Sports and Politics collide in Los Angeles.

The Idiots McCourt

I must start out by saying I hate the Dodgers, being a Padres fan and all...but that said..the drama currently unfolding in LA brings together two of my favorite topics..sports and politics.

Frank McCourt should of never been allowed to buy the Dodgers in the first place, seven years ago. One of the most storied franchises in all of sports, McCourt has nickle and dimed the team into a hot mess, so hot in fact, that Major League Baseball has taken over running the franchise. McCourt probably won't be smart enough to let them do it as he is screaming "I'm gonna sue" from the top of his lungs. Like the asshole doesn't have enough lawsuits going right now, suing his old lawyers with a new crop of lawyers and still fighting in court with his now ex-wife about giving her half the team, which the courts have deemed she deserves since his ridiculous post-nuptial agreement was tossed in divorce court last year.

Season ticket sales have fallen off by 40%. Attendance also continues to dip each and every year that fucknut has owned them.He has spent less and less on talent each year he has owned them as well. But to listen to Frankie talk, HE is the brand name and the Dodgers are just 'the product'. From the Yahoo link:

Years ago employees were advised by the McCourts to consider the McCourts the brand and the Dodgers the product, and to sell the two as such, and in that order. 

They said it a lot, too. Though, to be fair, they fired so many people there were always new people to educate on the subtleties of McCourt-onomics. 

Selig, by recent weeks, simply had had enough. The team he once delivered to the McCourts was now in ruins. The McCourt empire, such as it is, looked to Selig like it was in the same condition. The two were going down together, up to their necks in debt and divorce and empty promises to clean it all up. And Selig had grown weary of opening letters from distraught and livid Dodgers season-ticket holders, the few that remain. 

So, on Tuesday, he drafted a letter to Frank and had it overnighted. He followed it up with an e-mail.

Your baseball team now belongs to me, was its message. You spend not a dollar before it is cleared by my man on the ground, who will have an office in your stadium. 

Presumably, it will not be Jamie’s old office, though Jamie voiced her support for Selig undoing a mess she’s half-responsible for making.

Before he bought the Dodgers, McCourt tried to buy the Boston Red Sox, his beloved childhood team. His egotistical ass was laughed out of town for even considering that thought.  As someone that lived in Beantown and adores the BoSox to this day, I breathed a sigh of relief when the Yawkeys told him to take a fucking hike and sold the team to three guys that know and loved baseball, John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino, who also knew how to run a team and how to make money with one of the oldest and revered franchises in the sport...two things Frankie McCourt doesn't know anything about apparently as the Dodgers qualify on both those counts as well. Again from the Yahoo link on what a boffo owner McCourt has been during his tenure there:

Well. This, you should know, is not only about McCourt’s inability to make payroll last week, for which he secured a $30 million loan from Fox, as the Los Angeles Times reported. Nor is it only about firing the security chief just before he let all the people into his building. Nor is it only about funding his divorce through season-ticket and beer sales. Nor is it only about a team that sometimes looks like it should be in Pittsburgh and not the second-largest market in the country.
This is about all of it, every stinkin’ inch McCourt has taken, when he should have given two. 

This is about a franchise that can’t know how it will live tomorrow, since it never thinks about tomorrow, since it’s already borrowed against all of tomorrow’s money. This is about an owner securing a $30 million loan, using as collateral the settlement he expects to win from suing his own former attorneys at Boston’s Bingham McCutchen, which drafted the faulty marital property agreement. And then about being so desperate to take a below-value television deal in L.A, potentially devaluing other owners’ future contracts in places that aren’t L.A.

Frankie's name is shit right now in Baseball and it rightfully should be. This man is an idiot of the highest order and for him to even consider going up against Major League Baseball when he has most likely pissed away any money he could even hope to recover with a sale of the Dodgers, it just shows how self-centered he is, and that he doesn't have the best interests of his team at heart. Which means only two things to me:

He's lower than pond scum and not a true baseball fan. The second reason alone is enough to run his ass out of town on a rail, or at the very least tar and feather him, using of course pine tar, in my humble yet vocal opinion. Because even if I hate the team,competitively speaking, I love and respect the franchise...and their rich history doesn't need to be screwed up by the likes of Frank McCourt's litigious, financially ignorant dumbass.  The best quote about McCourt can be found in the Yahoo writeup:

“Dig a pothole in the middle of your street, fill it with sewer water, and within hours Frank McCourt would walk along and step in it.”

I rest my case....

43 freaking hits? wtf gents?

(scoreboard for another memorable Rockie night..this time with the Padres) What the hell was that shit in Coors the other night? I know Coors is slugger friendly but my Gawd that was nasty. Nine runs down and its still not over..damn. According to Sportsline:

The last time two teams combined for this many runs was May 19, 1999, also at Coors Field, when the Cincinnati Reds roughed up the Rockies 24-12.

It wasn't a fun night for defense, thats for sure. In other news..the Padres helped the damn Dodgers last night..beating the D-backs handily. Peavy is going today..come on darlin..I got you in my lineup. Last time Peavy was up against Brandon Webb..Brandon came out with the win. In our lousy division someone needs to get to freaking 500..come on!

Boston-Yank$ game getting ready to start..Go BoSox!!!

Rick is steaming!!! And other highlights..

The man who couldn't cut it as a pitcher is freaking turning in some awesome plays as an OF'r. Rick Ankiel was given a second chance to play 'the game' and he has really turned some great plays..and that arm..jesus..its a gun..from center field no less!



Clip from a lifelong Cards fan, and reader of my tripe, Bruce. ;)

Next one from B a well...a kick save..hot damn!

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

Baseball high/low lights..

Dependant of course on if your team is the sucker team..Sadly MLB.com fucks with YouTube and pulls a lot of the good videos using 'copyright infringement'..fuckers.

MLB playing hardball with journalists..

Personally, I think this bs move is all about control..and power. MLB has made shitty moves like this in the past. Like the one where they sued Yahoo and CBS Sportsline for offering real time stats online. They lost in court on that one.

Hope this one goes the same route. I hate control freaks. Seriously. From the Editor & Publisher linkage above:

Major League Baseball's new restrictions on the use of online photo images has drawn a protest letter from the Online News Association, a 1200-member group of Web journalists.

In the letter, sent Tuesday to Baseball Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig, the nine-year-old group objected to the new restrictions that include limits on the number of game photos online and the duration of time video can be placed on a Web site.

The restrictions are being placed on all media credentials for the upcoming 2008 baseball season, which begins later this month.

"These terms interfere with our members' ability to do their jobs as journalists and cover news of public importance," ONA President Jonathan Dube says in the letter.

A hearty FUCK YOU BUDDY SELIG..and I say that with all sincerity you dick.

Its here!!! Spring Training People!

The first game of this spring training season will begin in:

11 DAYS 12 HRS 44 MIN 18 SEC
from now..

The big deal so far is of course..the Dodgers new manager..Joe Torre. With the ball and chain being a ferocious Dodger dog..I have to hear about this ad-naseum. I hate the Dodgers by the way, with every fiber of my being. When the Dodgers and Padres play each other..we are at opposite ends of the house.

Once again..My Padres are starting the season thin in the pitching department..and a big-assed hole in the outfield...from Scotty's take on my home team:
Bud Black, not comedian Bill Murray, is managing this club, but nevertheless, it will be Groundhog's Day in Peoria again this spring. Stop us if you've heard this one: The Padres are loaded with pitching but lacking in sticks. Currently, the outfield lines up like this: Brian Giles, recovering from microfracture surgery in his knee, in right field; past-his-prime and brittle Jim Edmonds in center; and a big hole in left. Rookie Chase Headley, moved from the infield to be given a chance in left, perhaps? Right now, Scott Hairston is the clubhouse leader. Tadahito Iguchi will be an upgrade over Marcus Giles at second. Kevin Kouzmanoff will start much better at the plate this year than last. Still, Cy Young winner Jake Peavy, ageless Greg Maddux and Chris Young will have to pitch lights out. Two spring projects to watch: Rehabbing right-handers Randy Wolf and Mark Prior, each of whom could have a strong impact in Petco Park.- Of course they can have a strong impact..and I am sleeping every night with Brad Pitt too ya freak.

General manager Kevin Towers is adroit at bringing in damaged or declining players on one-year, incentive-laden deals that give them a chance to restart their careers.

Restarting their careers, how about buying old broken-down players all the while praying to GOD they will rise like a phoenix and give em one last decent year? Give me an effin break dude..Towers is an idiot..plain and simple...I can't stand KT and I think he has something very damaging on the owner John Moores or his ass would of been gone years ago.

And for the love of everything holy..we have the roomiest damn outfield in the NL..yet we have ZERO long ball hitters? WTF? Does this fact elude Moores, Towers and everyone else in the front office?

Back in town..sigh..

I just spent five glorious days in SoCal. At my youngest sisters house dogsitting. You can see the ocean from her front bay windows. The temperature was a perfect 75 degrees during the day.

I liked that. I needed that.

Now, back to the reality of life..damn it!

As for Roger Clemen's little tour through the halls of Congress..if he won't shut his piehole about this..why should we? He was doing everything but kissing babies it seems. But enough about ol Roger..baseball commences very soon...

02 DAYS 15 HRS 01 MIN 56 SEC- to be EXACT!!!!!!!!!!

And I can't freaking wait. GOD, I can't wait. Bring on the boys of summer ;)

36 year old Tony Clark is in the process of inking a deal with my hometown boyz..the Padres. For 900k and a single year..those Padres..they know how to wheel and deal don't they? said with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Arbitration is now ongoing..there are still some big names in the mix. Frankie Rodriquez, the Angel's closer is one of those names, as is Josh Bard of the Pads.

Who's getting Arbitration, and what they want.

This handy list gives us an overview of who accepted arbitration, what they want and what the team offered. Book mark the lil sucker as it will keep track of who wins and who loses. Of course the wheeling and dealing can continue up to the hearing date. Arbi takes place between Feb 1st -Feb 21st.

To me..we all lose with these exorbitant salaries paid to grown men that play a child's game.

Speaking of grown men with the IQ of a child..watch OJ get his ass chewed out by the female judge


Judge lays down the law to O.J.

Pujols cops a 'tude..

Seems Albert didn't take kindly to a St. Louis tv station erroneously naming him as a steroid user in the Mitchell Report.

So he banned their asses from attending his upcoming press conference. Can't say that I don't blame him. Shoddy reporting should have a consequence in my humble yet outspoken opinion.

On the Clemens steroid front..McNamee is insisting he told others about the Rockets roid use at the time it was happening.

ESPN is reporting that Philip Rivers actually had a bit of surgery before the AFC Championship game. Rivers has a torn ACL and requires more extensive surgery to fix it.

Only 35 Days, 11 Hours, 47 Minutes till Spring Training..

Congressional Hearing on steroids postponed.

From SI we get this unofficial notice:

The U.S. congressional hearing involving pitching stars Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and former trainer Brian McNamee was postponed on Wednesday until Feb. 13 so lawmakers can gather evidence and coordinate their investigation with the Justice Department.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was informing witnesses that the Jan. 16 session is being pushed back.

SI also has an "exclusive" interview with McNamee up here.

Clemens talks to 60 Minutes..

According to TVNewser anyway:

Clemens to Talk Steroids on 60 Minutes

The Associated Press reports that Roger Clemens has granted his first television interview after the George Mitchell steroids report announcement with Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes. Clemens is one of the highest profile MLB players implicated in the report, and has denied any steroid use.

Clemens made the video announcement about the 60 Minutes interview on his web site.

"After Christmas, I'm [going to] sit down with Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes and I'll do an interview and he'll ask me a ton of questions on the subject and I'll answer them right there in front of him and we'll do all this again," he said. "I'm angry about it, to be honest with you. It's hurtful to me and my family."

CBS confirmed the interview is scheduled to air on January 6.

Tags: Roger Clemens, steroids, 60 Minutes

Bonds attorneys might have conflict of interest

Not that it breaks my lil black heart one damn bit, but there it is:

The judge called the hearing to decide whether the lawyers can still work for Bonds even though they previously represented other athletes who testified in the government's investigation into performance-enhancing drugs.
*snip*

In court papers made public Thursday, federal prosecutors identified Bonds' new attorney, Cris Arguedas, as having represented disgraced track star Tim Montgomery and football players Chris Cooper, Chris Hetherington and Tyrone Wheatley, all of whom testified before the grand jury.

In addition, lead attorney Allan Ruby represented Bonds' personal surgeon, Dr. Arthur Ting, when he was called before a grand jury.

"Dr. Ting is likely to be a witness for the government at trial," the government's court filing stated.

Poor Barroid..he just can't catch a break can he? tsk..tsk..


Tags: Barry Bonds, Dr. Ting, Cris Arguedas, Allan Ruby

Here's a thought..

Clean out the bums in the Hall of Fame. Baseball has some real jerkwads in there according to this Salon OpEd. I agree with many of them, so lets get started shall we?

First out the door is Gary Carter. Mr. Carter was a worthless catcher who's only claim to fame is the amount of hits he got over his entire career. That is hardley a reason to get into the HOF now is it? The man is a punk-assed bitch to put it mildly.

Second, pitchers who obviously cheated. Don Sutton and Gaylord Perry both cheated their pinstriped asses off.

Perry even titled his book about his favorite method of cheating "Me and the Spitter" 
for Christ's sake!

This is all tongue in cheek of course..but the rest of the Salon article is about the same I think..check it out if your needing a smirk on this Monday morning.

Roger Clemens used HGH and steroids per Mitchell report.

(AP-Picture of Roger Clemens and McNamee)
The following is directly out of the Mitchell Report, available on MLB.com's website:

Toward the end of the road trip which included the Marlins series, or shortly after the Blue Jays returned home to Toronto, Clemens approached McNamee and, for the first time, brought up the subject of using steroids. Clemens said that he was not able to inject himself, and he asked for McNamee’s help.

Later that summer, Clemens asked McNamee to inject him with Winstrol, which Clemens supplied. McNamee knew the substance was Winstrol because the vials Clemens gave him were so labeled. McNamee injected Clemens approximately four times in the buttocks over a several-week period with needles that Clemens provided. Each incident took place in Clemens’s apartment at the SkyDome. McNamee never asked Clemens where he obtained the steroids.

During the 1998 season (around the time of the injections), Clemens showed McNamee a white bottle of Anadrol-50.386 Clemens told McNamee he was not using it but wanted to know more about it. McNamee told Clemens not to use it. McNamee said he took the bottle and gave it to Canseco.387 McNamee does not know where Clemens obtained the
Anadrol-50.

According to McNamee, from the time that McNamee injected Clemens with Winstrol through the end of the 1998 season, Clemens’s performance showed remarkable improvement. During this period of improved performance, Clemens told McNamee that the steroids “had a pretty good effect” on him. McNamee said that Clemens also was training harder and dieting better during this time.

In 1999, Clemens was traded to the New York Yankees. McNamee remained under contract with the Blue Jays for the 1999 season. In 2000, the Yankees hired McNamee as the assistant strength and conditioning coach under Jeff Mangold. According to McNamee, the Yankees hired him because Clemens persuaded them to do so. In this capacity, McNamee worked with all of the Yankees players. McNamee was paid both by the Yankees and by Clemens personally. Clemens hired McNamee to train him during portions of several weeks in the off-season. McNamee also trained Clemens personally for one to two weeks during spring training and a few times during the season. McNamee served as the Yankees’ assistant strength and conditioning coach through the 2001 season.

According to McNamee, during the middle of the 2000 season Clemens made it clear that he was ready to use steroids again. During the latter part of the regular season, McNamee injected Clemens in the buttocks four to six times with testosterone from a bottle labeled either Sustanon 250 or Deca-Durabolin that McNamee had obtained from Radomski. McNamee stated that during this same time period he also injected Clemens four
to six times with human growth hormone he received from Radomski, after explaining toClemens the potential benefits and risks of use. McNamee believed that it was probably his idea that Clemens try human growth hormone. Radomski instructed McNamee how to inject human growth hormone. On each occasion, McNamee administered the injections at Clemens’s apartment in New York City.

McNamee said that he and Clemens did not have any conversations regarding performance enhancing substances from late 2000 until August 2001. McNamee did, however train Clemens and Andy Pettitte during the off-season at their homes in Houston. Clemens often invited other major league players who lived in the Houston area to train with him. McNamee’s training relationship with Clemens and others has been described publicly.

Its pretty pathetic this entire report. I just spent a couple of hours slogging through it. The Clemens material is culled from a section devoted exclusively to him which starts on roughly page 167 of the report.

Tags: Clemens used HGH and steroids, Roger Clemens, HGH,Steroids in Baseball
Mitchell report

Mitchell, steroids and baseball..

MLB.com has the full report online here in PDF format. Some high/lowlights:

Mitchells recommendations for MLB:

(1) Major League Baseball must significantly increase its ability to investigate allegations of use outside of the testing program and improve its procedures for keeping performance enhancing substances out of the clubhouse;

(2) there must be a more comprehensive and effective program of education for players and
others about the serious health risks incurred by users of performance enhancing substances; and

(3) when the club owners and the Players Association next engage in collective bargaining on the joint drug program, I urge them to incorporate into the program the principles that characterize a state-of-the-art program, as described in this report.

The report is over 400 pages long..its going to take time to digest this sucker. But Mitchell did say that all 30 teams have or had steroid users on their teams.

Eric Gagne and Paul Lo Duca were among other current players named in the report, both linked to Human Growth Hormone. From ESPN's writeup:

Mitchell and his staff interviewed former New York Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski four times. Radomski identified a number of former and current MLB players he said he sold steroid and Human Growth Hormone to. Checks and money orders, mailing receipts or shipments, statements of other witnesses were used to back up Radomski's allegations. Much of this was found in Radomski's seized telephone records.

They got 'the goods' on many of the players, i.e., checks and money orders, who still refused to speak with Mitchell. Mitchell's investigation found that some players had advanced notice regarding upcoming drug tests, which is total bullshit. Jason Giambi was the only player involved in the BALCO case to speak freely with Mitchell about steroid use. From the report:

"Concerning BALCO and Major League Baseball I requested interviews of all the major league players who had been publicly implicated in the BALCO case: Marvin Benard; Barry Bonds; Bobby Estalella; Jason Giambi; Jeremy Giambi; Armando Rios; Benito Santiago; Gary Sheffield; and Randy Velarde. Jason Giambi agreed to be interviewed, and Randy Velarde provided information through his attorney. All the other players implicated in the BALCO case refused my requests to be interviewed or did not respond to them. Gary Sheffield initially declined my request for an interview. Sheffield later said that he would agree to an interview, subject to the availability of his lawyer who was undergoing medical treatments."

Damn..wotta trip. Check this out from page 290 about one of the American doctors involved:

Dr. Claire Godfrey, an Orlando obstetrician, also pleaded guilty; she said that she was directed by Signature Pharmacy executives to several Florida rejuvenation clinics that faxed prescriptions for her signature knowing that she would never examine the customers.457 Within a six-month time period, she wrote approximately $1.3 million worth of prescriptions and earned $200,000.458

You know that the doctors giving up their 'clients' is the most damning evidence I would think. Clemens is nailed for roid use big time per ESPN, which I am watching now.

MLB's Mitchell report due out..

On the heels of Barroids case hitting the court docket, seems the Mitchell Report is due soon:

Baseball is about to get its official boxscore on the Steroids Era.

It's the Mitchell Report, the findings of former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell's 20-month investigation into performance-enhancing drug use that has tarnished some of the game's greatest stars and records.

It's due out next week, possibly Thursday, and while critics are sure to claim it's one-sided and outdated, it has given players and executives cause for pause and led some to fear a modern-day Black Sox scandal.

"Well, it ain't Merry Christmas or Happy New Year for somebody," Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

I don't know about that Mr. Baker..bet its pretty weak..but we will see..

The HOF candidates..

This year, Sportsline sees the following players as front runners for the MLB Hall of Fame:

Tim Raines and David Justice head 11 first-time candidates on the baseball writers' 2008 Hall of Fame ballot, joining Mark McGwire, Rich Gossage, Jim Rice and 11 other holdovers.

McGwire, his candidacy hurt by suspicions of steroids use, was selected on just 23.5 percent of ballots when he was eligible for the first time in 2007.

When Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn were elected in January, Gossage fell 21 votes shy of the necessary 75 percent and Rice was 63 votes short. Rice is on the ballot for the 14th time and Gossage for the ninth.

Players can be on the Baseball Writers' Association of America ballot for up to 15 years.

Gossage's percentage increased from 64.6 in 2006 to 71.2 in 2007, while Rice's declined from 64.6 to 63.5.

The highest percentage for a player who wasn't elected in a later year was 63.4 by Gil Hodges in 1983, his final time on the ballot.

Raines was a seven-time All-Star who played 23 seasons and batted .294 with 2,605 hits and 808 steals, fifth on the career list. He was the 1986 NL batting champion. Justice was the 1990 NL Rookie of the Year and a three-time All-Star. He had a .279 average, 305 homers and 1,017 RBIs in 14 seasons.

Brady Anderson, Rod Beck, Shawon Dunston, Chuck Finley, Travis Fryman, Chuck Knoblauch, Robb Nen, Jose Rijo and Todd Stottlemyre also are first-time candidates. The five-year waiting rule was waived for Beck, who died June 23. Other holdovers (with their 2007 vote percentages) include Andre Dawson (56.7), Bert Blyleven (47.7), Lee Smith (39.8), Jack Morris 202 (37.1), Tommy John (22.9), Dave Concepcion (13.6), Alan Trammell (13.4), Dave Parker (11.4), Don Mattingly (9.9), Dale Murphy (9.2) and Harold Baines (5.3).

Rijo retired after the 1995 season and appeared on the 2001 Hall ballot, when he received one vote. He then returned to the major leagues and pitched for Cincinnati in 2001 and 2002, making him eligible to go back on the ballot.

Reporters who have been in the BBWAA for 10 or more consecutive years are eligible to vote, and the totals will be announced Jan. 8. Rickey Henderson tops the players who will be eligible for the first time on the 2009 ballot. Results of balloting for managers, umpires and executives by the newly reconstituted Veterans Committee will be announced Dec. 3 at the winter meetings.

I am fond of da Goose. I heart that man. Henderson was a great lil second tier player. I hope most of these guys get a shot..if not..there is always next year for most of em. As for Big Mac..fark him.