And then there was one
By Tophatal
At a time when the world of sports is embroiled in the idiocy of steroids and the protocols for testing and specifically that of HGH , steroids and all manner of PED’s . Once again, baseball (MLB) finds itself in a mess, one of its own making. Three major stars of the game find their names linked to a story printed in a local Florida newspaper , Miami New Times, which has now gone national. The story in question, is that of the paper’s reporting that Alex Rodriguez , Nelson Cruz and Ryan Braun are all embroiled in the latest allegations of the three players being linked to a Coral Gables’ based medical concern , which produces synthetic supplements, such as steroids known to be banned by the four major professional team sports in North America . Biogenesis , a company, founded by Anthony Bosch , is at the center of this latest controversy that remains a constant within the game , and for which baseball’s hierarchy led by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig seems to have no answer for .
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Slideshow.
The triumvirate of players have all denied their culpability and involvement , but herein lies the issue , both Braun and Rodriguez have been embroiled in their own episodes and the use of steroids . Alex Rodriguez’s own admittance of his use of anabolic steroids between 2001 and 2004 , when he was a player with the Texas Rangers before being traded to the New York Yankees , makes his recent denials , all the more improbable. And with Rodriguez’s performances for the franchise during that time can be best described as being erratic and lackluster . And 2012 most definitely has been a reminder of that , albeit , that the player can now claim that he has been part of a championship winning team in 2009. In the subsequent years, since that triumph, the postseason for the New York Yankees has been something of a complete anathema .
Courtesy of Miami New Times
A Miami Clinic Supplies Drugs to Sports’ Biggest Names ….
See also : The A-Rod files , Every mention of the Yankees’ slugger in Tony Bosch’s records
By Tim Elfrink , Miami New Times
Open the neat spreadsheet and scroll past the listing of local developers, prominent attorneys, and personal trainers. You’ll find a lengthy list of nicknames: Mostro, Al Capone, El Cacique, Samurai, Yukon, Mohammad, Felix Cat, and D.R.
Then check out the main column, where their real names flash like an all-star roster of professional athletes with Miami ties: San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera, Oakland A’s hurler Bartolo Colón, pro tennis player Wayne Odesnik, budding Cuban superstar boxer Yuriorkis Gamboa, and Texas Rangers slugger Nelson Cruz. There’s even the New York Yankees’ $275 million man himself, Alex Rodriguez, who has sworn he stopped juicing a decade ago.
See also: “The A Rod Files: Every Mention of the Yankees Slugger in Tony Bosch’s Records”
• “The Melky Files: All the Mentions of Melky Cabrera in Tony Bosch’s Records”
Read further and you’ll find more than a dozen other baseball pros, from former University of Miami ace Cesar Carrillo to Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal to Washington Nationals star Gio Gonzalez. Notable coaches are there too, including UM baseball conditioning guru Jimmy Goins.
The names are all included in an extraordinary batch of records from Biogenesis, an anti-aging clinic tucked into a two-story office building just a hard-line drive’s distance from the UM campus. They were given to New Times by an employee who worked at Biogenesis before it closed last month and its owner abruptly disappeared. The records are clear in describing the firm’s real business: selling performance-enhancing drugs, from human growth hormone (HGH) to testosterone to anabolic steroids.
Interviews with six customers and two former employees corroborate the tale told by the patient files, the payment records, and the handwritten notebooks kept by the clinic’s chief, 49-year-old Anthony Bosch.
Bosch’s history with steroids also adds credence to the paperwork. The son of a prominent Coral Gables physician named Pedro Publio Bosch , he was connected with banned substances when slugger Manny Ramirez was suspended for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy in 2009. At the time, MLB confirmed the Drug Enforcement Administration was probing the father and son for allegedly providing Ramirez with HCG, a compound often used at the tail end of steroid cycles.
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For Ryan Braun , with his legal counsel, now making a statement to indicate their client was simply a consultant for Biogenesis , with a view to endorsing a number of their supplemental products. Far be it for me to suggest , but Braun now suggesting that his involvement the company came purely from a commercial enterprise and as an endorser , does on the face of it seem asinine , but this might be simply be beyond belief . Now comes the hard part , can Ryan Braun’s career be taken at face value , and be seen as above reproach ? A former NL MVP , in 2011 , And while that season , Braun was very productive , 2012 was said to be far more productive for the t player .
Alex Rodriguez will be missing from the Yankees’ lineup for the greater part of the 2013 season , further making their offense not impervious to several weaknesses , as exhibited during the regular and postseason .
The New York Yankees this upcoming season will be hard pressed I believe, to deal with a number of their fellow inhabitants of the AL East . And much that is predicated upon the results of 2012 and their postseason results , which to my mind will be a strong reflection as to the mental makeup of this team for their 2013 schedule . Also when you add in the fact that the team’s short-stop , and on the field inspirational leader , Derek Jeter , will be returning after recuperation , from having suffered a broken right ankle, he during the ALCS against the Detroit Tigers of 2012 . One , could well understand why , this team will be placed under a great deal of pressure to succeed . With an aging core of players , Joe Girardi and his coaching staff , I believe , will not be too sure , as to what his best lineup will be ! Unsure of who is starting catcher will be , he also has to deal with the fact that beyond CC Sabathia , his pitching staff is extraordinarily thin , and one should also bear in mind that closer , Mariano River , as good as we have known him to be , his psyche may well still be up in the air, after last season’s horrendous injury that curtailed his season .
Rivera one of the Yankees’ mainstays during their success in the latter half of the nineties , has proven himself to be one of the truly great pitchers in the franchise’s history. This could very well be, Rivera’s last season in the famed Yankee’s pinstripes, and I am sure that baseball’s all-time saves’ King , simply would like nothing better than to ride out in a “ blaze of glory” , having won a sixth World Series title with the only franchise he has ever played for . Whether or not he and his teammates can recapture the form , that made them such a dominant force within the game , from 1995 through to the early 2000’s, remains to be seen. . I would like to think that throughout much of this season , the Yankees could possibly regain that form of old . Yet , when one bears in mind the collective age and experience of Jeter , Rivera , Hiroki Kuroda , Andy Pettite , Ichiro Suzuki Alex Rodriguez and Travis Hafner . You can’t help but get the feeling , that that this team is now in the last remnants of being truly competitive , while chasing after what appear to be an elusive title that to my mind will be beyond their grasp !
In light of the allegations arising out of the Miami Times’ article, as it relates to Nelson Cruz. No formal statement has been forthcoming from team President Nolan Ryan , GM Jon Daniels or from Ron Washington , who leads the Texas Rangers’ coaching staff. And with Bud Selig and the MLB hierarchy not prepared to take tentative measures of their own to conduct any form of an investigation. It does lead me to believe, that the commissioner , is not prepared to issue a public statement, even with their being a preponderance of evidence to suggest that there is some veracity to the claims being laid out in the article .
There is a great deal of backpedaling on the part of the league hierarchy , more of than not, as to how they set about making a case that they are cleaning up the sport , when the questions are raised ____ ” as to why it is, we have seen a preponderance of players being ensnared over the last two seasons “ than were caught when the findings of the “ Mitchell Report” was leaked to the public , a number of seasons ago. Subsequently , it has been one ” mea-culpa ” after another, with the game and the league hierarchy made to look like complete imbeciles ! Personally , I find it all the more appealing when the game of baseball is brought further on its knees in subjugation , because it has never really truly sought to define itself, much less make any type of effort to clean up its act ! .
The social experiment that came about with Jackie Robinson becoming the first person of color , to be a participant as a player in Major League Baseball , while commendable . History , and baseball historians , tend to gloss over the fact that Robinson was often the subject of some vile racial epithets , not just from opposing players , managers and fans , but also in certain areas of the print media , under the pretense that his abilities were over exaggerated and that his color would be an impediment to his becoming a success in the game . Over time , the game would come to know Jackie Robinson as being extremely talented , a man of principle who served the game well as a great ambassador . And even though with his enshrinement into Baseball’s Hall of Fame , and with their being a day annually which commemorates his introduction as a player , it was still not enough to hide the fact that on the night (11th April, 1974) of Hank Aaron surpassing what was then Babe Ruth’s career and baseball’s home run record of 715 home runs . Aaron was made to feel “ like a man without a country “, as he was vilified and subjected to death threats for achieving such a feat by a number of ignorant buffoons ! Granted , in the immediate moments in which he had surpassed that mark , some fans who ran unto the diamond in Atlanta Stadium , Atlanta Georgia , swathed Hank Aaron in adulation , yet in various circles this feat was viewed as something of an atrocity , with the breaking of a sacrosanct , record which was held by a known bigot at the time .
For the first time in almost a decade, the New York Yankees , will not be the team entering the season with baseball’s highest payroll . That honor , if you view it as such , will belong to the free-wheeling and high spending Los Angeles Dodgers . They will have more than doubled the team’s payroll of last season which stood at , just over $95 million . On Opening Day , 31st March , 2013 , the Los Angeles Dodgers’ payroll will be a new MLB record of $213.245 million , far outstripping their closest rivals , the New York Yankees , by a clear $3 million . As to what this now says about the financial state and the overall economic health of baseball , I will let you be the judge of that ! Suffice to say , that the minnows at the bottom end of the food chain , will be left to fight for the scraps that will undoubtedly be left at the table . And to realize how great the disparity will be , the Oakland A’s will have the league’s smallest payroll at $60 million on Opening Day .
Courtesy of Yahoo Sports
Dodgers’ $6B-$7B TV deal will widen chasm between MLB’s rich and poor
By Jeff Passan , Yahoo Sports
Everyone knew the number would be big. Major League Baseball hates involving the legal system, and it went to court for the number. A team sold for more than $2 billion because of the number. A management group went on a drunken-sailor payroll escapade anticipating the number.
Now we know the number. Big doesn’t begin to describe it.
Dangerous does.
The Dodgers’ ownership group will have even more reason to smile with their new TV deal. (AP)Over the next 25 years, Fox is going to pay the Los Angeles Dodgers somewhere between $6 billion and $7 billion to televise its regular-season games, barring a last-minute snafu in negotiations, according to Deadline.com. That’s twice the previous record for local TV rights. That’s at least a quarter-billion dollars a year for the Dodgers and Dodgers alone. That’s maxing out at $1.73 million a game for each of the 4,050 scheduled. That’s the final tummy tuck on a body’s worth of cosmetic surgery that could happen only in Los Angeles.
Most of all, that’s the siren that baseball’s new era has arrived, one in which the sport’s best revenue-sharing intentions cannot save it from the self-cannibalizing greed that drives these TV mega-contracts – and drives a wedge between the haves and have-nots harder to extract than sword from stone.
[Also: Royals willing to part with top prospect to land starting pitcher]
When the deal closes, the Dodgers will make more money from local TV alone than 26 franchises take in from all of their revenue streams. Only the Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs do better, according to Forbes’ annual franchise valuations, though they’ll soon be joined by the Angels, Rangers and Phillies. The first two have their own $3 billion TV deals; the Phillies are set to cash in on their own that will keep them in the sport’s top stratum.
This goes well beyond the surface concerns about such deals. The justifiable anger toward regional sports networks (RSNs) and leagues for forcing the average consumer to subsidize their absurdity. The way such deals force MLB, to keep its asinine local blackouts in place. (If MLB offers a-la-carte games or allows local broadcasts on the Extra Innings package, the incentive to pay stupid prices for cable channels would wane, and the size of these contracts would atrophy.) And even the possibility of that – of a revolution against cable and satellite, and of these RSNs’ bubble bursting, the prices too big and the consumers no longer willing to support them.
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For the first time in baseball history, team payrolls for Major League Baseball (MLB) , as a cumulative sum , the figure will top $3 billion ($3,000,000,000) for all thirty teams within the league . Financial disparities, or not, the game of baseball has now hit a plateau of unprecedented heights. As to how long his perennial madness will be allowed to go carry on , as teams continue to hemorrhage red ink remains to be seen , but is clear, that something has to be and must be done </b , sooner , rather than later ! If not , then we shall sure see the death knell in a team or several teams either being contracted or being forced to declare bankruptcy , and then ceasing to operate once and for all . Bud Selig can point to the fact that revenues have increased exponentially , but what he cannot point to , is that the game does operate on a level playing field for all , in terms of financial expediency . It should be noted, that teams who have barely eked out a profit , specifically those designated as small market teams, have done so at the largesse of the league hierarchy and that of its asinine tax sharing scheme rather than anything being achieved by way of the “alleged financial acumen” being shown by the general managers , CFO’s (Chief Financial Officers) , and team owners . Personally, I am now sick and tired of hearing idiotic fans point to the likes of , Bob Nutting , David Glass and Stuart Sternberg doing all that they can , to make their teams a real success , when it reality, all that owners like that have done , is to simply look for a handout , while trying to coerce city and state governments to allow them even greater tax breaks, in order that they can operate . Never mind the fact , that due to the complacency and idiocy of the politicians at those specific levels , through their damn naïveté` , they are then left carrying the bag , when their fiscal policies show a budgetary shortfall , and the lame ass fans out there , continue to bitch and whine about their taxes and lack of infrastructure resources within their midst . You simply deserve what you get , in such instances !
It will be interesting to witness how Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly and his staff , manage not only a talented team , but also one that is filled with laden prima donnas and miscreants . Don’t be fooled by the fact that because of the team’s new ownership group led by Magic Johnson , Mark Walter and Todd S Boehly , that everything will be smooth sailing , because over the course of this upcoming season , there is bound to be moments of discontent and blame being apportioned all over this organization. Big things are expected of this ball club once Opening Day comes around . With a $213 million payroll , would you expect any-less ?
The Dodgers’ Opening Day Schedule will see them , begin a three-game home series at Dodgers Ballpark , in Los Angeles , against reigning World Series champions , the San Francisco Giants on the 1st April , 2013, and it should provide the fans of both teams a chance to gauge the possible strengths and weaknesses of both of these ball clubs in the season’s infancy.
Inasmuch , as I love the game of baseball , my biggest concerns are , how will the game continue to address the issue of steroid abuse ? And also , with the league hierarchy, now fully behind the mandatory testing for HGH (human growth hormones) , how will they deal with very first instance of a player , having tested positive ? In reality, as harsh as the penalties appear to be , as designated Bud Selig, they have not in any way proven to be enough of a deterrent, to force players from and to stop cheating , by way of using an illicit substance . Selig can continue speak with a great deal of charm and rhetoric , but at $25 million , as he is being compensated annually. He has simply been a poor executive , whose idea of being innovative , has simply been to throw fecal matter up against a wall , and then go with what sticks , as an idea of innovation ! Should we expect any better from someone who has now held that position for almost two decades ?
What to make of the Chicago Cubs , as they seek to escape another year of infamy and sheer ineptitude ? One year in , and GM Theo Epstein , is still trying make sense of what he has, by way a team roster . Spring Training , with the none roster invitees , acquired free agent veterans and what is said to be a young team at its core with one or two overly priced players should give the front office executive , manager Dale Sveum and the coaching staff , a chance to gauge how good this ball club can be .
A fourth place finish last season in the NL Central with a record 61-101 , where they managed to beat out the Houston Astros (55-107) in not finishing last within the division , is clearly enough of an indicator to let you know how bad the Cubs continue to be . This is a team that is devoid of leadership on the field , and wherein the manager , Dale Sveum , seems to be either consulting a book entitled “ Managing Baseball Teams for Dummies “ revised edition . Or the manager is simply letting his players hold sway, in making decisions as to the team’s play. And with the Astros now making the move to the AL West, are we going to be in with a chance of seeing the Chicago Cubs this season , finish once again on the bottom rung of the NL Central ladder ? These are some of the more interesting stories that we could very well see unfold for the franchise over the course of the season .
One of the more interesting stories now coming out of Wrigley Field in Chicago , is that of owner , Tom Ricketts seeking increase the club’s television revenues . After six decades of their association with broadcast partners WGN , which is in part owned by the Cubs , with the majority stake held by cable giant Comcast. It would now seem that Ricketts will either seek to divest himself of the franchise’s minority stake in WGN , while seeking out new broadcast partners within the local market or quite possibly looking for a commercial tie-in with one of the nation’s larger television broadcast concerns . Given the hefty price that will be sought , I seriously doubt that a local affiliate will tie themselves in with the Cubs , in spite of their vast local following and the fact that the franchise resides in one of nation’s larger advertising markets. If a tentative deal cannot be worked out between the Chicago Cubs and WGN’s parent company , then quite possibly for the first time in sixty years , fans of the Cubs will not be able to view or listen to the teams games within the local market .
With money now being the determining factor, that can sustain the ambitions of a professional sports’ franchise , the Chicago Cubs because of their large following are but one of the few teams within baseball that can still turn a handsome profit ($28.1 million) , even within the midst of a severe economic downturn , without ever having to seek an assist from baseball’s hierarchy. It serves the franchise well, but definitely not well enough , if the franchise seeks to compete on an equal footing competitively and economically with the likes of the Philadelphia Phillies , Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers within the NL , much less the rest of baseball.
The months of April , May and June should give us an indication as to how the Chicago Cubs may well fare. By comparison, in 2012 , entering the first week of July , the team was playing sub. 500 baseball posting a mark of 32-52 (.381) , With a projected payroll of $102 million for this season , GM Theo Epstein may well seek to forgo the team’s financial expediency and acquire a number of free agents , if the team is in a divisional or a wildcard contention during the latter part of the season, will . seek to make some bold moves . If not then , the front office will seek to jettison players superfluous to their needs , while taking a look at their top prospects within their farm system .
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Picture gallery .
With players now reporting for Spring Training , and with Opening Day beckoning , in the first week of April, what do you hope to see from the teams this season within baseball ? And also do you believe that the hierarchy still remains in the best position possible, to handle any likely incident that may well occur, as it relates to a player testing positive , for a banned substance ? Chime on this , and anything else you believe pertinent to the subject matter.
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Picture and slideshow details below .
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(1) New York Yankees’ Derek Jeter , right, and Eduardo Nunez laugh during batting practice at a workout at baseball spring training, Monday, Feb. 18, 2013, in Tampa. AP Photo/Matt Slocum ….
(2) New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi , left, and general manager Brian Cashman talk during a workout at baseball spring training, Monday, Feb. 18, 2013, in Tampa. AP Photo/Matt Slocum …
(3) FILE – In this Oct. 14, 2012, file photo, New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez reacts after striking out during the second inning of Game 2 of baseball’s American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers in New York. When the Yankees re-signed Rodriguez in December 2007 , they expected him to set home run records. Now some in the team’s management hope he never plays again, so much of the $114 million he’s still due can be covered by insurance. Not only is he injured, he’s at the center of performance-enhancing drug use allegations. AP Photo/Paul Sancya …..
(4) Milwaukee Brewers’ Ryan Braun waits to hit during baseball spring training Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013, in Phoenix. The player’s name has been linked to documents suggesting that he may well have been a recipient of PED’s from the Coral Gables’ based medical concern Biogenesis , a company founded by Anthony “Tony” Bosch. Braun’s legal counsel and agent , Nez Balelo , has stated that Ryan Braun was merely paid up endorser of a number of supplements produced and marketed by Biogenesis and in no way was his client a recipient or known conduit for the production or distribution for any illicit substances banned by MLB and its hierarchy . AP Photo/Morry Gash …
(5) Texas Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz , right, talks to pitcher Neftali Feliz (30) during a spring training baseball workout on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013, in Surprise, Ariz. Cruz’s name has been linked with Coral Gables’ based medical company Biogenesis , producers of nutritional supplements and anabolic steroids . The player has denied any wrongdoing on his part . There has been no formal announcement from within the Rangers’ organization . However , it is being widely reported that GM Jon Daniels will be consulting with manager Ron Washington and team President Nolan Ryan , should there be anything that implicates the player in this latest controversy to hit Major League Baseball. AP Photo/Charlie Riedel …
(6) Hall of Fame inductee Jackie Robinson is seen pictured here as a Brooklyn Dodger . On the 15th April , 1947 , Robinson became the first person of color , to play for a professional baseball team in Major League Baseball , and as a part of the then changing times within the social landscape of the country this solemn moment was seen as a “catalyst” for change . Albeit , that it was not universally looked upon in all areas of the social fabric of society. Each year , the date , 15th April ,1947 , is commemorated by MLB and has come to be known as ” Jackie Robinson Day” . The player’s number , #42, has been ” officially retired ” by the league hierarchy . And this year will mark the sixty-eighth anniversary of this now , historical landmark event within North American sports . AP /REUTTERS …. archives …
(7) Hank Aaron seen here as a Milwaukee Brave . Known as Hammerin’ Hank , over the course of his esteemed carer the Hall of Fame inductee , surpassed what was then the all time home runs’ career mark of 715 home runs held by Babe Ruth . Aaron would end his career with 755 home runs , 2997 rbi’s , career batting average of .305 , OBP .374, SLG .555 and an OPS of .929. . That figure would subsequently would be passed on 5th September , 2007 by Barry Bonds and the career home runs’ mark now stands at 762 home runs which is also acknowledged by statisticians the Elias Bureau , long seen as bastion of legitimacy for the game’s most hallowed feats . As to what this would now suggest about the bureau and the fact that the league hierarchy also recognizes this mark , does lead one to be believe that Elias, much like Bud Selig’s office, simply refuses to acknowledge that some of the game’s most hallowed marks are ” tainted” . And with Bonds’ career feats now coming into question, it would suggest that only not even the noblest of intentions cannot now refute , what fans clearly see as the game’s ridicule . MLB.com archives @ copyrighted material all rights reserved …
(8) Los Angeles Dodgers’ manager , Don Mattingly , left, is seen here with managing partner and co-owner , Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson . This season the Dodgers will have the highest Opening Day payroll in MLB history , with a figure of $213.455 million topping their closest rivals the New York Yankees by over $3 million . Cumulative salaries for the league’s 30 teams will exceed $3 billion for the very first time . Johnson has stated , that his mantra will be to …. “win at all costs , with money being of no object ” ! The regular season schedule for the Dodgers opens up with a three-day series against the San Francisco Giants , the reigning World Series champions . AP Photo / Tom Sharpe …
(9) Chicago Cubs’ general manager Theo Epstein , left is seen here with the team’s senior managing partner and owner , Tom Ricketts . The franchise now finds itself in an unenviable position, of having to renegotiate a television rights’ deal with WGN broadcast outlet , which has carried the team’s television broadcasts for six decades . As a minority owner in the outlet , Ricketts now has to deal with WGN’s parent company Comcast , who also just happen to be owners of national television broadcast and media conglomerate NBC Universal Media Inc . Getty Images North America / Philip Moore ….
(10) Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum, right, bumps fists with Matt Garza during a spring training baseball workout, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013, in Mesa, Ariz. The Cubs will have a tough time this upcoming season , in trying to not be the “bottom feeder ” and cellar dweller within the NL Central , having just finished above the hapless Houston Astros (55-107) last season . AP Photo/Morry Gash ….
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If at all interested do take time to participate in the above poll .
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MLB news and MLB press releases
MLB Spring Training Schedule begins 1st March , 2013
MLB Opening Day Schedule begins 1st April, 2013
2012 MLB postseason and 2012 World Series
MLB divisional series (history) and ALCS – NLCS (history)
New York Yankees news & press releases
MLB team payrolls and highest paid players
MLB team values NB: * At the times of these figures it should be noted the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2.156 billion ($2,156,000,000) had not been yet finalized . Team values in ascending order
Team profits in descending order
Team revenues
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Tophatal's Blog 
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Selig on a good and bad day !
Once and for all, can Bud Selig remove his head from out of his own ass and do something proactive ! Christ Almighty , when you have as$holes praising the game, when it is littered with cheats all over the goddam panacea of the game , you simply can no longer take baseball seriously as a pass time , much less a recreational activity !
. The league hierarchy is simply bereft of intelligence , and the owners and general managers are not that far behind .
As if anyone can now take A-Roid , Nelson Cruz and in particular Ryan Braun , seriously . Braun’s explanation is an utter joke ! Yeah , like we’re suppose to believe him , in this case , when his legal counsel states that his client’s association with Biogenesis was purely done by way of a business deal . That’s constituting a premise that you pick up a hooker to have sex not once , but twice , solely to see if you’d like it .
“Kids don’t do ” blow ” or ‘roids , unless you’re partying like a rock star and having sex like a porn star . Because that’s the way I do it ” ! Ryan Braun
Given how erratic the teams were last season in the AL East , just about anyone within the division can win that division to my mind , with the exception of the Rays , as they will surely miss the contributions of James Shields from that current pitching staff . I don’t care how good Hellickson just happens to be . You simply cannot hide behind that premise that Shields’ subtraction from the lineup makes them better . And with Loney coming into replace Pena , look for a fall-off in the Ray’s production offensively , especially in the case of RBI’s .
$213 million payroll for the Dodgers ? WTF ! Let’s see who the top earning players are on that roster , because I’m sure they’re earning some “real cheddar ” !
“I’ll also have an order of Peking duck and a side order of egg rolls ” Ned Colletti, Hyun Jin Ryu and Magic Johnson
If the Dodgers’ fail to win the NL West , much less make the playoffs , look for Magic and the rest of the managing partners to make some scathing and drastic changes from within , concerning the coaching and playing staff .
Really ! The Cubs ? Let’s look at that organization and where they have finished within the NL Central over the last six seasons . Does anyone really believe that there will be a marked improvement in that team under Dale Sveum and his staff , wherein they will be competitive enough to take on the might of the Cardinals , Brewers and the Reds ? If so , then please state how you see that happening .
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“Let’s see that nipple , once you show us your hand ” ?
This will be the only kind of hit that the Cubs’ fans will see all season at Wrigley Field if they play their cards right .
It didn’t happen in ’08 for the Cubs or in 2012 , but guess which Chicago native it did work out for . LOL,LOL,LOL ,LOL !!!!
This , has epitomized what the Cubs have been about for the better part of this past decade, and into this one, as well !
MLB standings 2012 & wildcard standings .
2012 MLB postseason & team stats in the playoffs
Player stats postseason pitching and hitting .
MLB World series champions by teams and chronologically
Tophatal ………………
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Isn’t it amazing that fans of the game of baseball can favor players using banned substances in the modern era , hold the era OK . Yet , when the likes of Mays , Aaron , Clemente and Gehrig played , it was viewed as sacrosanct . And yet , they have no wish to deem or be critical of that time span . But for the the last two decades, their anally retentive asses seemingly have enjoyed the fact that the game itself has a tarnished reputation , while coming up with the asinine suggestions that the likes of Clemens , Bonds , McGwire and others associated with steroids deserve to be in the Hall of Fame because before they started using they were great players or athletes . Let me pose this question , if the intent of these players from the start was to cheat , why excuse their prior actions , because they were allegedly clean ? Since when did breaking the rule of law become acceptable ?
Tophatal …..
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If Gehrig , Clemente , Robinson or Ted Williams were alive today , I wonder if fans would be appreciative of their skill-set when adjudged against today’s players ?
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Gehrig
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Clemente
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Robinson
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Ted Williams
Tophatal ………….
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hanspostcard
Thanks for chiming in with a vote as it’s greatly appreciated !
Tophatal ….
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The Dodgers will have a great deal to prove, coming into this season , as the presumptive favorites after the moves made over the past eight months to improve their roster and the monies committed to the team . They simply cannot afford to miss primarily winning the NL West but most of all gaining a wildcard berth for the upcoming postseason . Anything short of that, would have to be seen as a monumental failure by the front office led by Magic Johnson , Mark Walter , Todd Boehly , Stan Kasten , Peter Guber , and GM Ned Colletti .
Yet perhaps the person under the greatest pressure to succeed will be Don Mattingly and his coaching staff , as every financial resources in terms of the talent made available just happens to be now at his disposal .
LaSorda , Clark , McGwire and Mattingly
Now should anyone on the Dodgers’ staff test positive , please don’t point an accusing finger at Dodgers’ hitting coach Mark McGwire .
If guys like, Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez , Carl Crawford , Matt Kemp , Clayton Kershaw , Zach Greinke , Josh Beckett and Andre Ethier cannot produce , then something must be terribly wrong with the makeup of that team overall .
Courtesy of ESPN
Los Angeles Dodgers’ news & press releases
Dodgers’ Spring Training schedule
Tophatal ………..
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As a passionate fan of the Atlanta Braves , I definitely hope that they can do something special this season ! Manager Fredi Gonzalez and his staff should have this playing staff primed and ready for the regular season . However the fine tuning will come about, as they begin their Spring Training schedule .
The likes of Jason Heyward , Dan Uggla , BJ Upton , ands his younger sibling Justin Upton should provide the brunt of the team’s offense this season . And with Craig Kimbrell leading the charge in terms of the pitching , there is a strong possibility that this team with their experience should be one of the surprises and mainstays within the NL East , alongside the now empowered Washington Nationals . The Phillies , Mets and Marlins , I believe will have the bottom rung of the division , as they contest the NL East amongst themselves .
Atlanta Braves’ team profile
Braves’ Spring Training Schedule
Atlanta Braves’ regular season schedule
The team’s off-season moves
Braves’ team payroll
Tophatal ……
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The use of performance enhancing drugs has got to be addressed by Major League Baseball. A clear message of what is and is not permitted with severe penalties for failure to comply.
You bring up a very good point in bringing up players from an earlier era. I have heard the argument made that some players from the past were using speed, various medicines, and even alcohol was mentioned as absurd as that sounds. First of all any player attempting to use speed for an entire season would wind up either dead or in a mental hospital. Most players struggled through with little or no help from the pharmacy knowing full well that in the long run the drugs would hurt their performance not enhance it.
I think there are a lot of players,past and present, that have a great respect for the game and have done things the right way. And then there are the players who would take every opportunity to gain an advantage.
Believe me brother this Pandora’s box of performance enhancing drugs is something we need to close now before it is out of control.
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aero
Players of the past and the drugs they’re said to have been taking , in no way , were those substances as advantageous as what we’re now seeing proliferating the game today . Anyone who would even have the temerity to suggest that is a damn idiot ! And I hardly think alcohol would make you a prolific hitter or pitcher ! If anything it would clearly slow down one’s athletic prowess and reaction time .
My issue , continues to be with the weakness shown by Bud Selig and the MLB hierarchy and the clear obfuscation we’re now seeing by the commissioner and the game”s governing body ! Furthermore , when have you ever heard an owner much less general manager today come out and openly criticize any player who’s known to have cheated ?
Case in point , when Alex Rodriguez first admitted his use of steroids , why was there no outrage from anyone within the front office of the New York Yankees , especially from the likes of Hal Steinbrenner , Brian Cashman , Team President Randy Levine , or even Alan Chang , Chief Legal Counsel for the Yankees organization
Donald Fehr , former executive director of the players’ union (MLBPA) during the steroid era , he now holds a similar position with the NHLPA (players’ union) within hockey , where he and NHL Commissioner , Gary Bettman have clearly taken the path to fu#king up that sport as well !
“Viagra worked for me ! I went from a four inch erection to 4 3/4” , and I like it “ ! Michael Weiner
MLB now , is simply operating from a position of ” weakness” as the union now holds all of the cards and the power , first under Donald Fehr and now present , Executive Director, Michael Weiner . Baseball opened up a Pandoira’s Box , by simply ignoring almost two decades of malfeasance , meanwhile fans with little common sense if anything were making some of the most asinine of arguments as proponents for the use of steroids . What is is about the long term health issues and clear dangers is it that these idiots don’t seem to understand ? Yet these are the very same a$$holes who’ll no doubt bitch and whine about being overtaxed by the government . Clearly a bunch of ill educated and woefully misinformed individuals ! I wonder how many of them would be a proponent of their kids or a family member abusing steroids ?
Tophatal …………………..
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This is part of the baseball culture. it is what is. Selig is a clown anyway. Baseball is a joke anyway. Lets call it steroid ball.
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Bobby Gee
How is it , that the fans were aware that something was awry and amiss with baseball stats concerning the single season and career home run records during the era of steroids from the mid nineties to today ? The fans were suspicious , but the anally retentive idiots such as Peter Gammons , Joe Buck , Buster Olney and the MLB hierarchy continued to espouse the purity and sanctity of the game . I know that , there was “money to be made ” , but now baseball has been ” paying the price “ for the incompetence shown and the very fact that these anally retentive baseball commentators and analysts simply chose to remain silent , is a clue to the fact that they simply didn’t care ! The likes of Gammons , Buck and Olney have no goddamn credibility whatsoever ! Now as the public remains skeptical of these modern day accomplishments , only now do you actually hear the voices of these a-holes in a somewhat muted response .
Mindy MCready is dead (suicide self-inflicted gunshot wound), and she shot her dog “? That’s one shot that Roger Clemens was surely lucky to have missed, as he’d been banging that “skank” when she was a teenager .
Tophatal …
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The morons at ESPN are that morons. Mindy Mcready took permanent solution to temporary problem. My brother did the same thing. It is hell for the person who discovers the mess.
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Bobby Gee
With McCready , she simply became addicted to drugs and alcohol , and it led to the removal of her children from her custody by DCF (Dept of Children & Family Services ) of her eldest child within the state of Florida and also her second child just prior to her time of death . She had been in and out of rehab repeatedly . Her late boyfriend , also committed suicide at their home in the very same spot , where she chose to take her life . How ironic is that ?
As for the idiots who cover baseball on ESPN , Fox and TBS . I simply have no time to listen to their idiocy and also the coverage from MLB’s own broadcast outlet MLB Tv ! These guys are inane bores !
Tophatal ………
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Good thing Selig’s really cracked down on drug use in the game, huh, Al?
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Chris Humpherys (@SportsChump)
About the only thing that Selig has cracked, is when he happens to sit on the crack of his own ass ! The guy is a fu#king asshole ! And as for the likes of Buck , Gammons and Olney , what good are those a$s kissing mother-$$ckers useful for ? It’s obviously not for their intelligence or acute insight , as it relates to the ” steroid era , because they simply remained silent all along . Now , they are out there , offering their insight on that whole era , while a sniveling little sh#t like Curt Schilling makes claims that he simply cannot prove , merely to make himself a perennial a$s wipe !
Topatal ………..
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The only thing I can think of to stop this steroids mess is to give the players lifetime bans if they are caught. A-Rod and Braun shouldn’t be allowed to play in MLB again. And all I can say about the Dodgers is, with all that money spent, they had better win
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Maurice Barksdale
If baseball’s hierarchy had ” any balls” in the first place , along with the first time suspensions , if they had sought to impose a monetary fine as well, , on an incremental level starting $500,000 peaking at a maximum of $1 million dependent upon a player’s salary . That to my mind , would be enough of a deterrent and start off point , for punishment rendered for first time offenders ! If you then become a multiple offender along the lines of a Manny Ramirez , then essentially, that second fine imposed should be not less than $2 million , with a possible life time ban , after the player is placed in front an adjudicatory committee to explain their reasons behind breaking the rules .
The issue all along isn’t what Selig sees , as his so called ” tough stance on abusers “, but baseball’s continued weakness , and the fact that the union holds all of the cards and the vast majority of the power that they can wield over the MLB hierarchy , owners and front office executives / general managers ! Bud Selig is an extremely weak and intellectually challenged leader and individual ! And so too are the lame ass members of the press within the print and television media , who remained quiet throughout this era , only to then come out and question the players’ reasoning when they tried to interject themselves in the midst of this all , as some type of paragon of virtue !
They (print and television media who cover baseball ) are all a bunch of weak kneed cretins !
Tophatal …………………
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The Players will continue to find ways to cheat if they know all that will happen is a suspension. The union will fight it every step of the way, but a lifetime ban for habitual cheaters is the only thing I can see that could bring this to an end.
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Maurice
The only fail safe method in terms of testing is a urine sample in conjunction with a trichologic sample , wherein a sample of the player’s hair follicle is taken for testing . That is about as accurate as you can get , as it can pin point substances taken , as far back as 90 to 180 days prior to a test , and it’s a proven method . It has been used repeated by forensic pathologists and educators at both Oxford and Cambridge University in the UK . And it has been used here in the departments paleontology at acclaimed universities here in the US .
It also has an established use in the medical profession as well as in the area of criminal forensics but yet for some reason baseball still remains in the ” dark ages ” on this ! Much as it is with the case of the NFL and their continued failure to start testing for HGH , even having reached a ratified union agreement with the NFLPA as in 2010 , that would call for testing to begin in the 2011-12 season , which was somehow postponed by the NFL hierarchy and gainfully supported by the union(NFLPA) , even after Goodell and union executive director DeMaurice Smith said that the policy would be adopted . All four of the major professional team sports are being ran by a bunch of clueless cretins ! None more so than Stern , Selig and Goodell, who between them, are each being paid in excess of $25 million a year . Do you know what that is meant to be for , in terms of their annual salary ? I sure as hell don’t ! It’s not as if each have been productive over the past five years ! Or do you believe otherwise ?
Tophatal …………….
Tophatal
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Maurice Barksdale
Braun got off , on a technicality , because the testing laboratory that tested his secondary sample failed to follow proper protocols when storing his samples . These idiots had a technician store those samples in his home over a weekend period of 48 hours , rather than having it stored at the laboratory after some type of logistical mix-up and nightmare .
With regard to Alex Rodriguez , what you see is , what you get . He is , and always has been a conceited , lying bastard , without an ounce of integrity or moral fiber in his entire being ! The fact that he now finds himself in his present predicament with his body breaking down , has nothing to do with his playing , but more so his abuse of steroids . Anyone who believes the fact he is going under the knife concerning his hip , is due to a medical ailment brought on from his playing , is either that naive, or clearly they are not intelligent enough to figure it all out intellectually for themselves !
An idiot owner such as , Hank Steinbrenner , should be more concerned that the Yankees’ organization will still have to honor his (Rodriguez’s) contract (remaining $114 million) , while the player quite possibly misses the entire season for the New York Yankees . All of this , for a player whose production in the regular and postseason over the last five years , can be best described, as being mediocre !
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Tophatal ……..
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It’s all a joke to these guys, primarily because they are set for life regardless of whether they get caught or not. So at the end of the day it’s worth the risk to cheat for these players. All they lose is their reputations, but when you make $20 million a year, with millions more to come, a good reputation isn’t required.
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Maurice Barksdale
The players in terms of their union (MLBPA) have “spayed” the MLB hierarchy , as if they were a canine ! Hence the reason, that the hierarchy lacks any real power . Never mind the fact , that you have never heard an owner within the game come out loud and vocally criticize the players who have cheated .
New York Yankees’ CEO & owner , Hank Steinbrenner , recently said, he was concerned with the fact that Alex Rodriguez would be missing from the lineup of the Yankees quite possibly for the entire regular season . Is he (Steinbrenner) an idiot , or simply empathizing with that “cheating ba$tard “ to begin with ?
Yet , you have anally retentive idiots such as Buck , Olney and Kurkjian , allegedly well-respected commentators and journalists who cover the sport spewing their idiocy, but never haranguing MLB or the players for bringing the game into disrepute . At the same time the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) , that sanctimonious group of bastards have about as much credibility , as the Vatican would have amongst the victims of sexual abuse by the Roman Catholic priests within the dioceses around this country ! What were they doing during the ” steroid rampant era “ of the early to late nineties and throughout much of this decade ? It is not as if they were out there doing any in-depth investigating or reporting on the matter . Instead , those idiots(BBWAA) either had their heads buried in the sand or their fingers in each others’ rectal area !
The rarity , in terms of high-profiled players the game of baseball , is that not many of them have that real crossover appeal where their Q rating can garner them any real lucrative endorsement deals outside of the game . You will see guys like Derek Jeter and that’s about it , but in all honesty Albert Pujols is unlikely to land a lucrative multi-year multimillion dollar endorsement deal with Nike , Adidas , Reebok , or Tag-Heur . Ryan Howard and his Subway ads , how much do you actually believe he’ll make off that deal, even with residuals ?
Highest paid players in baseball and the game’s average salary .
This season the Los Angles Dodgers will have the game’s highest payroll amongst the league’s … thirty teams .
Now here is a link that provides you with MLB team valuations , revenues and their P & L (profits & losses ) . Anything that glaringly sticks out to you ?
Tophatal ………………. .
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Baseball players are a curious sort to me. Players of the caliber of A-Rod would be making the same amount of money without using steroids, and yet they still feel the need to do so. I don’t get it.
I looked at the MLB team valuations, and I see the Dodgers had a 75% value increase, which is the highest in the league. Is that what you are refering to?
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Maurice Barksdale
Not only, do I question the intelligence of Bud Selig but I also question the intelligence of the entire current baseball playing fraternity ! When have you have ever heard the likes of Jeter , Pujols or Mariano Rivera “rip” any of the players or shall we say professed steroid abusers and cheaters who’ve continually ruined the image of the game ? Yet these sanctimonious a-holes such as Buster Olney , Orel Hershiser , Peter Gammons or Tim Kurkjian cannot or choose not to be openly critical of these players , and what they represent . I think it all comes down to the fact that as long as MLB are their paymasters of the broadcast networks when it comes to coverage of their sport . It all boils down ………….. ” do as I say or else ” !
Joe Morgan with his broadcast Emmy
The lone voices in the wilderness have been Joe Morgan and Hank Aaron , as those who disfavor the cheaters and steroid abusers .
😉
Hank Aaron
Tophatal ……….
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Maurice Barksdale
The Dodgers’ front office led by Magic Johnson , Mark Walter , Todd Boehly , Peter Guber and Stan Kasten are pretty canny businessmen in their own right as well having a background in the world of sports . Where else could you have a professional sport’s franchise simply go out and then negotiate a deal that will net them almost $7 billion over the next two decades ?
It will be interesting to see how the Dodgers contend with the likes of the San Francisco Giants , Washington Nationals , Atlanta Braves and St Louis Cardinals this upcoming season .
For the money spent on that team for this season , they had better be read to meet whatever challenges are ahead of them .
Tophatal ……
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Maurice Barksdale
When you have that type of earning power , athletes such this , believe themselves to be impervious to the law and think that they can literally get away with anything . Now consider how they act when that moment of truth sets in and they have to issue that apology as an act of contrition .
Tophatal …………………..
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Maurice Barksdale
When the Los Angeles Dodgers can choose to spend that sort of money ($213 million) right off the bat on players’ salaries , when you have the likes of Oakland A’s struggling to see where their next $500,000 can be spent , it simply lets you know how out of what whack the whole financial landscape just happens to be , when it comes parity , because there is none when it comes to baseball . Don’t look at the number of different teams that have won the World Series , but more so , the make up of the ball-clubs, that have been the participants on the postseason from the divisional rounds through to the championship series and world championship , itself. That if anything gives you an overall clearer picture than what many of these proponents of parity are trying to paint, in making a case for their rather mediocre argument .
😉
Ahryan Astin , left , and Britney Amber
Tophatal …………….
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Wow…the pictures are great, and the old ball players shots aren’t bad either! Lots of talk about that PEDs thing in Miami. I’m a bit more of an NFL-college football fan, but baseball is next on my list. Who do you like in the MLB races this year? “Skip”
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food4thesoul93/Skip
Thanks for chiming in with a comment as it is greatly appreciated ! Hopefully , you will be a regular visitor to the site .
Yeah , the state of Florida has now become the epicenter for the steroids’ scandal in more ways than one. At the same time we have a governor in Rick Scott and a state Attorney General , in , Pam Bondi , who are literally clueless, in how to go after and prosecute the manufacturers and distributors of Oxycontin , meth-amphetamines , and a whole slew illicit narcotics and drug paraphernalia in general . And when it is left to the US Justice Dept , if they haven’t botched the investigation , we may get an indictment and an actual guilty verdict , with the felon actually going to jail and serving some time .
The biggest joke at present here within the state , is the mess now created by the NCAA Infractions’ Committee and their investigation of the Miami Hurricanes’ football program , and its violation of NCAA rules on a wide variety of issues . It has become an embarrassment for the university , its president , Donna Shalala , AD Shawn Eichorst and head football coach , Al Golden , who has been implicated in the mess as well .
I’m a diehard Atlanta Braves’ fan , and I hope to see them challenge the Washington Nationals for the NL East supremacy this upcoming season . The team as it now stands, is stacked with power on offense and the pitching should be amongst the best in the NL this year .
Manager , Fredi Gonzalez and his staff should have this team ready to play on Opening Day and over the course of the Braves’ schedule .
The Braves open up their regular season schedule with an opening day game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Fulton County Stadium/Turner Field , in Atlanta, Georgia , on the 1st April , 2013.
Tophatal ……….
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Wow…is there any major college football program NOT under investigation by the NCAA? I guess the steaks are very high, and they want that big payday in the NFL draft.
Hey the Braves are looking better…especially with that new outfield. Is it Bourn, and the two Upton Bros.? They made a good run last year. Sorry to see Chipper retired…
Take care, Al. “Skip”
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food4thesoul93/Skip
The NCAA has been the conduit for this mess and not the programs as a whole . As the governing body for collegiate athletics , it has been their greed , that has fed the beast ” known as collegiate sports” , and with that has come the boosters , the corruption and the cheating scandals . And NCAA President Mark Emmert is simply afraid to admit that fact !
He can spell the ” word ” ….. credibility , but does he know what it means ? He has none !
Mark Emmert
Courtesy of USA Today
The NCAA’ s Infractions Committee and their investigators have botched the investigation of the Canes’ program , with their sheer incompetence . Falsifying records , and in some cases having lost evidence they sought to manufacture their own .
The inset article , in part , bears this out .
Tophatal ………..
Tophatal ……….
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food4thesoul93
Just aiming to have some fun within this domain offering up some enticing and at times insightful content . And the pics of hot chics’ should not go amiss either !
I’m sure if the MLB hierarchy baseball were able to get steroids out of baseball and add something a bit more salacious it would be OK for the vast majority of fans , with the exception of the moms and kids ! Then again perhaps not .
Tophatal ……………..
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Very nice picture, Al! But mine’s a “G” site, so no offense, but I’ll have to drop this one…”Skip”
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Having lost future Hall of Fame inductee Chipper Jones , I was glad to that the Braves’ front office went out and added siblings BJ and Justin Upton to the lineup . That team will have potency on offense and in terms of defense , that duo are amongst the very best outfielders and infielders that the game has to offer at this moment in time .
😉
BJ and Justin Upton .
Tophatal ……………..
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Well Spring Training has kicked off with a slew of games and the results are what they are .
The Atlanta Braves got off to a rocky start with an 8-3 loss to the New York Yankees in the second game of their Spring Training schedule .
Sunday’s games
Scheduled games for Monday 25th February 2013
MLB Standings preseason (Spring Training )
🙂
She loves baseball
And Yankees’ fans are equally appreciative
You see how the Phillies’ fans get down
And now we know why the Phillies’ failed so miserably last season .
Tophtal ………..
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