WHAT A FREAKIN' JOKE!!!!!!

                  

SECTION I - BASEBALL'S STEROID INVESTIGATION

There are only two things that can happen from this investigation.

One, they find nothing....or just limited somethings....and everybody will look at this as total BS.

Two, they find everything....or mostly everything...and the game gets ruined.

I am all for rooting steroids from sports.  I am.  Make the rules.....give the tests....suspend the players.  But if this investigation digs up what it is supposed to dig up....it could tear down baseball entirely and it could be worse than just cancelling the World Series.

Again, we all want a clean game.  But, let's go from the Senate hearings and start at that point at figuring everything out.  Doing a "Titanic-eque" reconasance mission may very well unearth things that baseball doesn't want unearthed.  Like, everything we've seen in the 1990s and since has been a scam.

Baseball is dumb in many ways....mainly in numbers and records.  Records are everything in that sports....so much so that they have to have qualifiers to explain stuff.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has more NBA points than anyone.....but most people forget to put them on their top 5 players of all time list.   Meaning, while records are great and all....they are just statistics that only they have reached.  It doesn't always equate to how great someone is.  I mean, they put an asterick next to Roger Maris' record for, what, 30 years just because he played in a few more games than Ruth.  Now people want an asterick next to Bonds name in case he does top Hank Aaron.

Should we put an asterick next to Kareem's record since Jordan took a few of his prime years off??  Should Emmitt Smith's rushing record get an asterick because both Jim Brown and Barry Sanders hung them up sooner than Smith??  C'mon!  Are we that dumb? 

Sorry for that tangent, but it's the kind of thing that will come up after this investigation concludes.  If Bonds is exposed as a legit roid user.....what will it mean??   Really...what will it mean?  Can we erase his stats?  No....there is no way to know which HRs were gained by his roid use.  Can they suspend him?  Hard to do so down the road.

We will all take this stats, look at them and say "yeah, but...."  We all will.  Just as we look at Cy Young's all time pitching statistics and say "yeah, but....."  Just as we look at any stat pre-Jackie Robinson as "yeah, but...."

And the other thing I really wish would get investigated was who KNEW of this use.  Not players....but team officials.  With all this crap going on....someone working for these teams had to know something.  Managers, trainers, doctors, front office.....and if they knew, shouldn't they be held accountable as well??

Baseball was already doing the right thing.  Because of the stricter rules governing these things....we've had Rafeal Palmeiro exposed and essentially ostracized out of the league.  Guys like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa left before the heat came.  And we've all seen those 60 and 70 home run seasons wittle down to a league leading 51 last year.  Guys are getting scared off the roids.

So exposing all the crap that went on in the 1990s and beyond will do nothing but make positive what pretty much every baseball fan believes.....roids were prevelant and that some [not all] of those breathtaking numbers put up in that span and as juiced as the players. 

SECTION II - NBA'S PLAYOFF FORMAT

I said this before....said it again....and will say it now.  The NBA must change their playoff format.  Now.

This is twice in two years [the only two years] that the new playoff format may have a huge flaw exposed.  Last year, a #6 team almost had home court advantage over a #3 seed.  This year, the #5 and #6 seeds in the West may TANK their games so they won't get that #5 seed.

Why?

Well, in the Midwest Division, the Spurs and Mavericks are fighting for the division crown.  The winner will be the #1 seed in the West....while the runner up will be the #4 seed.  The #2 and #3 seeds will be the winners of the Pacific and Northwest Divisions. 

So the Grizzlies and Clippers are sitting in those #5 and #6 spots.  What would you rather have?  A playoff series against the Spurs or Mavs....or one against the Nuggets.  Hmmmm.  The Nuggs, please.  So, to do so, the #6 would have the better matchup.

Not only that, but if the Spurs and Mavs win their series, they'd meet in the 2nd round of the playoffs.  It could be conceivable that the two best teams in the entire NBA [if they both pass the Pistons] would meet in the playoff with no championship on the line.  No Western Conference championship....no NBA championship. 

That's crap! 

Fix it.  It'll be easy.  Just make the winners of the three divisions....plus the 2nd place team with the best record....the top 4 seeds in each conference.  And, while you are at it, make it that they automatically get home court advantage in the 1st round.  Using this format, the winner of a subpar division will get a lower seed than an excellent 2nd place team....but also guarantee them a reward for winning the division......the home court.

How hard is that?  It also throws another interesting race in the mix.  And it makes our NBA playoffs a better thing.

SECTION III - NIGERIAN SOCCER OFFICIALS

Don't know if you heard this....but Nigerian referees are allowed to take bribes from the teams that are officiating....but they cannot let it influence them on the field.

What?  What is that?

The Nigerian Football Association said, and get this, that the officials should just pretend that the bribes will sway their calls....but to not actually go thru with it.

Um....what?  Let's see...I throw a few bucks at the ref, tell him to swing it my way, he says he will.....but when he doesn't I am just supposed to say AW SHUCKS like I just bought something from a snack machine that didn't drop??  No...in the real world, the official would most likely have his legs broken....if he's lucky.