The NFL Mitchell Report

With Major League Baseball just minutes away from being dealt the blow that will be the Mitchell Report, where players both good and bad are about to be called out for their 'enjoyment' of steroids, I thought today would be a good day to bust out the 'what would the NFL Mitchell Report' look like.

Here's a list of guys who have some sort of connection to steroids in the NFL since 2000 or so:
Bill Romanowski*
Barret Robbins*
Dana Stubblefield*
Chris Cooper*
Jeff Mitchell
Todd Sauerbrun
Todd Steussie
John Milem
Henry Taylor
Dave Fiore
Wesley Walls
Kevin Donnalley
Ray Edwards*
Obafemi Ayanbadejo*
Shawne Merriman*
Rodney Harrison
Ryan Tucker*
David Boston*
Marcus Stroud *

*Tested positive for steroids or THG; here's a list of banned substances by the NFL.

But here's the thing with NFL suspensions - they don't always say if a player was suspended for steroid use. For example, Shaun Rogers was suspended last year, but we don't know for what. Travis Henry is another guy who may have violated the NFL's policy for something other than pot.

Anyway, getting back to what would the NFL Mitchell Report look like, let me make this quick - if there actually was a NFL Mitchell Report, we wouldn't be talking who was on the list, we'd be talking who WAS NOT on the list. See, as bad as baseball's steroid problem is (or was) the NFL's problem is much, much worse.

The problem in baseball is an obvious issue. But in the NFL, a game that we as a viewing public watch differently than baseball, may even be bigger. I don't know about anyone else, but if steroids are so useful in baseball, a game where strength and speed isn't as necessary as
in football, then wouldn't it make more sense for NFL players to be doing the juice? In a game where being bigger and stronger than the other guy is much more beneficial then well... I'll let you connect the dots. But I believe that most players in the NFL are probably using steroids, after all I don't know any 6'1", 250 pound men who can run 40 meters in less than 6 seconds let along 5 seconds.

I will say, that we follow and watch the NFL much differently than baseball. Baseball is the romantic, artful, intellectual American game. While we watch football in a much different manner - we gamble on football, it's a violent game, the players strap on armor to go into 'battle' to 'fight' the other team. It's a tactical game, where strategic takes place to prepare the team for the single battle once a week. Football is a battle, it's a war. And we watch it that way, so if the other players are willing to destroy their bodies, then that's okay by us - hypocritically of course.

George Carlin puts it best:

Vick Would Have Been Better Off...

Lester Munson nicely summed up what I’ve been feeling and attempting to get across over the past few days. He was on WSCR on Saturday around 2:00pm central and said something along the lines of this:
Mike Vick would have been better off beating his girlfriend, in front of the Georgia Dome, fifteen minutes before kickoff.

It’s a sad state of affairs if that is the case in this country. It takes a sick man to do what Vick did to those dogs. But where are the protesters whenever Jason Kidd takes the court? Or Brett Myers takes the mound? Or when ever Leonard Little steps onto the football field?

Just look at how we view Pacman Jones and Vick differently during their legal issues. Vick is the second coming of the Devil. Pacman borders on being a ‘thug’, jerk, and joke. Pacman (or his people) nearly killed a man.

While I can’t justify either Vick or Pacman’s actions; in my eyes I have no sympathy for Pacman (or Myers or Kidd or Little for that matter). Those would be the ones who I would protest. They are the ones who upset me.

Vick:Dogs::Favre:Deer

Dear Blogs,

Excuse me while I dig up some information about Brett Favre, everyone’s favorite quarterback, hunting deer. Maybe I can find a picture. Here are a few quotes. How nice. Brett Favre is a big fan of killing deer:

PK: What are you hunting?

Favre: Deer.

Meanwhile, Mike Vick is getting raked over the coals for training dogs how to fight and killing dogs.

Killing dogs isn’t cool, don’t get us wrong. But killing deer doesn’t seem very cool either. Anyone honestly believe that Favre brings the deer back and use all of the deer for daily household needs?

We also fully understand that killing dogs is against the law. And for that Vick should be prosecuted. No argument there.

But how about you bloggers get off your ‘holier than-thou’ horse and think long and hard about those hunting laws. Think about how minks are raised in small, cages for the single purpose of making fur coats. Think about that hamburger, hot dog, steak, chicken, or ham sandwich next time it enters your mouth. Think about that veal that you had (or have always wanted to have) and how that’s raised.

We’re no PETA members. We enjoy our hamburgers and hot dogs. And we understand the difference between a deer and a dog (a domesticated animal). But we also realize that reason why bloggers are going off on Vick is because like many people, they are probably dog owners. And they love their dogs. And to see someone treat dogs that way is a cold, harsh reflection on something happening to their dog. How could someone treat dogs as if they were ants or spider?

Mike Vick may have killed dogs. That’s not cool. But athletes who harm other humans? We detest them much more than Michael Vick.

But where were you when Brett Meyers beat his wife last year? And have you blogged against Leonard Little, let alone cheer for him, after he killed someone because he was driving drunk? If anyone should be kicked out of the NFL, it's Little. And least us forget Pacman Jones, who appears to have a connection to a shooting which left a man paralyzed. Yet the blogging world treats Pacman as as if he's the punchline.

All these crimes, in our eyes, are much more damning and actually deserve our detest. No hurting dogs isn't cool. But harming, or killing, humans is much, much worse.

If Vick had been involved in cockfights, would anyone care? I mean, that's illegal too.

As for Favre, he's just an example. And he didn't break the law, which Vick may have done. No, we don't think less of Favre because he likes to shoot deer. We don't think it's cool, but let's all realize that if we're going to go all nuts about athletes killing animals, where is the Favre outrage?

The Wire Is Robbed

We have hinted here and other places that The Wire is the greatest show on TV and in TV history. True, we haven't seen every show ever made, but we'd put it up against anything and everything ever produced.

So when we saw that it wasn't nominated for any Emmy's, again, today we weren't all that surprised. I just assumed that the Emmy committee decided not to allow The Wire in the competition because they would win everything. Best song, best show, best acting, best writing, best everything... the show is simply amazing. So, we figure that the Emmy's will be shown this year with a banner on the bottom of your TV saying something like "The Emmy committee decided that The Wire was not eligible for this year awards because it is simply too good to compare to anything else on TV over the last year. Therefore the awards you see being awarded are for second best. Thanks for watching."

I mean the only reason The Wire wasn't nominated for anything was because it would win everything right? That's the only possible explanation.

Over the last three seasons we have watched a decent amount TV - and nothing, I mean nothing, comes close to The Wire. And weren't not here saying that other shows aren't good. Lost is good to great. Seasons 4 and 5 of 24 were good. The Gilmore Girls featured some of the best writing and acting on TV (not so much this year). By all accounts Friday Night Lights and Heroes are very good. And least I forget The Sopranos, probably the greatest drama on TV that most people have seen.

But The Wire blows all these shows out of the water. Maybe it's too smart. Maybe it is too gritty, too realistic. Maybe it focuses on those areas of urban life that we all pretend don't exist. Maybe it has too many lairs. Maybe the characters are too flawed and too interesting. Maybe the show is too deep. Maybe it is forgotten because it doesn't take place in New York City or a cute or down-to-Earth rural town. Maybe it is just too good. [I would hate to think that it's too black, but it's wroth bringing up.]

I honestly don't get it. It's a shame. The best show on TV, a show that will literally forget that the rest of the world exists, is forgotten by the so called critics.

I guess the Emmy's are turning into the Grammy's. That's too bad.

What a joke - Boston Legal and Grey's Anatomy got nominations for best drama. We're not fans of either and find it hard to see the 'greatness' of those two shows. While Lost had one of the most uneven seasons for a TV show, well ever, it should have received a nod over one of those two (The Wire being the other if you couldn't guess). Many critics think that Friday Night Lights was robbed, we just haven't seen it to say.

But as far as Lost goes... it wasn't as good as it's first season. And let's not forget that despite its strong finish, the first half of the season was pretty weak. Lost did get a nom for writing... so I don't feel half as bad for it as, say, The Wire.

I can't see how Two and a half Men or Entourage are better than My Name is Earl, but apparently they are. And I should say, Earl isn't even that 'great' of a show. But it's enjoyable, makes us laugh, and worthy of leading off on Thursday nights. And can everyone end their crush on Entourage? It isn't that good of a show and most episodes lack any sort of meaningful conflict. It isn't all that funny. The acting is sub-par - Jeremy Piven is good because everyone else isn't so good. He's like a AAAA ballplayer playing rookie ball on that show. And finally it pretty much perfectly sums up everything that is wrong with this country right now: rich white people can have fun, sex, do drugs, drink too much, take on little to no responsibility, and not have pay the consequences of their actions. There is a reason why frat boys love the show - because it's their life. So why do we glorify this culture and life - which appears to be so empty and shallow once you start to analyze it?

Big Day For Hypocrites

I know, I know... all anyone seems to care about is Paris Hilton and how the iPhone is going to save their life. I know. And honestly, maybe Paris Hilton is just a front used by the White House to distract the country, sorry, Western World, from the bullshit they're doing. But you know why people probably care more about Paris than the law breakin' killers in the White House? Because Paris is actually less pathetic than these pukes.

First off, apparently diversity is now a bad thing. This goes against pretty much everything one will learn in school, every study ever done, and common sense human capital theory. Now I won't go as far as to think that this will open the door to segregation, but it doesn't solve the major people in America - Race. The only way for us to ever even come close to overcoming the racial problem is by experience. Most whites have little to no contact with blacks or Latins. And to a certain extent this is also true for blacks and Latins. If we have a better understanding of each other, this cuts down on certain stereotypes, myths, and falsehoods that we hold in our head. Schools are, and will always be, an easy way to gain experience with people from different races. Segregation occurs naturally as it is, and there is no reason for government to promote it.

As for the Court's other decisions... the pan on price floors will require a bit more reading and study, so I won't make any knee jerk decisions about that ruling. But the other ruling ? Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Scalia's puppet Thomas - all Catholic - can all go fuck themselves for all I care. The fucking hypocrites, who can't wait to over turn Roe v Wade, had a chance to vote pro-life in the case of a mentally ill criminal. These hypocrites just lost any sort of legitimacy in my eyes. Look if you're Catholic, if you're pro-life as it's clear that all four most likely are, then you have to be consistent. You can't vote to uphold partial birth abortion, then turn around an vote in favor of capital punishment. You can't. I'm sorry. But these fucktardsapparently believe that hypocrisy is cool. And hey, they aren't the only ones in DC that get off on being hypocritical.

Of course, the Kings of Hypocrites, aka the White House was busy today. These jagoffs, who are so weak that they can't even get their party together to get the Immigration Bill though the Senate, decided that they're above the law... again (okay maybe not above the law by invoking executive privilege, but it reeks of cover up!) I have a simple, effective, and just thing to say to them: Fuck off. You fired the nine federal prosecutors and it probably came from ahigh and you guys got caught. Now face the music. Stop stonewalling. Stop attempting to be above the law.

I'm sick of these guys. I'm sick of the murder they allow, the torture they promote, the hypocrisy they indulge in, the spying, the fear they spread, and their minor attempts to take away our civil freedoms. I'd just like justice, for once, to rule the day while these guys are in power. I know, no one likes them besides the 30% of America who would kill for a dictator, and in that respect they got what they deserved. And yeah, they're probably the weakest Presidency since, shit, Ford? LBJ in the summer of '68? If not those two then Hoover. But I just want it to end.

And what really is scary, is that they've got four wack jobs on the Court that will support and approve all their decisions. It's almost as if they hate the democracy, freedom, and liberty they claim they are spreading.

Great job.

The School Shooting No One Is Talking About

Last week, a student from a high school open fired on a CTA bus killing one student and injuring four other students. Yet outside of Chicago, this hasn't seen much coverage.

I haven't seen anything in the national media on this shooting, nothing in the LA Times, NY Times, on the news, or CNN/MSNBC. Maybe it's because it didn't take place in a school or maybe it's because everyone involved in this tragedy was black. Who knows. But the double standard exists.

Maybe it doesn't sell papers, and that's why this tragedy isn't receiving the same amount of coverage. Or maybe it wasn't 'brutal' enough. Who knows. But it's a sad reflection of America no matter what. Since the shooting didn't take place in a school it's some how not news worthy? Or is there a racial element to this lack of coverage? Either way, it's a pretty sad situation.