And So It Begins

Roger Clemens has released a statement in regards to the Mitchell Report.. I will not be posting something each time a player comes forth and says “Hey I didn’t do anything”, but I take a personal interest in this.. as I stated in my post this morning.. The Rocket is a childhood hero.. along with Nolan Ryan.. Here is what Roger, and his lawyer have to say..

A Comment

I wrote an article this morning about the Mitchell Report.. and Phi.. AKA Technical Supports comment was to good not to published! Way to go Phil!

I am going to have to agree with the “what will be done?” interpretation of this. Sure, there might be a little tarnish on some reputations, but I am sure it is nothing that a few $100k can make the players believe it is worth it.

I have people give me a hard time because I enjoy watching cycling, one sport which has been slammed for steroid abuse on the international stage. The main reason cycling has received such a beating is because they are working to discourage steroid use. For first time offenders, there is a 2 year suspension. For a second time offense, there is a lifetime ban. It is enough that a cyclist’s team will fire them before any official punishment can be administered.

Now, imagine if this was the case with MLB, or any of the sports in the United States. We have this list of 60-80 names coming out. There will likely be some big names on this list. Imagine if all of the sudden these players were banned from playing on any team for 2 years. This includes the cancellation of their contracts. Yes, in 2 years they get to come back, but they will be performing nowhere near their previous ability. First, they will be out of practice. I do not care who you are, but having time away from the sport, even with individual training, you will not be able to jump right back in.

Second, they will no longer be using steroids. Any performance enhancement previously received will be gone. That being said, what temptation will there be to use steroids again? If they are caught a second time, they have no option of going back. They will not be bringing in the same money they were before, and who is to say how well they will be able to keep up with the rest of the players. Basically, they will be given the threat of a ruined career instead of just a suspension for a few games and a fine.

I never see this happening, though. So many players in any sport are celebrated as individuals for their performance. The better the performance, the more money they bring in as well as their team and the governing body (i.e. MLB). Do you think these organizations are going to sacrifice that much potential inflow of cash, especially if people are just going to forget about what happened a month later? Just to comment on this, how many people still think about MLB players testifying as part of a congressional subpoena, and who call name any of the players who testified without having to google it?

You can come out with as many lists and run as many investigations as you like, but until there are consequences to go along with breaking the rule, nothing will change. In order for this to happen, there will likely be some sacrifice required, largely financial. Now tell me, do you expect any organization or individual in this country to make a large financial sacrifice for the betterment of a sport if it does not provide them with some sort of benefit in the end? The one thing that will have to happen to create the benefit is for people to stop attending events or buying sports goods threatening profits, and as said before, people forget about this sort of thing after several weeks. That being said, what is the likelyhood of anything of this to happen?

The List Of Names..*Updated*

  Thanks to the guys over at Sports Conversation.. Here is the list of names that are on the list.. There were alot of “No Shit.. like we didnt already know that” names on this list. Others are on this list due to surgery.. Like Kerry Wood and Mark Prior for example!

Brady Anderson                           Manny Alexander

Rick Ankiel                                    Jeff Bagwell

Barry Bonds                                  Aaron Boone

Rafael Bettancourt                       Bret Boone

Milton Bradley                              David Bell

Dante Bichette                              Albert Belle

Paul Byrd                                      Wil Cordero

Ken Caminiti                                 Mike Cameron

Ramon Castro                              Jose Canseco

Ozzie Canseco                              Roger Clemens

Paxton Crawford                        Wilson Delgado

Lenny Dykstra                            Johnny Damon

Carl Everett                                 Kyle Farnsworth

Ryan Franklin                             Troy Glaus

Rich Garces                                 Jason Grimsley

Juan Gonzalez                             Eric Gagne

Nomar Garciaparra                    Jason Giambi

Jeremy Giambi                           Jose Guillen

Jay Gibbons                                Juan Gonzalez

Clay Hensley                              Jerry Hairston

Felix Heredia, Jr.                      Darren Holmes

Wally Joyner                              Darryl Kile

Matt Lawton                             Raul Mondesi

Mark McGwire                         Guillermo Mota

Robert Machado                       Damian Moss

Abraham Nunez                       Trot Nixon

Jose Offerman                          Andy Pettitte

Mark Prior                                Nifi Perez

Rafael Palmiero                        Albert Pujols

Brian Roberts                          Juan Rincon

John Rocker                            Pudge Rodriguez

Sammy Sosa                            Scott Sc hoenweiis

David Segui                              Alex Sanchez

Gary Sheffield                         Miguel Tejada

Julian Tavarez                         Fernando Tatis

Maurice Vaughn                      Jason Varitek

Ismael Valdez                          Matt Williams

Kerry Wood

Here is the 409 page Mitchell Report

In A Few Short Hours

In a few short hours the Mitchell Report is set to be released.. Will your childhood heroes, or favorite players be one of the 60-80 names on this report.. or were they lucky enough not to be mentioned? My childhood hero, and 2nd favorite pitcher in the games name was released this morning.. Oh say it ain’t so Roger? Its being reported that Roger Clemens name is in this report.. A former conditioning coach with the Yankees told Mitchell and his team that he supplied steroids to Roger before his Yankee days, and during his Yankee days.. This will most definitely hurt a Hall of Fame induction.. and tarnish the reputation and career of one of the top 5 pitchers to every take the mound.. This is infact a sad day for me..

I always had my suspisions.. but never wanted to believe it.. This is what I get for giving someone in Baseball the “benefit of the doubt” in a day and age where cheating is more glamours then actually playing the game the way it was ment to be played! Thank God my other childhood hero Nolan Ryan retired.. I can still hold on to those memories and have them untainted!  As soon as the Mitchell Report is released.. we here at the Corner will post it, so everyone can run thru the list..

Sadly enough.. this report is not going to solve anything.. Mitchell had little to no help from players, coaches, and trainers.. He had no power to make people talk.. and if you want me to believe that only 60-80 players have used steroids, then you must think Im stupid.. This is going to be a nice little story for a few days.. with players making statements “They never did anything” some suspensions will be handed down, and then a lengthy, and costly investigation will be swept back under the rug.. Bud didn’t really want to know.. The American people really didn’t want to know either.. This is a sad sad attempt to save face.. This is the “Look were trying to clean up the sport” When all you really did.. was tarnish a few careers. This Mitchell Report itself is not going to clean up the sport, and its not going to tell us anything we really didn’t know.. Names like Pettiete, Clemens, McGuire, Sosa, Bonds, Giambi, Tejada ect.. THEY WERE ALREADY OUT THERE! Tell us something new.. because anything thing else is a waste of our time Mr. Mitchell!

Prerelease Mitchell Report…

There’s names flying… there is only expected to be 60-80 players listed over the past 15 years (seems extremely low to me).  the ramifications will be seen… but before the “No Shit, what ya gonna do about it?” report is released I’d like to thank one idiot:

Jose Canseco, take this chance to laugh at all the morons that wouldn’t listen to you… the MLB would still be ignoring this problem if it weren’t for you.  Please take a bow, you are still the only player (even if guilty himself) whistle blower… everything Canseco said about steroids is being proven 100% true.

Prerelease Mitchell Report…

There’s names flying… there is only expected to be 60-80 players listed over the past 15 years (seems extremely low to me).  the ramifications will be seen… but before the “No Shit, what ya gonna do about it?” report is released I’d like to thank one idiot:

Jose Canseco, take this chance to laugh at all the morons that wouldn’t listen to you… the MLB would still be ignoring this problem if it weren’t for you.  Please take a bow, you are still the only player (even if guilty himself) whistle blower… everything Canseco said about steroids is being proven 100% true.

Time to Show More Love to Zubov !!!!!

Yeah I was reading about the voting going on for the NHL All-Star game. I started thinking about the players and relaized something about Stars D-Man Sergei Zubov.

He’s never won a Norris Trophy. Actually, he’s never even been runner-up. He’s third in career points among active defensemen. His passing game is among the very best in the league. He’s routinely among the leading offensive defensemen in the league. Right now he actually leads all NHL D-Men in scoring.

So why is it Dallas Stars vet Sergei Zubov never gets the same kind of attention as Norris Trophy candidates Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Pronger or Scott Niedermayer?

Zubies 760 career points (152-608) are third among active blue-liners behind only Chris Chelios and Lidstrom. The 37 year old Moscow native leads all NHL D-men this season with 28 points (4-24) in 31 games, two more than Lidstrom. But he ranks only ninth among the D being picked to play for the Western Conference all-star game in the fan balloting.

Is he overlooked?

No doubt. That’s the biggest understatement I’ve heard in a long time,But he doesn’t mind. He has always been one who wants his teams stats to do the talking for him. Zubov has been lost in the Lidstrom/Pronger/Niedermayer shuffle all decade long. His only Norris Trophy nomination came in 2005-06 and he finished third. The last defenseman not named Lidstrom, Pronger or Niedermayer to win a Norris was Al MacInnis in 1999. But talk to people around the league, and they will tell you that he belongs in the same class as Lidstrom, Pronger and Niedermayer.

His skill and his skating and his shooting, there’s no better than I can really think of. Not to mention how he can quaterback his team when they are on the power play. It’s not just about offense with Zubie. He controls the game. He anticipates plays. His passing skills are Lidstrom-like. Other NHL coaches drool over the chance to have a blue-liner kickstart the transition game like Zubov can.

Zubov came into the league in 1992-93 with the New York Rangers very much an offensive player, putting up a career-high 89 points (12-77) in 78 games in 1993-94, the year the Rangers won the Stanley Cup. He’s had to work hard on becoming better defensively, a slow but sure transformation that in the last several years has made him the complete player that he is.

The Hockey Hall of Fame may beckon one day, which surely will surprise many given the lack of notoriety Zubov received during his career. There is no doubt he desreves to be in the hall when he does hang up his skates and no doubt he deserves better than where he is in All-Star Voting.