Faces At the Bottom of My Well

Everywhere I look, I see these faces at the bottom of a well

and the faces are younger and stronger most every day

and few were as strong or as young as the face I saw today

The faces are cool-brown-easy and they each mask brilliance

and shield innocence and project vigilance.

I smile, but they don’t smile back

as if to say, “It’s not your time.”

On the life side we mark time with the death side

because their time is our time.

Life goes on to death goes on to life

and the circle in not broken

unless you dare not look

at the faces in the bottom of the well.

 

Do you see what I see?

Sean Taylor (1983-2007)

Lucky Dube

Ralph Wiley

Joe Delaney

Marquise Hill

Kwame Toure

Ed Bradley

Dennis Johnson

Bobby Phills

Bryan Pata

Sekou Sundiata

And this does not even begin to do justice to the thousands of unnamed faces at the bottom of the well…

and there are those of us among the living so deeply scarred, we’d prefer to be at the bottom

no longer clinging to the sides – but that is not our fate.

Breathe love. Breathe love. Breathe love.

No Time to Hate the Patriots

As a Steeler fan, I am predisposed to have nothing but visceral contempt for the New England Patriots. After two devastating home losses in the AFC Championship Game, Steeler fans often feel like the franchise could have 7 championships by now. That was then, this is now.  Tom Brady and Randy Moss could stop playing today and would have historic seasons.  38 touchdown passes after 10 games?  Insane.  16 TD catches and not a DB alive who can even slow him down?  Ridiculous.  The Patriots don’t need a run game, but they have Laurence Maroney and Sammy Morris and had Kevin Faulk and could probably pick up some guy off the street and gash an elite team for 150 yards.  All the pieces are in place and the schemes are flawless.This edition of the New England Patriots is absolutely unbelievable. While it is certain that any team can lose on any given Sunday, this is probably the most dominant team I’ve ever seen – and that includes the Dynasty Era Steelers, the Joe Montana-led San Francisco 49ers and the 1985 Chicago Bears.  The Patriots can be had – but the chances of that happening are increasing slim.  The Patriots have elite personnel on both sides of the ball and a singular focus that has that at the edge of history.

This is no time to hate the Patriots. Watch every minute because you may not see this again.

(Yes, it does hurt to write that.)

clipped from sports.espn.go.com

As an aside, I thought I better put my two cents in on how I would try to slow down this offense.  First, ball control and scoring on offense would be critical.  Second, I’m double teaming Moss all game – no matter what.  Of course double coverage is irrelevant on deep balls – but on crossing and underneath routes, I want to try to get a jam and harass him early in the route.  The priority has to be to take Moss away as an early look and as a 2nd look.  If he’s still running around 5 seconds after the snap, it won’t matter if he’s doubled.  He’s probably going to catch the ball and embarrass someone.

The second requirement is to take away Wes Welker.  That’s arguably tougher than covering Moss because Welker gets matchups against secondary defenders.  I’d put my BEST corner on Welker – man to man – all day.  Then I’d put my number 2 corner up against Moss with help from safeties and LBs.  That leaves 8 guys to get after Brady and also stop the run.  It can be done – but it won’t be easy.  You need an excellent front four and savvy play-making linebackers, and at least one elite corner with top-notch COD skills.  Not too many teams have all of that. 

With all of that said, even if you’re perfect on defense, you’ll probably need 31 points to win the game. 

Barry Bonds: The Guilt Paradigm

Yesterday, the day that the federal government announced its indictment of Barry Bonds on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, was a great day for Major League Baseball.  Commissioner Bud Selig reported that his association was now a $6 billion business.  15 years ago, Selig said MLB was merely a $1 billion business.  For the Commissioner, the four year saga of the federal investigation of Bonds could not have culminated at a better time.  The league announced that since The Homerun King was facing federal charges, he was likely to retire and would not even merit a suspension.  Now, Bud Selig has an unprecedented opportunity to rewrite the history of his league with unprecedented public support.  Yesterday, Bud Selig received a mandate to dispose of the legacy of Barry Bonds in a manner as swift and decisive as a federal prosecutor.  The national media and the American public have largely co-signed Selig’s right to reframe the Steroids Era as The Bonds Era.

The Bonds Era, if Selig and others have their way, will not be framed as an era of errors that included the tainted legacy of Roger Clemens or Andy Pettitte or Jeff Bagwell.  The Bonds Era will be announced and formally sealed as an invitation to the world to look back in horror while looking forward with hope that a new day is here.  Major League Baseball wants to begin anew in 2008 without the scourge of steroids or of Barry Bonds in view.

There is a problem, though.  Allan “Bud” Selig has known about steroids in baseball for at least 15 years.  According to his own words, he and other owners studied the question of steroids in 1994.   Bud told The Sporting News:

“I think we all have our suspicions who’s on the stuff, but unless someone comes out and admits to it, who’ll ever know for sure?” Acting commissioner Bud Selig says the topic was last addressed by owners in a private meeting about a year or 18 months ago. The conclusion was no one had any evidence steroid use should be a concern.

“If baseball has a problem,” Selig says, “I must say candidly that we were not aware of it. It certainly hasn’t been talked about much. But should we concern ourselves as an industry? I don’t know, maybe it’s time to bring it up again.”

That was in 1995.   In the same article, players like Frank Thomas and Tony Gwynn were complaining about steroid use and calling for testing.  If the Commissioner spoke to Thomas or Gwynn or read the article, he would have known steroids were something to be concerned about.  But, he’s said a mouthful already.  The topic was addressed – by owners – in a private meeting…possibly as early as 1993.  The revisionists, though, have already sought to redefine the era and change the legacy of Mr. Bonds and Mr. Selig.  Listen to Richard Justice:

“People have criticized Bud Selig for not attacking the problem earlier. In 1995, the Los Angeles Times reported that baseball might have a problem with steroids.

Should Selig have acted sooner? Of course.

Here’s the problem. Baseball is governed by a collective bargaining agreement. The commissioner doesn’t act unilaterally in such matters.

He sought a steroids testing plan in the 1994-95 labor negotiations. He didn’t get it and probably didn’t pursue it hard enough.

At that point — rightly or wrongly — economic issues were a higher priority. The game was in shambles. The World Series had been cancelled in 1994 after players went on strike.

They went on strike because they knew owners were planning to lock them out the following spring. And the start of the 1995 season was delayed.

Mistrust was never higher. Had Selig gone back to the players in 1995 and asked for a testing program, he’d have been laughed out of the room.

Should he have tried anyway? Yes.

Should he have used his bully pulpit? Yes.

But at that point, he was working to save the game. Remember that some people said that baseball would never be really relevant again.

The game was revived by Cal Ripken’s pursuit of Lou Gehrig’s streak in 1996 and by the McGwire-Sosa home run chase of 1998.

By the end of the 1998 season, he knew there was a steroids problem. But he was unwilling to publicly trash the sport’s biggest star.”

What can we take away from this spirited defense of Bud Selig?

•  Richard Justice likes to play with the truth.  Baseball is not “governed by a collective bargaining agreement.”  Baseball is governed by owners and the governance powers of ownership are mediated by a collective bargaining agreement.  There is a tremendous difference between these two statements.  Owners colluded to keep players salaries artificially low in clear violation of the principles of collective bargaining.
• Selig’s attempt to get a steroid testing program was but one way to address the question of steroids in baseball.  Owners who have had nearly infinite powers over players, franchise mobility/relocation, ticket prices, media contracts and access could have employed a slew of tactics to address this issue.  Didn’t George Steinbrenner pay Howard Spira $40,000 to spy on Dave Winfield?  Owners have never been powerless in their relationships with players.
• Justice suggests that the game of baseball was revived first by Ripken’s pursuit of Gehrig and then by the home run chase of McGwire and Sosa.  Let’s be clear about this.  Ripken’s pursuit of Gehrig drew old fans back to the game.  It was memorable because it was so profoundly historic, but it was not what revived the game.  The summer of 1998 saved the game of baseball from a near certain death.  Mammoth home runs and the routine invoking of The Babe brought the game to old fans and new fans and casual observers.  As big a story as Ripken was, it wasn’t “water cooler talk” until he was right at the record.  Not so with McGwire and Sosa.
• In the same article in which Selig was quoted in The Sporting News, an unnamed General Manager said of steroid usage:
  •  ”I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s closer to 30 percent, although most people will say it’s about 5 to 10 percent, We had one team in our league a few years ago that the entire lineup may have been on it.”

  Now, I could be wrong about this, but I’d bet he was talking about the Oakland Athletics of Tony LaRussa.  The A’s had one of the most physically imposing lineups in the history of the game.  Jose Canseco was on that team.  So was Mark McGwire.  It simply does not stand to reason that owners could have a private about steroids as early as 1993 and not contemplate the significance of its impact on the sport for another five years.  The question of “outing” the game’s greatest star in 1998 is beside the point.  The surge in production for many players began before 1998 – and for owners desperate to draw new fans, home runs were the easiest sell.

• Major League Baseball has never outed Tony LaRussa because he is the goose that laid the golden egg – thrice.  The first time he laid the Golden Egg, he took the Oakland A’s to the World Series, led by The Bash Brothers, and their steroid-fueled long ball attack.  The second time he laid the Golden Egg, he brought Mark McGwire to St. Louis – to the heartland – to the home of the whitest uniform and whitest stadium in all of God’s creation.  During the summer of 1998, not only were there no empty seats at Busch Stadium, there was only standing room at every bar in St. Louis.  LaRussa, though, may have pushed the envelope too far with his third attempt at gold – Rick Ankiel.  The resurgent outfielders ties to HGH proved to good to be true.  And while some fraudulent sports writers at ESPN, like Rob Neyer, refuse to connect the dots – somethings are too obvious to ignore.  After all, how else do we explain a Commissioner in America’s drunkest city (that’s right Milwaukee, it’s you) giving a pass to America’s drunkest manager as he began this season asleep at the wheel – and watched one of his charges drink himself to death?  How does happen unless you’ve something to do with moving that bottom line from $1 billion to $6 billion.
• When Barry Bonds became baseball’s biggest star for the second or third time (it gets confusing – the media seek to bury him so often…sometimes under Ken Griffey, Jr; sometimes under Will Clark; sometimes under Andy Van Slyke; sometimes under Michael Vick), the Commissioner of the game had no problem with publicly trashing him.  Now is that because McGwire (not unlike Giambi) is an over-sized oaf with a limited vocabulary?  Or is it because he’s a nice guy?

Whatever the justification, Richard Justice wrote this piece in 2006 – setting the table for the end of the Bonds era.  But imagine if this time frame known as the Steroids Era was handled just a bit differently.

Barry Bonds is being indicted for allegedly making false statements to federal officials – even while being extended an offer of immunity from prosecution.  Of course given his family history, Barry has always played the game for legacy.  Money (getting his fair market share) may have been important, but his legacy was always first.  I believe that is why, if he is proven to have falsified statements, he would be willing to take the risk.  Barry Lamar Bonds knew his legacy as a ball player could not withstand an admission of steroid use – even though owners gave players a wink and a nod back in 1995.  They said they saw nothing they needed to be concerned about as an industry.  In other words, the business of baseball was/is business and at that time, steroids were the single best tool to increase the attractiveness of the game.  Re-read Selig’s comments.  It’s all right there.  He’s telling you the essence of the decision the owners made – possibly as early as 1993.

It could have been so different.  What if the federal government grilled owners for 3 hours and peppered them with questions like:

• Have you ever knowingly contracted the services of a player known to be using steroids?  Have you ever sought, employed or retained a player you knew to be a user of steroids?  Have you ever provided any means for players in your employ to receive, inject or otherwise use steroids?
• Have any of your management team or franchise employees any knowledge of players who use illegal substances?  If so, when did they come into that knowledge?  When were you made aware of that by your staff?  Upon receipt of that information, what actions did you take?
• Have you ever met with other owners to discuss players who may be users of illegal steroids?  Have you discussed the performance of those players before and after steroid use?  Have you and other owners discussed the revenues of teams with larger numbers of suspected steroid users?

What if the federal government asked these questions using the grand jury system in 1998 – at the height of the Mark McGwire – Sammy Sosa home run chase?  Would the owners have told the truth?  Would they have lied to protect themselves, their families, their franchises – their legacies?  Would Bud Selig, himself, have come clean about his knowledge of steroid use?

That same Sporting News article from 1995 quoted then San Diego Padres GM, Randy Smith:

“We all know there’s steroid use, and it’s definitely become more prevalent,” Padres General Manager Randy Smith says. “The ballplayers all know the dangers of it. We preach it every year.

“But because there’s so much money to be made these days, guys are willing to pay the price now and will pay the piper later. I can understand it’s a difficult choice for some players. They know it can take five years off their lives, but then they say, ‘OK, so I die when I’m 75 instead of 80.”

If the general manager knows, doesn’t the owner know?  If the Padres know, don’t the Dodgers know?  If “we all know,” who doesn’t know?  The federal government NEVER focused on owners.  They never focused on the power brokers who set the table for steroid use in the game as a means to enrich themselves.  They never focused on the bottom line of this $6 billion industry.  The federal government – and your media – focused on the players, black, white and Afro/Euro/Indio-Latin.  Owners were not called to account for what was deemed to be the greatest transgression in the history of sports.  And some day, players will understand that there is an enormous difference between player rich and owner rich.  Owners are addressed as Mr. Angelos or Mr. Turner or Mr. Selig.  Players are still children in a man’s world.  They are addressed by their nicknames (“A-Rod”, “Rocket”, etc.) or their first names with all the derision and familiarity of a john slapping his favorite whore on the ass.

Perhaps, if this had been done correctly by the United States Department of Justice, by the attorneys for all parties, by the media – if  Troy Ellerman had not leaked sealed testimony (and blamed it on cocaine and alcohol) to ESPN’s newest, shiny employee we would all see a different story.  Perhaps the faces of the Steroid Era would not merely include players, dope fiend lawyers, and myopic journalists.  Perhaps the list would include owners like George Steinbrenner who sought, employed and retained Jason Giambi because he believed a burly, power-hitting, left-handed paisan would really pack ‘em in in the Bronx.  Perhaps we could see Peter Angelos who sought, employed and retained potential steroid poster boy Miguel Tejada to attract a new generation of fans who remembered Ripken’s many seasons batting .260 as clearly as “The Streak.”  Perhaps we’d see the owner of the Houston Astros, Drayton McLane, Jr. and his stable of Suspectable Injectables: Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell.  Surely, we’d see the face of Tony LaRussa and Bill DeWitt, Jr.  But can you imagine some hot shot lawyer from DOJ grilling a significant campaign contributor to the President of the United States – a man who has conducted several business dealings with W – and who allegedly informed him of the opportunity to purchase the Texas Rangers?

If you get your news and information from the corporate media in the US, you can forget it.  They’re not telling this story.  There are ad spots to sell and bills to pay and players to incarcerate.  As the Bonds Era draws to a close, an entire nation will have slept right through the Ages of Selig.

United States of America vs. Barry Lamar Bonds

Today, the federal government brought an indictment (bonds_indictment_111507.pdf) against Major League Baseball player and former San Francisco Giant Barry Lamar Bonds. The indictment alleges that Bonds committed perjury and obstructed justice. It contains five counts and a maximum sentence of 30 years. News outlets are also reporting that Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson, has been released from jail. Oddly enough, I’m not sure that was the biggest baseball news of the day.

(Isn’t anyone even going to ask? rocket@fatragehead.com?)

In other news, Major League Baseball, a $6 billion business enterprise, is in the best financial shape in its history. The Associated Press reports today:

NAPLES, Fla. — Baseball revenue climbed to $6.075 billion this year, and commissioner Bud Selig envisions an even rosier financial future.

“As I told the clubs today, we’re on a great high here,” Selig said Thursday following the conclusion of a two-day meeting in which owners discussed, among other things, ways to speed up games.

“When you look at the final numbers and you see what’s happened, it’s remarkable. There are times, honestly, when I have to pinch myself to make sure all of this is happening. … Growth and revenue, growth and profitability; it’s just been really, really good.”

And with attendance up, and Major League Baseball also making a concerted effort to expose its product to other parts of the world, Selig is confident the game will continue the trend next season, and beyond.

“I’m putting myself on the spot here, but I’m very hopeful to draw 80 million-plus, and I think our revenues will continue to go up,” Selig said of 2008, later adding that he’s “very proud” of the growth.

“We started at $1.2 billion, and I can remember waking up in ‘93 and ‘94 and ‘95 and thinking how are we ever going to get to $2 billion? So here we are at $6 billion, 75 million. And if we just keep doing our work, stay out of controversies, keep the focus on the field, we’ll get to numbers someday that will be stunning. And these are stunning.”

The commissioner said there was nothing new to report on talks to have the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres play two exhibition games in Beijing in March, a recommendation that instant replay be used to help umpires with some calls, or George Mitchell’s investigation into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball. Selig still expects Mitchell’s report to be released before the end of the year.

Owners heard a presentation on pace of games from Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president for baseball operations in the commissioner’s office.

Solomon said last week during general managers meetings in Orlando that to speed up games, baseball was considering limiting when a hitter could step out of the batter’s box between pitches, restricting the number of times a player could visit the mound, and limiting the number of players allowed to visit the mound.

“Obviously I have a lot of concern about the length of our World Series games, playoff games, regular-season games,” Selig said. “We’re going to work on that over the course of the winter.”

In addition to enforcing existing rules, the commissioner said consideration will be given to adding new rules.

“We just need to speed things up a little bit for everybody’s best interest,” Selig said.

Baby Bud in 1968 after his purchase of the Seattle Pilots. Bud relocated the team to Milwaukee and name them after the heroes of the local community — drug dealers, I mean “Brewers.” Milwaukee ranked No. 1 as Forbes’ Drunkest City in America. “Milwaukee is a preferred site for clinical trials concerning alcohol abuse and dependence because the region has a large population of heavy drinkers, according to the NIAAA.” Not even Laverne and Shirley could put a spin on that one. In Milwaukee, it’s so bad newspapers identify the brand of beer criminals use in the commission of crimes.

————————————————————

Somewhere in my education, I learned that whenever a huge news story broke that I should ignore that big story and look for a financial or military or political story that received considerably less attention. I learned that I should look for these stories on Fridays and Saturdays because those were notoriously light news days. Over time, I’ve tried to remain true to this approach to fact gathering. Sometimes it pays off. Sometimes it doesn’t.

In this instance, what we have here is a crystal clear case of “positioning.” But this not the lone example. Drug dealers are positioned. There are acceptable zones for trafficking in vice and there are “Drug Free Zones.” Some are real, some are mythical.

“For two decades, policy-makers have mistakenly assumed that these statutes shield children from drug activity,” said report co-author Judith Greene, a New York-based researcher. “We found no evidence that drug-free zone laws protect children, but ample evidence that the laws hurt communities of color and contribute to mounting correctional costs.”

New Jersey’s sentencing review commission reached similar conclusions in December, when the panel — made up of state officials and criminal justice experts — found that students were involved in only 2 percent of the cases it examined. It said drug-free zones around schools, parks and housing projects cover virtually all of some cities, and 96 percent of offenders jailed for zone violations were black or Hispanic.

“When the overlap of zones in densely populated areas covers the entire city, the idea of special protection loses its meaning — people don’t know they’re in a school zone,” said Ben Barlyn, a deputy attorney general and executive director of the sentencing review panel. “It would be as if we made the entire New Jersey Turnpike a reduced speed zone.”

For example, in Washington Heights, the boyhood home of Major League Baseball star Manny Ramirez, police and politicians established an acceptable zone for narcotrafficking at the center of three major roadways to facilitate the purchase of drugs by affluent users. Manny’s old neighborhood is intersected by the West Side Highway leading to points south like the Upper West Side and Greenwich Village. It is cut by the Cross Bronx Expressway which spirits drivers to the safety of Westchester County in minutes. And, Washington Heights is split by entry roads to the George Washington Bridge connecting New York City and New Jersey. Drug dealers were “positioned” in this neighborhood, allowed to conduct street-level dealing within its confines, and precluded from exporting that traffic to regions closer to their primary user base. It is precisely this type of selective policing/prosecution which inspires the wrath of local residents subjected to the predations of local users and the territorial competition of local dealers. The “job” of law enforcement in instances such as this is to proscribe the range of activity – not to eliminate the business. Politicians provide cover by extolling the virtues of the NYPD and lamenting the overwhelming nature of the problem – the inexorable scourge of drugs. The media aligns to this agenda by showing “Perp Walks”.

Ken Lay, former Enron executive and associate of President Bush, walking the walk after stealing the loot. Prior to kicking the boot.

Karl Rove, going in the other direction, but to the same place.

Of course, perp walkers in the Heights don’t look like Lay and Rove, but the primary buyers look as if they could have come from their loins. They don’t ask tough questions about arrest rates, recidivism, user profiles or budgets for tangible resources in poor communities. They simply co-sign the song and dance of urban politics. Drug dealers graduate from their position as street level apprentices in the government-sponsored game of illegal drugs to the finishing schools of jail cells located in remote areas scattered across New York State. The dealers position as revenue generating pawns for low-level enterprises is seized by the apparatus of the state to provide the basis for a prison-construction-rural vote complex. This neat appropriation of labor by compulsory positioning is the cornerstone of America’s long-standing War on Drugs. Perhaps the most essential part of positioning, with respect to urban narco-trafficking is the proverbial “Dirty Cop.” As seen from the quote above, it is better to have a dirty policy, but a dirty cannot hurt until he gets caught. New York City had a dirty cop.

Here he is standing above the ruins of the World Trade Center with 2008 Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.

Here he is again, in a more intimate moment.

Here he is with President Bush, watching as W. points at something critical to homeland security.

Bernard Kerik is a dirty cop.

But, this is not the only type of positioning. Saddam Hussein was “positioned” – and he was told that he had a “No Fly Zone” in his own hood, er, nation. For all the talk of “dictator this” and “dictator that,” the best term to describe Saddam Hussein from 1980 through 1988 was “ally.” Hussein was an ally of the United States who worked in close cooperation with Washington. After all, Iraq fought an 8 year war against Iran – only to see both nations lined up like dominoes. Hussein was positioned to invade Kuwait when he received a wink and a nod from a United States Ambassador after he announced his criteria for forestalling an invasion of that particular invention of the British. The transcript of Hussein’s conversation with the diplomat would have been damning if the American public had been paying attention. Rest assured…consolidated corporate media which always co-signs Washington prerogatives went along for the ride. Over time, images of gassed Kurds, much like images of victims of drive-by shootings, would be trotted out as a means to take what might be termed corrective action. Before being run out of Washington, former Secretary of Defense plotted Saddam Hussein’s perp walk (see below). And Hussein, the former ally, wound up at the end of a rope – like so many drug dealers who preferred death to iron cells. Saddam was positioned to provide a pretext for a U.S. invasion which had been conceived long before his decision to cross the border.

And when you want to “position” a head of state and former ally, it can’t hurt to have a dirty cop.

Donald Rumsfeld greets an ally.

Sometimes, if it’s a really big job you’ll need two dirty cops.

Remember Saddam’s perp walk?

They say you cannot steal from an honest man. This world of ours is full of dishonest men – some are greedy, some are liars. Another man once said, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but the Father.” It is in this world that boys come of age playing games and looking for positions on a diamond. Children do not run between the lines with visions of $275 million contracts. They can scarcely conceive of how much money that might be. Their parents can scarcely conceive of how to spend such a sum.

In the mid-1990’s, Major League Baseball had a problem. Fans were not turning out for games. There was labor unrest. The Montreal Expos, under Felipe Alou and the New York Yankees under Buck Showalter lost a once in a lifetime opportunity to win the World Series. The game was in the midst of being displaced by the NFL and the NBA as the sports of choice for all Americans. Pete Rose and his allegations of gambling were omnipresent. Somewhere along the line, some marketing genius (or ambitious intern with common sense) figured out that the best way to reinvigorate this sleepy game was to increase the number of home runs hit across the league. That tale has been well-documented. I will not recount it in full here. As Selig sobbed into his piss poor beer about the mere $1 billion in league coffers, the production of players had stabilized. The game’s best players in the early 90’s – Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey, Jr. and others were putting up consistent, predictable numbers and the excitement of great catches in center field and brilliant base running was insufficient to lift the game. Even a World Series win by the New York Yankees over Ted Turner’s All-Americans (aka The Atlanta Trail of Tears Braves) was not the right elixir. The resurrection of the game would not happen until the Home Run Summer of 1998. It was Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa leading an epic chase into history (Babe Ruth) which brought the game back. Cal Ripken’s pursuit of history (Lou Gehrig) was of near equal import. Back in 1998, the league and the media gave a wink and a nod to steroid use by players. Bud Selig and the owners did their best impersonation of Ambassador April Glaspie and encouraged players, architects, grounds crews, ball manufacturers and bat manufacturers to do their level best to increase the number of home runs in baseball. They even enlisted the support of governors and mayors across the nation to expand the sport and dilute the quality of pitching. At the end of that season, there were enough players positioned to do whatever was required to sustain a seismic shift in production.

Underneath the “tools of ignorance,” the gloves, the spikes and the eye black are many over grown boys engaged in the desperate pursuit of a dream. For many, the dream does not end at retirement. Sometimes, as in the case of Rod Beck, that inability to adjust proves fatal. At some point, this game of life ceases to be a game. But it is in the years leading up to that moment of truth that our character is forged. Your “self” is not really cast in that moment – it’s a summation of moments that reveal who you are. Sometimes what you resist says much more about you than what you have. And sometimes, that dirty cop is going to get you no matter what.

Bud Selig hired a lawyer who began his career with the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. He understands control, monopolies and protection. He is not unlike that dirty cop on the streets of Washington Heights who ensures that deal occur within the prescribed perimeter. He is not at all unlike that secretary of defense who dictates terms to heads of state and manipulates information which leads to hundreds of thousands of dead women and children and men. George Mitchell served as Chairman of the Disney Corporation from 2004-2006. I wonder if he ever saw the books on how well news stories on Barry Bonds contributed to ESPN’s bottom line? Whether or not Mitchell saw the numbers is secondary. ESPN’s own ombudsman saw ominous signs of ethical transgressions in the build up over the past few years. He wrote:

Recently in this space, I expressed concern over the ethics of ESPN — with its newsgathering mandate, standards and goals — entering into a business relationship with Bonds, one of the most important and controversial newsmakers in sports, as well as a similar arrangement with Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight.

Though the production of the 10-hour series about Bonds was contracted out to an independent film company (Tollin/Robbins Productions) by EOE, when most viewers see a film or documentary on ESPN, it’s ESPN they are judging — not Tollin/Robbins, EOE, ESPNEWS or BASS.

George Mitchell is teflon. He was the Majority Leader in the Senate and is the chairman of the largest law firm in the world. He has won as many peace prizes as Mother Theresa but he’s no pacifist. That’s not his angle. George Mitchell is a man of the empire. He seeks to establish international organizations and agreements which allow established nations, firms and organizations to maximize their efficiency in exploiting untapped markets. Mitchell has been hailed as a Senate leader on establishing the World Trade Organization and the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He is a former President of the Economic Club of Washington, DC. Mitchell is the author of four books. He is in the process of writing the definitive tale of steroids in baseball and reporting to the world exactly who did what and when.  Perhaps teflon is not an adequate description for a man who declined a Supreme Court nomination for a political principle; for a man who has been called upon to settle disputes in the Middle East and Ireland.  Mitchell is a titan in his field.

Was a titan really necessary to clean this up?  Weren’t we told that the owners, not so long ago, were operating in the red and that the use of performance-enhancing drugs was a minor incident with limited applicability league wide?  It makes we wonder if I was paying attention when the music stopped.

That’s Sue Selig, on the left, seated next to President Bush. I wonder what they’re not talking about.

W – at a time when he had fewer murders on his belt, but more alleged steroid users.

When these boys – y/our boys come of age, it is the lure of money, fame, legacy and more that propels them to make choices that are less than wise…choices that are not “good.” Like the drug dealing immigrant (or citizen) who sells drugs because he believes he is neither the source of the demand nor adequately prepared or even willing to do less lucrative work, the baseball player looks for an edge to compete. That drug dealer knows that if he unable to secure these precious few blocks, his sources of revenue will dry up. There will be no negotiation with the crew down the street and so the bullets fly. The bullets fly close to home because the dealer cannot gain access to the territory of his sponsor. So people die – but they don’t die where the drugs are consumed. They die close to home – where the drugs are sold. And half a world away, that head of state knows that without access to that precious sea outlet, his prospects for economic survival are nil. He also knows that he is playing the Most Dangerous Game (a favorite of Vice President Dick “Shoot Him In the Ass” Cheney). In this most dangerous game, he has no real options. If he does not fight he starves and dies a slow death. If he fights, he winds up living in a hole and at the end of a rope. If he fights, perhaps more than 650,000 of his countrymen will also lose their lives.

And so, each one makes a series of choices in which their fate is all but assured. Young major league baseball players (we may never know how many) risked a great deal to resurrect the game because the owners were unwilling to face the legitimate challenges of modernizing their business. Today, as one of those owners will spend the evening pinching himself about his $6 billion windfall, a position player will face his future against the full might of the United States of America.

And his fate is all but assured. Is it not?

“Those numbers are why most people who care about baseball wish that Bonds had never played and hope he never does again. The numbers, examined in the lurid light of what is known about the recent role of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in sports and about Bonds’s character and associations, invite suspicion and perhaps compel invidious conclusions.” – George F. Will, Washington Post, March 12, 2006 (italicized text for emphasis)

Imagine if we were all known by the company we kept.

Ducks Drown in Desert

The #2 Oregon Ducks are going down to the Arizona Wildcats tonite.  Heisman hopeful Dennis Dixon is out of the game with a self-inflicted injury to his knee.  He set the initial tone for the game with a 39-yard touchdown run to put his team ahead.  The Ducks, though lost Dixon, their confidence and the lead.  The Wildcats picked off a tipped pass in the endzone and averted the prospect of being down 16-0 before all the beer drinkers finished their first round.  A few plays later, the Cats were dancing in the endzone.

Since that time, it’s been all blue and red – a total Green Out.  Arizona is up 24-11 and stacking the box to stuff the run.  The second string quarterback doesn’t scare this defense one bit.

Of course it’s early and this game is not even close to over.  Dixon is not the only weapon on the Ducks’ roster.  Ask Michigan.  They’ll tell the Ducks have more than one bullet in that gun.  The defense has to bear down and get stops.  The offense has to play to the strengths of the back up – Brady Leaf (Ryan’s baby bro – and he’s at the game).  They can run some crossing routes to loosen up the defense (it’s looks like that’s the plan – but I’ve seen receivers drop 2 or the last 3 passes…that’s not helping).  They are still running the spread – and without Dixon, the defense is just getting amped.

Mike Bellotti better dig deep or he can kiss his national championship dreams goodbye.

Update…

It’s a wrap.  Arizona just returned a short punt for a touchdown.  I think that’s the second return of the game.  31-11.  Leaf’s baby bro looks terrible.  Probably didn’t think he’d play a lick this game…probably prepared like it.

Future first round draft pick Antoine Cason showed the Ducks a little something.

 Who’s the new Number 2?

Kansas – Oklahoma – Missouri?? The Big 12 is coming!

Revisiting Alexander and Aristotle

The Maxambit Blog raised some compelling questions about Afrocentricity and definitions this week. In the course of the conversation, the host shared an article by retired Professor Mary Lefkowitz about her motivation for entering the national debate concerning this emerging course of study. It seems that she was drawn in by the accusation one of the leading Africentric scholars made concerning the role of Alexander in the establishment of Alexandria – and the role of his tutor Aristotle in codifying the body of knowledge which has come to be associated with him. The basic charge from the late Yosef A.A. ben-Jochanan was that Aristotle and many of his students from the Lyceum ventured to Egypt and laid claim to the works in existing libraries. Those works were seized, edited, renamed and included in what would become the Royal Library at Alexandria under the rule of Ptolemy I. Ben-Jochanan further charged that Egyptian teachers like Manetho were forced to teach Greek students by the invading army and this effectively formalized a transition of knowledge that would continue until at least the closing of Egyptian temples under Emperor Theodosian.

Lefkowitz and many of her peers (European Classical scholars) were up in arms about this charge. For them, this charge represented the pinnacle of delusional ravings by men in desperate search of an imagined history. Possibly. I started rummaging around some old classical texts on the history of philosophy and warfare which I keep around – mostly for decoration. It turns out that there may be more to this than meets the eye. While I can’t say I’ve come across ironclad proof, I have come across some things that merit questioning.

The Discovery Channel, just last year, reported for the first time (and after 12 years of research) that Alexandria was not, in fact, a new city. Now, specialists in the field may have known this – but the average person who hears that “Alexander the Great founded a city” does not believe the speaker is discussing something already in existence. Moreover, that listener could not possibly believe that the city was more than 2,500 years old by the time Alexander arrived. Yet, this is what scientists are suggesting by using an innovative technique which measures the density of lead accumulations as a proxy for civilizations and urban activity. It seems Alexandria, originally known as Ra-Kedet, was thriving around 2600 BC. This year, a Smithsonian archaeological team uncovered evidence of settlements dating back at least seven centuries before the founding of Alexandria. It’s still early, but the work could redefine much of what Classicists and Egyptologists think they know about what they know.

I found this illuminating because there is so much about history that we learn all the time. Often it is best to keep an open mind. For me, the significance of this news (long after Professor Lefkowitz’ debate) is that if the Greeks would assert they founded a city which was built on the foundation of another, is it not possible that these same people would assert they founded a library (or at least its contents) even though those contents were already established. It seems that with all that has been written about Aristotle, few people have much at all to say about his life. In fact, he wasn’t even much of a writer until after the invasion of Egypt by Alexander. It seems his students followed him around as he gave his lectures. I imagine some of them were busy taking copious notes. It was his students, though, who founded and guided the new library in the new city of Alexandria. And, it was his students who compiled and edited the works that are presently attributed solely to him.

It is not known whether or not Aristotle made the trip to Egypt with Alexander or arrived shortly thereafter or not at all. The strongest arguments stem from the absence of records indicating he traveled to Egypt. It is safe to assume he did not go. It may also be safe to assume that he had intention of claiming the legacy which is now his own. An authority no less than Bertrand Russell writes that Aristotle’s work is clearly segmented – beginning with lectures that bear only a faint resemblence to his later, more exhaustive work. It should make one wonder – but I can understand why no one has for so long.

We learned of these stories as children – long before we understood the world of politics, war and intrigue. It is possible that Aristotle is merely the beneficiary of ambitions by his students to exhalt his name and standing. Dr. ben alleged that Manetho was compelled to provide a history of Egypt in Greek for the new rulers – and to provide instruction to Greek students. There are precious few surviving details about Manetho – and even his works have been handed down to us in a random, disorganized and barely discernible fashion. Scholars don’t actually have much of his original work.

I’ll have to dig more to get some answers on this – but from where I’m sitting, I don’t believe the case is closed here. It is possible that:

• The Egyptian city of Ra-Kedet, in existence for no less than 2000 years prior to Alexander’s arrival, held libraries and texts which were incorporated into Ptolemy’s larger library.
• Students of Aristotle, in their zeal to advance the cause of their teacher and their school, seized upon those texts, incorporated them into a library and affixed credit to the Greek translations of those texts to the leading Greek scholar of the time.
• Given the limited biographical information on Aristotle, he could have engaged in a wide range of activities in support of his students. Demetrius of Phaleron is considered to be the organizer of the library. While Demetrius’ work continued after Aristotle’s death, the Lyceum probably influenced the Mouseion.

There are connections here. There is no smoking gun – and there is no cause for dismissive rejections of possibility. I wonder how that conversation between the two professors might have transpired if the knowledge of Ra-Kedet had been available to both of them.

Campaign Contributions – CRP Charts

The Center for Responsive Politics has excellent charts on quarterly and year to date campaign contributions.  The data is organized by state and highlights are presented on mouse rollovers.  Click here.

A couple of surprises for me:

• In the third quarter, Hillary Clinton received more contributions than all of the candidates in the state of Texas.  Former New York City mayor and poster boy for modified family values Rudy Giuliani is the Texas leader for the year to date.
• Barack Obama is doing well in Oregon and Washington state.  On a certain level, I suppose that makes sense.  I’m surprised.  Mitt Romney has received solid support in the northern plains states and in a couple of midwestern states.  Obama is still dominant in the midwest.
• John McCain is probably better off making other plans for the 2008 election season.
• Someone in Montana likes John Edwards.  For the year to date, he’s only leading in North Carolina, Alabama and Montana.

Enjoy.

2007 NFL Predictions – Week 10

I took a few weeks off, but I’m back with the picks. I had a hot streak there for a minute, but needed to tend to the little ones. There are some nice divisional games on tap today. Thank heavens the Jets have a bye week. That means the Steelers and Browns will be televised in New York City. Who wants to see a 1-8 team run around looking like chickens with their Mangini’s cut off? The Giants play this Cowboys at 4…and the night came features the Colts at the Chargers. Nice stuff there. The picks will be quick because time is of the essence. Here are the lines.

NFL Lines For Week 10 – NFL Football Line Week Ten
NFL Game Lines 11/11 – 11/12, 2007

Date & Time	Favorite	Line	Underdog	Total
11/11 1:00 ET	At Tennessee	-4.5	Jacksonville	35.5
11/11 1:00 ET	At Kansas City	-3	Denver	37.5
11/11 1:00 ET	Buffalo	-2.5	At Miami	41
11/11 1:00 ET	At Pittsburgh	-10	Cleveland	47.5
11/11 1:00 ET	At New Orleans	-10.5	St. Louis	46.5
11/11 1:00 ET	At Carolina	-3	Atlanta	36
11/11 1:00 ET	At Washington	-2.5	Philadelphia	38
11/11 1:00 ET	At Green Bay	-5.5	Minnesota	41
11/11 4:05 ET	At Baltimore	-3	Cincinnati	44.5
11/11 4:15 ET	Chicago	-3.5	At Oakland	38.5
11/11 4:15 ET	Dallas	-2	At NY Giants	48.5
11/11 4:15 ET	At Arizona	-2	Detroit	44.5
11/11 8:15 ET	Indianapolis	-3.5	At San Diego	48

Monday Night Football Line

11/12 8:30 ET	At Seattle	-10	San Francisco	38.5

I like the Titans over the Jags. The Titans are simply a tough, tough team. The Jags are a physical team – and both teams will be without a serious force in the middle. Marcus Stroud has been suspended for violating the drug policy. Albert Haynesworth pulled a hamstring. I like the Titans to figure out a way this game in the final minute. Tennessee 17, Jacksonville 15. I guess Tennessee missed Albert more than Jacksonville missed Marcus.

I’m probably the only person outside of Kansas City who likes the Chiefs, but I do. They lost a tough one against the Packers at home last week. I like them to rebound at Arrowhead against the Broncos. I think Priest Holmes will make them more versatile. Kansas City 38, Denver 17. Okay, see, what had happened was…

I like the Bills big over the Dolphins. I like Lee Evans deep and often over anyone in the Dolphins secondary. I like Marshawn Lynch on the ground. Buffalo 31, Miami 14. This didn’t go as expected, but the Bills pulled it out.

My Steelers, their Browns. My QB on pace to throw 40 tds (Roethlisberger) vs. their surprise passer and his arsenal of young weapons. Steelers 38, Browns 34. I don’t think the Steelers cover the spread unless they can cover the receivers. I don’t think they’ll cover the receivers because the Browns should be able to stay out of 2nd or 3rd and long if they mix it up. If Cleveland has early turnovers, it’ll get ugly by 2:00 EST. Cleveland turned it over late and the game was almost as high scoring as predicted. Browns will be kicking themselves until next season after blowing a 21-6 lead.

I like the Saints over the Rams. I never pick the Rams – holdover from the Martz days. New Orleans 28, St. Louis 13. No what you want to believe about the Saints, the calendar keeps saying it is 2007.

If the Falcons were playing at home, I’d take them over the Panthers…but since the Panthers have already demonstrated they can beat this team, I like their chances at home – even with Your Cousin Vinny starting at QB. Steve Smith could have a big day against DeAngelo Hall. Carolina 31, Atlanta 21. My first mind said – “Go with the Fighting Petrinos!” I didn’t listen.

Washington hosts the boys from the Drug Emporium. The Eagles are a mess. They were a mess BEFORE Garrett and Britt were busted. They were a mess before McNabb was injured and before he recovered. The Eagles have been a mess for some time because they lack the essentials required to be a winning playoff team. The signing of Terrell Owens masked their essential weaknesses: offense balance and finesse running. Donovan McNabb is under a great deal of duress and is charged with running a system that requires receivers like Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce. He’s got Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown. Garrett and Britt are not the only ones using drugs. Someone in Philly better snap out of it. The team needs a makeover. You see Brad Childress, the former offensive coordinator, is no aficionado of the Eagles system. He has two power runners and would have more balance if he had a mature quarterback. The failings of the Eagles lie mostly at the feet of Andy Reid. Washington 24, Philadelphia 17. If I cared enough, I’d probably write a big ass apology to Eagle fans – but what would be the point? There team is still a mess and it’s games like this that keep them from pulling the trigger on the McNabb-Westbrook combination. It’s good, but not good enough. Congrats Philly and Coach Reid. I’ll go back to my day job now.

Speaking of Brad Childress, the Vikings have been impressive at different points during the season. They certainly looked good last week against the San Diego Chargers. I don’t like them outdoors though. The Packers are physically tough enough to beat the Vikings at their own game. Green Bay 17, Minnesota 10. It was much worse than I expected.

There was a time when the Ravens and Bengals would have been an intriguing matchup. I’ll take the Bengals big. Cincinnati 41, Baltimore 14. It wasn’t close, but the Cats didn’t maul ‘em like they should have.

The Bears have had a bye week to get themselves together or lose their chemistry. They are going on the road against the Raiders. Since it’s not a cross-continent trip, I suspect they’ll have the legs to get the job done – barely. Chicago 23, Oakland 21.  I didn’t see it, but I know it was close and have the feeling I didn’t miss a single thing.

The Cowboys offense is a juggernaut. Dallas 40, New York Giants 35.  Are the Giants sliding down the hole again?  6-2 before the game…6-3 now.  The Lions are up next and pose similar offensive threats to the Cowboys.  Is Eli getting the job done?  Are folks asking too much?  Maybe.  All I know is my guy has a ring, can make every throw and converted a third and 10 by running 30 yards for a touchdown – right down the middle of the field.  Gimme Ben any day.

This is the type of game the Detroit Lions ALWAYS lose. It’s a road game after a big home win…sounds like a recipe for disaster. I’m going against my book and riding the idea that the Lions may have actually turned the corner (even though they were destroyed by the Redskins for the 400th time since the beginning of the franchise). Detroit 38, Arizona 21.  The next time I tell myself the Lions are going to lose, I should listen.  I did this last year – same thing happened.  Of course the Lions will beat the Giants next week precisely because they’re not supposed to.

Colts over Chargers. Indianapolis 37, San Diego 23.

Monday Night: The 49ers are not you thought they were. Seattle 31, San Francisco 7.

University of Miami Changes Team Logo

The Miami Hurricanes football team is poised to reveal a new logo following tonight’s 48-0 loss to the Virginia Cavaliers. The loss, worst in school history, marked the Hurricanes last contest in it’s long time home, the Orange Bowl. The new logo will feature an ‘O’ to symbolize this embarrassing loss to the Cavaliers. The school will no longer be referred to as “The U” by broadcasters, alums or NFL personnel.

Here is a mock up of the new Miami Hurricane logo:

We’re still awaiting word on whether the former ‘U’ will retain the two green leaves or simply go au natural.  As it stands, the new logo symbolizes the offensive futility which defines this team.  It was that bad.

The Path of Destruction: Alabama Football

Candidate: “I’m the right man for this job. I’m from here. I know the culture. I’ve lived it all my life. I’ve been through the good and the bad. Heck, I was born in 1954. I’ve seen it all. I went to high school right down the street. I even played college ball right here. I’m sure you’ll get a lot of primadona candidates for this job, but you know I played tight end and linebacker. I was in the trenches on both sides of the ball. I think a great part of my work ethic and belief in team comes from being in the trenches. I understand what it takes for a team to win and what it means to rally 53 young men around a cause. My track record with this institution is substantial. But more than that, I’ve established myself at the highest levels in the NFL.”

Interviewer: “I’m sorry, excuse for one moment.”

Candidate: “What was that?”

Interviewer: “I’m sorry, just a moment. I need to do one thing and I’ll be right back.”

Candidate: “Sure. No problem.”

Interviewer: “Thank you for your patience. Uh, we’ve made a decision. We’re going to hire the kid of that coach who used to be in Miami.”

Candidate: “Hmm. Thank you for the opportunity. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

Now I don’t know that the University of Alabama’s decision to hire the man pictured below went anything like the conversation posted above, but I cannot imagine that it was much different. Mike Shula, son of Colts and Dolphins legend Don Shula, was hired after a mediocre tenure as the leader of the Cincinnati Bengals (see comment below). The candidate, Sylvester Croom, went to become head coach of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Croom was denied the shot to lead his beloved Alabama Crimson Tide, but he was afforded the opportunity to beat them. And they say the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Shula’s Tide lost to Croom’s Bulldogs in 2004 and today, the latest son of the Dolphins (or spawn, depending on your perspective) was handed another loss by Mississippi State. Mississippi State 17, Alabama 12. Mr. Croom knows something the people at the University of Alabama clearly do not. Perhaps was not hired because he failed to distinguish himself in ten years as a coach on offense and defense. Perhaps the University was not impressed with resume of NFL service. Whatever the case, the decision has come back to haunt the Tide. Croom is now living rent free in the minds of every single alumnus of the University of Alabama. The space he has commandeered ought to be worth a top notch recruit or two when he heads out on the trail to compete against Nick Saban and other SEC coaches.

Saban, pictured above, is letting the faithful know that he is no Messiah. That’s not news. What is newsworthy is that Sylvester Croom continues to coach beneath the radar. Mississippi State must be one of the most difficult places to coach college football in the nation. It’s not the University of Mississippi. It is not a traditional SEC power. Mississippi State is in the same division as powerhouses like Alabama, LSU, and Auburn. The off years are reserved for teams like Arkansas to win more than their fair share. Mississippi State is the last school one thinks of in the SEC West – and yet, here they are. They are riding the man from Tuscaloosa right down the heart of Main Street – and right through the legacies of Mike Shula and Nick Saban.

On Monday, there should be a press conference in Starkville, Mississippi where the Athletic Director Larry Templeton will express, once again, his undying gratitude to the Athletic Director in Tuscaloosa for Mal Moore’s diagnostic skills in assessing the “best man for the job.”