas? DeLuca btw, thinks that Greg Maddux is the only player that will be Hall of Fame eligible that won't have any questions about steroid use. Apparently Chris hasn't heard of guys named Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. Bottom Line-if McGwire thought that his admission last night, and subsequent fudging of the facts of his steroid use would be enough to settle things once and for all, he obviously was mistaken. His Pandora's Box is getting swung open in a major way, and the damage could be way more substantial than anything he might have imagined.

How do you replace a successful scumbag, dirtball head coach? You get a young scumbag, dirtball head coach to replace him, although what he has in youth/arrogance, he lacks in success. With the random and conspicuous departure of Pete Carroll aka "Captain Happy" to the Seattle Seahawks, Lane Kiffin has been named the head coach of USC after one tumultuous season at the University of Tennessee. To call this randomly surprising would be an understatement. In some ways, Lane is perfect for the USC job. He's an arrogant, immature, young punk who runs his mouth way too much to the point of getting sanctioned by the NCAA. The only problem was, Lane already had a job and he made a commitment to UT's players, coaches, recruits, students, alumni, athletic director and university president that he would be their head coach. Now that USC has stolen him, what's to stop some NFL team from stealing him from USC down the road? Why would USC put themselves in a position to trust Lane, when he's already proven that he can't be trusted? The initial opinion of The Beard is that Lane and USC deserve each other. It will be fun watching who will screw who over at the end of this movie, especially when all the inevitable sanctions will be handed down as punishment for the cheating that went on during Captain Happy's watch.

The Chicago Bears first two choices for the Offensive Coordinator position have been eliminated. Jeremy Bates would rather take his chances in Seattle, and the Packers understandably told the Bears "kiss my @ss" when the Bears asked to interview Tom Clements. Now it appears that Ken Zampese (Ernie's son) will interview first for the open job. OK, it appears that he might be qualified, and he's certainly got the dreaded "up and coming" label associated with him. He's as good a prospect as any, but it's anybody's guess who the Bears will end up hiring for both open positions. Whoever it is, the best chance for success will be their ability to immediately innovate with the pieces they have available on the roster, and it must translate into wins because this is not a rebuilding job, but rather a "win now" task at hand.

Complete Idiot or Duplicitous Liar?

There has been a TON of things happening since the last blog post. The NFL Playoffs are in full swing, plenty of upsets and a completely wild shootout in the Arizona desert took place. Pete Carroll has decided to jump ship from a soon to be sanctioned and penalized USC football program for the safety of the Seattle Seahawks. The Bears are ready to get serious about their open coaching positions. Jerry Wainright getting fired, etc.

Those of you familiar with me though, are aware that everything that has happened is taking a big backseat today, in light of the Mark McGwire news that he did in fact use steroids, HGH, and other performance enhancers throughout his career. So let's get to it!

Tony LaRussa, upon the heels of announcing McGwire would be his hitting coach in St. Louis this season, predicted that McGwire would address these long standing allegations, suspicions and finally "talk about the past" before spring training this year. Today apparently became that day as McGwire issued his 20 minute statement admitting steroid use throughout his playing career to set everything in motion. A good start for him in some ways. McGwire then went on MLB Network to be interviewed by Bob Costas, and erased any momentum or good will he might have established in completely liberating himself of the guilt he has been carrying for some time now.

After shedding a bunch of tears (much like he did in the beginning of his March 17, 2005 testimony in Congress) McGwire gave wishy-washy answers at best when it came to the specifics of his steroid use. He left out or claimed he didn't remember the names of steroids he used, only admitting he preferred pills not injectables. He gave vague terms of "very low doses" when asked how much did he take. McGwire gave inaccurate time tables of when/how long he was using steroids during his career. He claimed that the only reason he said he's "not hear to talk about the past" was because he wasn't given immunity. Then, in a final measure of delusion, he said "I did this for health purposes. There is no way I did this for any type of strength purposes." and "There's no way a pill or an injection will give you hand-eye coordination or the ability or the great mind that I've had as a baseball player..." Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Let's start with some establishment of facts. I'm not here to argue that steroids should be banned in all sports, or that they're worse than doing crack cocaine, or any of the other histrionic debates that are associated with Performance Enhancing Drugs. That's another argument for another time. I AM of the mindset however that Steroids, HGH, PED's should not be in Major League Baseball, and we'll just leave it at that for today. I've read many books, and studied the Steroid Era very carefully over the years, I've heard varying accounts of McGwire's and other ballplayers drug use, as well as the owners and fans tacit approval of it. Here is the timeline of all the important developments of the Steroid Era. The most important entry I'd ask people to pay attention to is what happened on June 7, 1991. Even though you will see, read, and hear everyone in the media say that there were "no rules" against taking steroids, Fay Vincent issued a memo to every club saying that steroids have been added to the Banned Substance List. Meaning that even though they hadn't agreed to testing, taking steroids was against the rules of MLB going all the way back to 1991.

That being said, let's now get into the meat of McGwire's "admission"and it's relation to the title of this post. Either McGwire is a complete idiot, or a duplicitous liar based on his comments today. For him to say he doesn't remember the names of the drugs he took, and his attempt to pass it off as a low doses is very weak on his part. Every steroid user I've known, seen, talked to, or read about knows exactly the name of the steroids they're taking, how much of it they're taking, and what else they can cocktail it with during use, and what drugs they need to take after they cycle off of them. The know and remember simply because they need to know all of this to get the best results possible. So either McGwire is a complete idiot for not bothering to know about these things, or he is lying right through his tears in the hopes of fooling people into believing that steroids really didn't help him that much.

McGwire said he first tried steroids between 1989 and 1990, went off them, and then went back on them in 1993. However, when looking at the numbers there was very little, to no change in either his body type, or his production during 1989-1990. In 1991 though, there was a significant drop in both Batting Average, Home Runs, OBP, and RBI's to the point where Tony LaRussa benched him for the last game of the season so he could keep his batting average above the Mendoza Line. In 1992 however, his production returned, complete with mullet, goatee, and 30 lbs of added muscle, to take the American League by storm until a heel injury sidelined him in August that season. People covering McGwire at the time were aware, or at the very least heard rumblings that he first started taking steroids in 1992, and it's long been accepted as truth among the beat writers covering him at that time. So either he's a complete idiot for not being able to read a calendar, or he's a duplicitous liar for trying to fool people into believing that one of his most productive years was not responsible because of steroid use.

The main point he made that really leaves a big hole in his armor is McGwire's belief and conviction, that steroids did not help him become a better ball player, that he wasn't taking them to become bigger and stronger but rather for "health benefits", and that steroids in general don't make baseball players better than what their natural ability allows them to do. First of all if that's the case, then why is he so sorry that he took them? Secondly, what "health benefits" did he take them for? Steroids don't treat injuries. If anything, they cause more injuries, than anything else. Did he have anemia? Was he a burn victim? Maybe it was for other side effect purposes, which could be maybe his back didn't have enough acne on it? Maybe his testicles were too big, and they needed to shrink? Other than that, there's not too many actual health reasons to take steroids. The only other benefit left to gain from them is abnormal levels of muscle mass and strength. Third, if steroids don't make you a better player, then why did all those home run records shatter so quickly during the Steroid Era? Obviously because they DO make you a better ballplayer. They're Performance Enhancing Drugs, and by definition they help you play better than your natural ability. So once again, either McGwire is a complete idiot for not being logical, or he is a liar because he wants people to believe that steroids were not responsible for his success in his career.

Oh but it continues. Don't think I'm going to give Tony LaRussa a free pass. LaRussa has said on at least two separate occasions that he believes McGwire was clean, here and here. LaRussa has taken every opportunity to bully people and be as stand off-ish as possible whenever the subject of McGwire or steroid use on his teams has come up. He has made so many outlandish comments over the years, including his bitching about Steve Wilstein invading McGwire's privacy when Wilstein saw that bottle of Andro in McGwire's locker in 1998. LaRussa has shown the class and maturity of a spoiled brat when it comes to this subject because it becomes clear with each passing day that no manager benefited more from the Steroid Era than him, which leads to the repeated question. Is LaRussa a complete idiot for being totally ignorant for not knowing about the steroid use on his teams, or is he a duplicitous liar for trying to get people to believe that there is no such thing as steroids, McGwire's achievements were all natural, and that he really is a great manager and not just a guy who fills out a lineup card and hopes for 2 three run homers to win games 8-6?

The bottom line is, McGwire is only confessing halfway. He blew another chance to really cleanse his conscience and set the record straight. By only admitting he juiced, but shying away from specifics, and expressing his naive beliefs that steroids didn't make him the player he was, he only made things worse. Maybe now we can understand why he really wasn't there to talk about the past in 2005....because now it seems he doesn't to want to remember any of it, or more importantly doesn't want us to remember it.

Bad To Worse

Well a lookey what we have here!!! Apparently a Canadian Doctor was busted at the U.S.-Canadian border with Human Growth Hormone and Actovegin, which is a controversial drug that is extracted from calf's blood that is thought to increase injury recovery. Doctor Anthony Galea was arrested on October 15, and has been under investigation by both U.S. and Canadian authorities for illegally prescribing and distributing Performance Enhancing Drugs for some time. What's unusual is that this doctor is the same doctor who has treated Tiger Woods, Dara Torres, and other NFL and Canadian Football League players. Now comes word that he's also treated MLB players too.

People may recall Dara Torres (the "SHIM" pictured above next to Tiger) decided that at age 41 to comeback to Olympic Swimming. She became the first woman ever to swim in the Olympics past the age of 40, and also mysteriously swam faster than she has ever swam in her life, AFTER turning 41 years old! She claims that Doctor Galea only "drained her knee", and otherwise did not treat her.

Tiger on the other hand, has long been the subject of questions regarding his muscular physique, particularly after coming back from his knee surgery. So far, Woods has not denied being treated by Doctor Galea.

While there's way too much smoke to determine what if anything this doctor has done, and whom he has done it to, there's still some fire to this. Doctor Galea already has admitted to taking HGH himself, and is known as a "pioneer" in his industry. Usually with stories like this, the term "benefit of the doubt" no longer applies, and it would not be surprising in the least if this is BALCO Part II.