Results tagged ‘ espn ’
Pedro Gomez and Steroids, Round Two
From Chip Buck @ Fire Brand of the A.L.:
In case you were wondering, the debate over performance enhancing drugs, the Hall of Fame, and the steroid era’s place in history is still very much alive.
While on Twitter (where else?) on Tuesday afternoon, I came upon a seemingly innocuous tweet from ESPN‘s Pedro Gomez. Someone asked Gomez if he would consider voting home run king Barry Bonds into the Hall of Fame.
Given Gomez’s expertise with regards to Bonds, I was rather curious to how he’d respond. Not surprisingly, Gomez shared that he wouldn’t vote for any steroid users. While I disagreed with his opinion, I had no problem with it.
Provided he applied this axiom consistently across the board, I felt it was a perfectly valid opinion. To clear up any questions in my mind, I asked what he meant by “users.” Here’s the dialogue that ensued.
Pedro Gomez – Won’t vote for any “users” “
@Hunt1Brian:@pedrogomezESPN One more question, I know U followed Bonds career closely, would you vote him HOF.”Me - Are we talking suspected users or those we have proof used steroids (i.e. a very small number of people)
Pedro Gomez - Proof for several of them. Otherwise, I’ll trust my eyes.
Me - So Im assuming you can tell which people are gay completely based on appearance as well. Interesting.
Me - You can’t spot a steroid user with 100% certainty anymore than u can spot a date rapist, pedophile, or serial killer.
Pedro Gomez - Really, that’s your comeback?
Me - I think its a valid comparison. Not saying certain guys didnt use, but Im not going to make circumstantial assumptions.
Me - Did anyone think Ryan Franklin or Manny Alexander did steroids? No, but they were nailed with it.
Pedro Gomez - Done with you.
I am Jack’s total lack of surprise. Pedro Gomez, a member of the mainstream media, gets asked pointed, rational questions about his flawed methodology in determining the steroid users from the non-users; gets angry; mocks the one questioning him; and decides to take his ball and go home. Classy.
Ever noticed how Pedro Gomez hasn’t denied that he is a two-bit hack who is completely unworthy of the job that he has? #Ijusttrustmyeyes
On Virginia Tech anniversary, Granderson remembers a fan
R.I.P. Brian.
I am not a huge fan of “recycling” older pieces, but this one hit close to home as both a Yankees fan & a resident of Virginia.
Originally posted July 26, 2011
Curtis Granderson was traded to the New York Yankees in the winter of 2009.
As a Yankees fan I must say that move by GM Brian Cashman made the Bronx Bombers much, much better.
Not only on the field, but off it as well.
Many Detroit Tigers fans undoubtedly agree and I think to most he’ll always be a Tiger.
And recently on ESPN’s “E:60,” Granderson showed that a big part of his heart is still with one Tigers fan, in particular.
Some might remember that the Tigers fan community suffered a tragic loss in April of 2007, when graduate student Brian Bluhm was among those killed in the shootings at Virginia Tech. Brian was a huge Tigers fan, and an active member of the communities at The Detroit Tigers Weblog and the Motown Sports forums.
Granderson was one of Brian’s favorite players, and he corresponded with the Tigers center fielder through MySpace and e-mails to his PR representative, John Fuller. Obviously, that helped form a bond that continues to this day, as Granderson has maintained a relationship with the Bluhm family in the years since Brian’s passing.
“It’s amazing how someone I never met,” Granderson said, “can be that impactful.”
Here is plenty more you can read about Brian, including how highly he was regarded by his fellow fans and the media covering the Tigers.
ESPN MLB pre-season picks: Hope they do better than last year.
ESPN released its annual pre-season MLB picks today and the first thing that jumps out at ya is there are 49 of ‘em. Forty-nine. Overkill me thinks.
The second thing that comes to mind is just how God-awful they did last year, as I chronicled right HERE.
The single craziest pick in the 2011 bunch belonged to Steve Berthiaume, as he somehow saw fit to select the Houston Disastros Astros to win the N.L. Central division. They went on to lose 106 games and finish a mere 40 games out of first.
When told he “had some “splainin’ to do” he offered this:”I had written a piece for this website in September of 2010 and felt obligated to remain consistent six months later despite the realization that a moment of bold optimism had deteriorated into a sinking ship. I naively thought, “Well what the heck, it’s just a harmless predictions list anyway, right?” BOOM!!!! ”
But the single worst collection of picks belonged to one David Schoenfield, of “the Sweet Spot” fame.
This is what Mr. Schoenfield came up with last spring (with my commentary in red):
AL East: Red Sox (Yeah, um, guess not. Not bad choice, but seriously? EVERY SINGLE ONE of you chose them?)
AL Central: White Sox (Not my first choice, but division was wide open. I still would have chosen Detroit over them any day of the week)
AL West: Rangers (You got one right! Yay you!)
AL Wild Card: A’s (Ok, step away from the crack pipe)
AL Champion: Red Sox (El oh el…maybe next year.)
NL East: Braves (They were NEVER better than Phillies in any phase of the game)
NL Central: Reds (Yeah, they underachieved. But they were luckiest team in baseball for 40 games last year so they were due for a big fall off)
NL West: Rockies (You couldn’t name one guy in their rotation at that time, could you?)
NL Wild Card: Giants (Cody Ross only had one soul to sell, buddy)
NL Champion: Braves (Did you wake up and think this was the mid-to-late 90′s?)
For those of you keeping score at home that is one out of eight playoff teams correctly chosen. One. Uno. Oh, did I mention that he had BOTH the Phillies and the Yankees completely missing the playoffs?
That is the kind of crazy ass, batshit nuts stuff we saw last year so God only knows what this new batch has in it. So give it a read, see what they came up with this year. I have a feeling I will be revisiting these come September.
And yes, I will be posting my picks later this evening =P
