I was absolutely NOT surprised when I heard the news. I have long suspected Ramirez as someone who used performance enhancing drugs. I always put him in the same category with Juan Gonzalez (who was caught a long time ago) - a guy who came out of nowhere to become a beast at the plate. They each fit the profile of a ‘roid user.
My total disdain for Ramirez has more to do with his complete disrespect for the game than anything else. Not just the stupid looking hair, but the way he dumped on his teammates in Boston and the way he pouts and even quits on them makes me sick. I don’t care what he’s done thus far in LA, Manny is a dog and he will eventually show his dog side in LA…this ‘roids episode is just the start. Goose Gossage said it best to Troy Renck of the Denver Post: "From his uniform number, to his uniform to his hair, he's a joke. A clown," said Hall of Famer Rich "Goose" Gossage, the most accomplished player in
Question: Are we going to see teams of investigative reporters diving into Manny’s life from High School on like we have with A Rod, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens? Let’s hope so, That would be appropriate.
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Is anyone else completely and totally sick of Brett Favre? How much more of an attention junkie could this guy be? It’s over, Brett! It was over when you threw that pick that sent the New York Giants to the Super Bowl at the end of the 2007 season. The whole circus last summer was a complete embarrassment for your legacy. Save what’s left of it. Go away and retire already. Shut the door, please! Forever! And how much does this never ending Favre soap opera make you appreciate John Elway and Ray Bourque even more (if that’s possible)? For an athlete, knowing when to step away, with dignity and honor, seems to be a lost art for these guys. I’ll never forget when the great Tom Seaver told the New York Mets – who had invited him back to Spring Training in 1987 – that he could no longer pitch to his own standards, and was walking away for good. Seaver still has the highest percentage of Hall of Fame votes ever for anyone who was first-time eligible, showing exactly what handling yourself with grace and dignity can do for you in the long run.
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I LOVE SEEING THE LAKERS get physical. Think they haven’t been watching the Nuggets? You know Kobe and Co. have come to realize they are NOT going to cruise through the rugged Western Conference without a fight…literally. Hope the Rockets and Lakers beat each other up good while the Nuggets take care of the Mavs and then get some rest. Charles Barkley is picking the Nuggets to win it all. Could happen?
The end to game three between the Nuggets and Mavs could not have been more appropriate. In a game when the referees took over the show and turned the game into a free-throw shooting contest, a non-call was a key factor in the outcome. Amazing. That was a horribly officiated game from the start. I think we’re all sick of Dirk Nowitzki going to the line every time someone breathes on him. Over-refereeing can destroy the flow of a game – and they did in game three. They called 61 fouls? That’s horrible…and it’s what made the ending so ironic.
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Are the
(AP photo of Manny "Man-roid" Ramirez of the LA Dodgers)
For more info: Colorado Rockies Examiner Travis Lay
Comments
I get a kick out of everyone that says they are sick of Brett Favre yet still read and write, and talk about him.
Couple points...
1. Yes baseball has finally clamped down on PEDs but about 15-20 years too late. Leave it to the dysfunctional MLB to run its sport so poorly that Jose Canseco is now credible compared to the band of nit wits running baseball. The MLB is arguably the mostt poorly run professional sports league in the world, outside the Italian Serie A.
2. The NHL is making a huge mistake by not showcasing the magical duel betweeen Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. The NHL, and the Avs specifically, are not irrelevant but do suffer from poor marketing and lack of network TV exposure.
Yes, Mr. T, baseball was late to the drug testing party. That's the point: MLB - and more specificly our players union - handled this very poorly 20 years ago. That doesn't mean, however, that's it poorly run RIGHT NOW because it's not. Baseball is flourishing. Once they got onboard with the more comprehensive testing, they stopped being 'poorly run.' Baseball is WAAAAAAY ahead of the NHL in terms of how they are run. "Band of nitwits? I haven't seen any baseball franchises filing for bankruptcy. "Poor marketing and lack of network TV exposure" aren't baseball problems, are they? Baseball is so much better run than the irrelevant NHL it's funny.
...One more thing: Certainly you aren't saying that the Colorado Avalanche suffer from a lack of television exposure? Hint: They have they're own TV network, Altitude, which shows every game! The Avs have been irrelevant because this is not a hockey town. Never was. It was an 'Avalanche town' when they were winning. Now that they aren't winning, they're 26th in the league in attendance. Coincidence? The game of hockey isn't a draw here, winning is. Until they win, the Avs will continue to be irrelevant.
Yes, baseball is such a paragon of competive balance and financial stability that as recent as four years ago five teams were in danger of being contracted, the most hallowed records in the sport are juiced beyond credibility, the freakin All-Star Game decides home field advantage in the World Series, the MLB owners have been busted for collusion twice, and the hallowed Mitchell report is tainted with a stain of a conflict of interest on the part of the guy who was named chief investigator. We won't even mention the antitrust exemption that MLB used to usurp control of franchises from their rightful owners (Marge Schott) or the fact the commissioner is also serving despite the blatant conflict of interest involved in a current/former owner serving as MLB's chief.
Selig and the braintrust in MLB respond at a glacial pace to every controversial issue in the game. At least the NHL and the NHLPA responded quickly to doping issues back in 2005. And last time I checked both the NHL and MLB have canceled seasons since 1990.
By network exposure I meant nationally televised games. But this doesn't vitiate the fact the Avs and the NHL suffer from lack of national television coverage. In this respect the NHL is making huge mistakes. If I'm Gary Bettman I'd negotiate a national network deal for less money, generate buzz via marketing the players far better than they currently do, and build up a reliable revenue stream through aggressive targeted marketing to the already established and affluent fan base. Hockey has per capita one of the most affluent fan bases in sports, higher than the other major sports North American leagues and even higher than the PGA.
And this city is as much a hockey town as it is a baseball town. Rockies fans fled in droves before the 2007 World Series run just like Avs fans fail to show now that they stink. I love how you also conveniently forget the Avs own the NHL record for consecutive sellouts at 487 games in row, which ended in 2006. The Rockies even in a smaller stadium than the old Mile High can't equal that kind of an attendance streak.
Mr. T – What the heck are you talking about? You’re basing your weak argument on what happened with baseball two decades ago? I’M TALKING ABOUT THE STATE OF THINGS TODAY!!!!!! Absolutely baseball made huge mistakes. Lots of them. But unlike hockey, baseball is strong enough to endure labor problems, drug issues, etc. because it’s a great game and part of our culture. Hockey has proven to be just the opposite. It’s no longer even one of our “major sports” in this country…which is very sad, because I used to like hockey before the ruined it with the stupid salary cap.
Only someone who hasn’t been paying attention could actually rip on baseball for a lack of competitive balance. Have you even noticed? Baseball has had only ONE repeat champion THIS DECADE…and the Yankees haven’t won it since 2000! The Rays? Rockies? Tigers, Marlins? There’s been a parade of small and mid-market teams go to and even win the World Series. Yes, Baseball IS a paragon of competitive balance, thank you.
And financially, the game is in the best shape it’s been in EVER. Revenues are at all time highs. I don’t know where you got the NONSENSE about “five teams being in danger of being contracted four years ago,” but that’s COMPLETE BS. Check your facts. That NEVER HAPPENED. The only time contraction was ever discussed was back in the ‘90’s, and it never got close to happening. What DID happen was increased revenue sharing which is largely why competitive balance is so good in baseball. No one is facing bankruptcy.
As I said, I’m not defending what happened before – be it collusion between owners in the 1980’s or the slow response to the steroid problem in the ‘90’s. Big mistakes. And if it were up to me, the team with the best record would get home field advantage in the play-offs, not the winner of the All-Star game. But before I dropped a “freakin’ All Star game” on any other sport, I’d take a hard look at the joke the NHL stages. At least baseball’s All-Star game is played (and actually WATCHED by fans) like a real baseball game.
Better check again: For the record, baseball NEVER cancelled a season as the NHL did. It was a very sad time when the lockout ended the 1994 season early and wiped out the play-offs, but to say that “they both cancelled seasons” is simply wrong. Only the NHL screwed up that bad. Actually, since baseball signed its collective bargaining agreement in ’02, things have gotten better in every way possible. (BTW, Mr. Selig gave up his interest in the Brewers when he was named full time commissioner. Since the Commissioner is hired by and is an employee of the owners, calling it a conflict of interest is also totally wrong.) Financially everything is working for all concerned, and the better drug testing is working as well…it’s all good. Everyone is building a new ballpark…why? Because they can! Coors Field being a prime example of what a new park can do for an entire region.
Don’t even try to compare MLB and the sorry NHL. Baseball is on FOX and ESPN and breaking attendance records all over the place. Most people can’t even find ‘Vs” and most don’t care. Greater Denver is a baseball town and NOT a hockey town. Wanna talk about attendance records? The Rockies broke every attendance record in their early days, and have continued to draw well EVEN WHEN THEY AREN’T ANY GOOD. Yes, the Avalanche drew great WHEN THEY WERE WINNING, but the true measure of a region’s passion for a sport is how many people show up when the home team isn’t any good. That’s why we know this is a Broncos town. They’d sell out if they went 0-16. The Rockies still draw very good crowds for a mediocre team. On the other hand, the minute the Avs turned into just another team, the people stopped showing up.
Baseball has it all over hockey in every single way…at least in America. I have an idea: Since the Coyotes are going to move back to Canada, and since the Expos already moved to DC, let’s go with the trend. Send all our warm weather NHL teams back to the great white north where they belong and can be appreciated, and move the Blue Jays back down here where they can flourish like the rest of MLB. Fair trade I think.
Reading comprehension is a beautiful thing Knudson.
I never said contraction happened, just that it almost happened.
And did you miss the clearly puncuated clause in which I said having a current/former (note the slash as meaning either/or) is a conflict of interest.
You're such a baseball sychophant you're blind to many of its major foibles while criticizing an admittedly smaller league as being irrelevant despite the fact it's one of the most popular sports on earth. The NHL has its problems too; marketing, over expansion, under exposure.
Oh, btw, the Rockies attendance isn't nearly as spectacular as you think. They drew below 30,000 a game for five years, about 65% of capicity. In fact, the vaunted attendance you claim the Rockies have is not even 70% of capacity and at no point since 2001 have the Rockies averaged 33,000, yet again below 70% of capacity. The Avs have NEVER been below 80% capacity since 1996. And the NHL has set record attendance levels four years in a row.
Not bad for an irrelevant team and league.
Denver is every bit as much a hockey town as it is a baseball town and an even cursory statistical analysis proves it.
…and correct spelling optional for you, I see. Anyway…You’re reading what you want to read again. Mr. T…What I SAID was that contraction didn’t ALMOST happen, either. YOU’RE 100% WRONG. The “five teams four years ago” thing was complete BS. Check your facts.
And as I pointed out, there was NO conflict of interest EVER with Selig because the Commissioner is an employee of the Owners and they can appoint one of their own if they so choose. Do I like that? Heck no. As a former player, I’d like an independent person in there, but make no mistake – as you and your little league have found out – when push comes to shove the Commish is squarely on the side of the owners in every dispute. Sad but true.
As far as being any sort of baseball apologist, you must have skipped over the parts I wrote that were critical of baseball and noted the numerous mistakes of the past. I certainly love the game, and that’s exactly WHY I’ve been as critical as anyone over the screw ups that have been made. However, when you criticize, you must acknowledge what’s being done well, too, and baseball has done a lot of things very very well in recent years. Far more so than the irrelevant NHL, which you deem so popular in other parts of the world. I’m talking about what’s popular HERE…and it aint hockey. Frankly, I don’t care what the rest of the world finds entertaining. Heck, most of the world loves…gasp…SOCCER! OMG!!! The world’s WORST “sport” is the most popular (probably because Euro’s simply can’t grasp the complexity of the West Coast Offense. Soccer would be better described as “a fine activity for kids under 10.”)
As for your attendance stats – it’s like anything else. You can make the numbers say whatever you want. I don’t know how you spin the fact that Colorado was 26th in the league in attendance. The fact that matters is that the Rockies continue to draw fans win or lose, while the Avs attendance has bottomed out because the team isn’t winning anymore. I’m sad about this because I enjoyed play-off hockey as much as anything, but not surprised. There are certainly core hockey fans here who just love the game…just not enough of them. The huge majority are front runners; they only show up when the team is winning because the game itself isn’t enough for them. Look around you and use some common sense. The Avs have ceased to matter – and that’s why they MUST hire Patrick Roy. It’s their only hope. We could lose another hockey team it things don’t turn around.
Just give this up, Mr. T…baseball is a big time sport here and nationally, while hockey gets pre-empted so their network “partner” can televise golf instead. That doesn't happen to America’s National Pastime. Hockey is a passion for Canadians, not Coloradoans.
You are and have always been incredibly caustic so having a coherent debate with you is nigh on impossible.
I cited easily accessible attendance figures that show even with this disasterous season the Avalanche draw 80% capacity crowds while the Rockies haven't filled 80% of the seats since the 90's. Look it up. And I love the age old red herring/chuck n jive tactic of saying, "you can make the numbers say anythin." My God, when faced with cold hard facts/evidence that directly contradicts your point you evade and dismiss. Fine, we'll just ignore attendance figures because they don't agree with you.
Yes MLB has adopted a stern drug policy. But that doesn't vitiate the fact MLB ignored the problem for 15 years hoping it would go away. It finally took some potential HOFers going before Congress and lying, subsequently getting caught, and BALCO & the Mitchell Report before Selig & Co. finallyextracted their craniums from their posteriors before they did anythin. Yet their sit Rafael Pameiro, Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Manny, Jason Giambi, Ken Camaniti, and others, as permanent stains on a once great sport. This stain tarnishes whatever mitigation baseball has done because Selig & Co. were to stupid or blind to see their complacency irreperably harmed the sport. This same type of shadow is not hanging over any other major sport league in America. Now is not that far removed from 2005, a year when baseball's reputation and credibility was all butt destroyed.
First, what you DID address:
80% of 18,000 is a far cry from 80% of 55,000. I could take the same kind of tact and go on sheer volume saying something stupid like, “The Rockies draw twice as many people to every game. The Rockies drew 2 million while the Avs drew only 600,000.” That would make just about as much sense.
Try some COMMON SENSE. The Avs WERE a hot ticket when they were winning, correct? Led the league in attendance, right? Now that they are not winning, they are NOT a hot ticket: 26th in the league in attendance, right? That’s the common sense fact you keep overlooking. It’s OBVIOUS that this is not a town where people go to see hockey because they like hockey. They were going to see a winning team. That’s not the case with the three major sports teams here where the fans will go regardless if whether or not the team is great. Again, this takes only COMMON SENSE to see this. This is NOT a hockey town…and yes, I’m still bitter that they put in that stupid salary cap and ruined the Avalanche.
As for baseball, what you said in the second paragraph, starting with “Yes…” and ending with “…great sport” is 100% accurate and I’ve never said otherwise. Where we differ is with your ridiculous insistence that what happened in the 1990’s and early 2000’s is still plaguing the sport. Yes, they were all blind, although you put too much blame on Selig and Co. and not enough on the Players Association. I was a member of that union. I know how it works – and why it was next to impossible for the owners to push through any sort of reforms until Congress got involved and Don Fehr, etc, were finally forced off the dime. They all screwed up…some more than others.
Clearly, the past is NOT plaguing the sport as you insist. Baseball has moved on. “Irreparable” is NONSENSE. History show s us that there are never any permanent stains on baseball. The game has endured many a scandal over the years and always come through it because it’s the game that matters most, not those who play it. I struggle to understand how you can say “credibility was destroyed” when all the indicators of the health of the sport point in the other direction. In 2009, Baseball is healthy and vibrant, more so than maybe ever. More attendance records will fall this year, and revenues will grow despite a down economy. Oh, and neither FOX or ESPN or anyone else will pre-empt a baseball play-off game so they can show golf.
Manny getting busted was a GREAT thing because it proves things are now working as they should have been all along.
What you IGNORED:
- Are you clear now on the ridiculousness of your whole “contraction” statement. Complete BS, right?
- Do you get that there was never a “conflict of interest” with the Commish and why? You know that Gary Bettman works directly for the owners, too. We all wish commissioners were neutral, but they aren’t - in any sport. He works for them.
I’ll give hockey this much: The knucklehead factor is very low…save for that lunatic Sean Avery. Hockey players don’t get in much trouble off the ice. And baseball? When was the last time you heard of a baseball player or players getting in trouble for domestic violence or shooting himself with a gun that was in his pocket? You talk about a “shadow” hanging over baseball and no other sports. I will dispute that as well. While I won’t defend the use of ‘roids in any case, it does need to be pointed out that these guys were not smoking dope or beating their girlfriends or shooting off guns at strip clubs. They were trying to get better at what they do, even if the way they did it was blatantly wrong. What do you think Roger Goodell would rather deal with? He certainly has been much more lenient with the Rodney Harrison’s and Shawne Merriman’s than he has with Pac Man, Plaxico and even B Marshall? I say these players and others have cast a much larger ‘shadow’ on their sport than anyone has on baseball. Anyway you look at it, wrong is wrong, and no sport has a perfect record.
At least you don’t try to defend soccer.
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