Notes: Gang Signin’ in the NFL; Camby was a Chess Piece; More Goods on Roger the Rapin’ Roider; Jennings Signs with Italian Team

Crip signin'… right? The NFL is concerned about its image - again. The league has hired "experts" to review and identify "hand signals" thrown up by NFL players during games: "There have been some suspected things we've seen," said Milt Ahlerich, the league's vice president of security. "When we see it, we quietly jump on it immediately, directly with the team and [read more...]

Majesty Gone Wrong

Dear Bud, Damn you for ruining the All Star Game. Thanks for everything else though! Sincerely, Pauly It is a common refrain amongst baseball enthusiasts to pound mercilessly on Bud. He is kind of sloppy and never misses a chance to bungle a PR situation but overall I gotta tell ya, I dig Bud. The game is better off now that [read more...]

Picking the All-Star Teams: American League

The fact that the league that wins the Major League Baseball All-Star game gets home-field advantage in the World Series might be the dumbest rule in all of sports. The NBA's big mid-season event doesn't determine who has home court in the Finals, and neither does the NHL's when it comes to the Stanley Cup. (I won't even mention the [read more...]

Bonds’ Defense Ever More Farcical

Watching the caricature of a man that is Barry Bonds, I'm reminded of the Black Knight, guarding the bridge in Monty Python's Holy Grail."This book that openly lays out systematic steroid use over a four-year period? Merely a flesh wound!" And you have to love it. It's true comedy. Barry's defense has been reduced to a farce. He is a man [read more...]

So You Busted a Gambling Ring … So What

Last year, I sat in a conference room at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Chicago and listened to a former FBI agent tell a story of how his guys broke up a big gambling ring. It was interesting, a little peek into the fed scene. And I was imagining the grey older man standing there in his bow tie as [read more...]

GONE YARD: Rose-Bud

We've all got that friend who Always Goes Too Far. My buddy Jason tells the story of a college party where a young lady had passed out. Most of the dudes at the party were speculating on how best to punish her-hand in warm water? Magic Marker mustache? But then one guy, giggling his ass off, pipes up, "Hey, guys! [read more...]

Congress Stepping In on Steroid Issue

Often the only way that reform happens is when Congress threatens to do something about it, because if there's one thing that can screw up even the best-run situation, it's governmental intervention. Baseball, poorly run in the best of times, is even more fearful of governmental intervention because Congress holds the power to eliminate baseball's antitrust exemption.In light of the [read more...]

BALCO/Steroids: Too Complex, Too Late

The biggest story in sports remains the BALCO/steroids issues, and this week, what many of us felt was inevitable, came to light: BALCO reportedly supplied Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Marvin Benard, now of the White Sox, Kansas City catcher Benito Santiago, former Oakland infielder Randy Velarde and Oakland Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski with steroids and human growth hormones.When [read more...]

‘Roid Rages Through Every Facet

This is no victimless crime. Sports pundits everywhere have been weighing in on the juice issue this week. With evidence now overwhelmingly in place, the steroid issue will take the stage until somebody takes the fall. The overlooked problem is, people have been taking the fall for years. Who? The ones who didn't cheat. Barry Bonds, clearly at the epicenter of the juice-quake, [read more...]

Steroid Use Revealed

In the wake of new, credible evidence of steroid use by baseball stars Gary Sheffield, Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi, fresh allegations regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs have arisen regarding another figure in the public eye - Bullwinkle T. Moose. Moose, a mainstay in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, spent his college days on the playing fields of Frostbite Falls University, [read more...]

MLB: Drowning In Juice

This is about to get ugly. Major League Baseball has enough sense to placate those who prefer integrity by keeping profiteering Pete Rose out of the game for now. They now brace for another storm. The water's rising - actually, make that the juice - and some are going to drown. With last week's not-so-shocking news that trainer to the pro's Greg [read more...]

A Tale of Three Exhibitions

I have always felt that the only all-star game worth watching was baseball's - the oldest of the exhibition games. Baseball was "pure." The players played hard and tried to win, and it was a chance to see the best players from both leagues playing against one another.But with inter-league play, the best already play against one another, and despite [read more...]

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