Weekend Update

A lot went on this week and there were more than a few things I wanted to touch on.

first off, the Hall of Fame voting for baseball. I can't stand how Mark McGwire is being singled out as the only steroid user in baseball. I think the writers are still ignorant to how widespread steroid use was and still is in baseball. Somehow everyone wants to look at McGwire, and Barry Bonds as the only cheaters in the history of the game. I don;t really mind if McGwire is held out for one year, and then let in, that way all the writers can pat themselves on the back and then make excuses for all the other players who the public hasn;t really pointed the finger at yet. How is it that everyone is just willing to assume that Cal Ripken was completely clean? Sure he never became a complete monster, but he was a pretty big guy and he's also the only guy in history to play every single day for more than 2600 games in a row. And it's safe to assume that while both amphetamines and steroids were prevalent during his career, he was completely clean? There's just as much evidence against Ripken as there is against McGwire. McGwire's biggest mistake was not boldly lying and going on the attack the way Rafael Palmeiro did. Palmeiro would be headed for the hall today if he hadn't messed up his masking agents and subsequently failed a steroid test. I wish the writers would get off their collective pedestals, they all ignored it and made excuses while it was happening, so I wish they would stop trying to cover their own asses by taking the hardline against a select few. where do they draw the line, will Jeff Bagwell get in? What about Craig Biggio? I have suspicions about those guys, so should I start lobbying the writers to keep them out as well when their time comes?

Just a quick steroid anecdote, I remember in the 95 playoffs, Albert Belle hit a homerun and the Red Sox reacted by taking his bat to supposedly check for cork. Belle started shouting at the Red sox bench and he point to his massive bicep, essentially saying "this is how I do it." Looking back now it's ironic that he might as well have been saying, this is is where I'm actually cheating, it's not that I'm corking my bat, it's that I'm juicing my body. Sadly, I doubt Belle will ever make the hall either.

My last note on the Hall of Fame is to say that I am on the side of more players making it. I have long thought it ridiculous that Jim Rice is not in the Hall. From 1975 to 1986 he was the best hitter in baseball, and he's essentially being punished for not being able to hang around for two or three more years and perform as a mediocre DH. Another guy who belongs in is Jack Morris. He was a big game pitcher who never really cared about his stats. If the Tigers had a six nothing lead, he didn;t mind giving up a couple runs so long as it meant he could save the bullpen, a lesson that Pedro Martinez never learned. I also wouldn't mind if Bert Blyleven, Dale Murphy and Goose Gossage were inducted, none of them would be the worst player in the hall, in fact I'd rather have had any of them over Ozzie Smith.

Enough about the Baseball Hall of Fame, I probably won;t even think about it again until the inductions, at which time I'll complain all over again. Wanted to touch on my beloved game of basketball, more specifiaclly the Celtics. Tony Allen went down the other night, and I'm just gonna gloss over the fact that it happened after the whistle on a needless dunk attempt. It's an extra tough situation for Allen who was playing the best basketball of his life, and now is out for the year. The heartbreak was evident when local media member Greg Dickerson was near tears as he analyzed the injury after the game, it looked just like Ron Harper's injury almost 20 years back when he was playing for the Clippers, and Harper was never quite the same. The Celtics are down to nine available players and it is now even more clear that they should be more ocncerned with getting a top 5 draft pick and start looking to the future as opposed to trying to make the playoffs. Tell Paul Pierce to take his time re-habbing whatever injury he has and have Danny Ainge buy season tickets to the Ohio State basketball team.

The most important thing going on this weekend is of course the NFL playoffs. These next two weekends represent the most exciting time in football this weekend's games should be awesome, just awesome, especially in the AFC. I've never really been so ambivalent about two games as these AFC semifinals. I wouldn;t be shocked by any result in either game. I was thinking about going on record with predictions, but I'm too nervous that I could somehow jinx my Pats with such boldness. The NFC games are equally hard to predict, but I will say that the winner of the Saints-Eagles game will be my poick to lose in SuperBowl XLI.

That's all I'm giving today. I'll be back soon to badmouth John Thompson and Chris Webber and may even throw my two cents in on Martha Stewart. Til then...

-Bender Out