Author: callmetrl

I joined twitter the other day. Not really sure why. I think it’s because Howard Stern said he was joining. I wish there was a much more involved reason for signing up, but I’m pretty sure that’s about it. As I was in the process of signing up, I liked the idea of twitter – I could send tweets to famous people and they would read them and find them witty, funny and charming. Then we would become the best of friends.

Then I made the mistake of joining twitter. Yes, I have responded to tweets of famous people. I crafted witty, funny and charming tweets and sent them to said famous people. To this date, I have not received one single response from any of them. Ok, ego bruised.

I didn’t know how people got followers on twitter, but I soon realized that by sending tweets to famous people, others see the tweets and realize how witty, funny and charming they are, and then follow you. In the first couple days, I picked up 11 followers! How exciting.

I now have four.

Apparently, twitterers follow and unfollow about as often as Lindsay Lohan goes in and out of rehab.

See? Witty, funny and charming.

So not only am I not best friends with any famous people, I also am losing followers faster than Mubarak. I mean, 11 followers isn’t even a lot to begin with, but now I have four?! I’ll admit, that stings a little.

But I am American, so I will not give up. I will still send tweets, I will still imagine that a famous person will see how witty, funny and charming I am, and I will still believe that at some point we will become the best of friends.

And if that doesn’t work out, there’s always Facebook.

It must be really difficult to be a dog when it snows. My dog has the hardest time finding a place to do his business. He is used to grass and bushes and trees, but when it snows, all he has is white and cold. He gets very confused, going to places he usually uses, pauses like he’s going to handle his business, looks up at me accusingly, like I did something to cause this white cold stuff, then keeps going to try and find a spot.

I feel a little guilty finding the whole ordeal hilarious.

He also is very sensitive after a haircut, especially in the caboosal area. Our theory is that once the hair is gone from that area, he feels wind hitting it, he feels cold hitting it, and it really bothers him. He has to do the butt-wipe walk constantly to try and make himself feel better.

I feel a little guilty finding the whole ordeal hilarious.

My dog has a great life. He is well taken care of and very loved. He is treated like a member of the family, which he is. So when something happens that makes me laugh, I feel a little guilty finding the whole ordeal hilarious, but then I think screw him, he is better taken care of than I am.

It bothers me to no end when people do not clean snow off their cars. I actually saw a car, fully covered by snow, driven by a man who looked to be in his 40s, and he did not seem embarrassed at all to show what a lazy douche he was. That infuriated me. I think that if I have to clean off my car, everyone has to clean theirs. Besides that, everyone does have to do it, because it’s the damn law! It is a pain in the ass to clean off the cars, I fully understand that, probably more than many people because I actually clean off my car.

As I was throwing a ball to my dog, I was thinking about how happy he was to run after said ball, retrieve it and run back to me. For a minute I thought, man, this is why we are the superior race, because we don’t do things like that. Then I thought, wait a minute, how is what my dog is doing any different from me throwing a football with my dad, running out for a pass and then throwing or running the ball right back to him? Then I thought of my dog’s life, how he hangs out all day, sleeps when and where he wants, gets me to take him out no matter what the weather, and then I thought, damn, who’s the superior in this situation?

West Wing is a tremendous show. As is Sports Night. Sports Night is still my favorite show of all-time. The ABC executives who thought that a laugh track was needed for SN obviously didn’t understand Aaron Sorkin and his writing style. He doesn’t need a laugh track. With all the sitcoms now that do not use laugh tracks (The Office, Community, Modern Family, etc.), I wonder if we can trace that back to Aaron Sorkin and Sports Night. As good as the show was, it became much better when the laugh track disappeared. West Wing also has hilarious moments, lines that make me laugh out loud, and it certainly didn’t need a laugh track. I think a) American people are smart enough to know when they are supposed to laugh, and 2) isn’t the laugh track kind of un-American, telling us we have to laugh at this particular moment? I think Tea Partiers are inherently against the laugh track. They are big fans of “I’ll do it because I want to, not because you tell me to.”

The King’s Speech is an amazing movie. A must-see. I think it should win every Oscar it was nominated for. Of course, I haven’t seen any of the other nominees, but that’s besides the point. Go see The King’s Speech. You won’t be disappointed. No matter what Robin Quivers says.

I was never a Rick Sanchez fan. To be honest though, I never watched his show. To be even more honest, I have never watched CNN. Although I visit its website pretty much daily. The only Rich Sanchez video I ever watched was through The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I was never impressed with the clips that I saw, but in Sanchez’s defense, none of the clips from TDS painted him in a favorable light.

Although Sanchez seemed like a bit of a tool, he didn’t seem like a total moron. That is, until he went on SIRIUS-XM Radio to do a show with Pete Dominick. There, he called Stewart a “bigot,” said the people running CNN were just like Stewart and basically said that Jewish people were not an oppressed minority.

First things first – has no one learned anything from Mel Gibson? If you work in Hollywood/the Media, and you truly believe that Jewish people run Hollywood/the Media, why would you make unflattering remarks about Jewish people, i.e. your bosses? Gibson did that, and more, and basically ruined his career. Sanchez, it seems, has traveled in Mad Max’s footsteps.

But the most interesting part of Sanchez’s comments was when he proclaimed: “elite, Northeastern liberals…deep down, when they look at a guy like me, they see a guy automatically who belongs in the second tier, and not the top tier.”

Sanchez’s dislike of Jewish-Northeastern-Liberals-Who-Run-CNN stems from the fact that he can’t believe that someone doesn’t like him. He looks at Jon Stewart making fun of him on TDS, and he immediately assumes it’s because he’s Hispanic. He sees his low ratings (admittedly I have no idea what his ratings were, but since I never watched him, I’m going to assume they were low – my blog, my rules), and he thinks that people are not watching him because he’s Hispanic. His bosses at CNN probably never gave him the backing he wanted because in his mind, you guessed it, he’s Hispanic.

I was always a LeBron James fan. Not a die-hard fan, pulling for the Cavaliers just because he was on the team, but he always seemed likeable. He made funny commercials and he was an amazing player. I liked that he racked up assists even while scoring 20+ a game. So when I heard that he was going to have a show on ESPN where he was “interviewed” by Jim Gray, I, like many others, simply assumed he was signing with Cleveland again. Because, you know, who would stab a team in the back on national tv like that?

Apparently LeBron James would. Listen, I have no beef with him signing with the Heat. If he wants to play with two of his good friends, more power to them all. Does it take away a bit from thinking of LeBron as an Alpha-player? Of course. Even if the Heat win, it will be Dwyane Wade’s team. When Kobe felt that the Lakers weren’t doing enough to put a winning team around him, he told them get something going or trade me. The Lakers, thanks to Grizzlies’ GM Chris Wallace, picked up Pau Gasol and the rest was history. Kobe was happy, he stuck around and got his championships.

In LeBron’s case, he never made that ultimatum. The Cavs did what they thought was best to make a Championship team around him, bringing in Mo Williams, Shaq, Anthony Parker, Antwan Jamison, etc. Although it didn’t work out, you could see the team was doing everything it could to make LeBron happy.

Then we came to “The Decision.” The decision to do “The Decision” was possibly one of the worst decisions in the history of decision making. Whoever was advising LeBron, Maverick Carter or whoever, did not seem to realize that going with another team after an hour long “interview” was akin to breaking up with your girlfriend on national tv. Perhaps LeBron and his advisors have never had to break up with someone, or had someone break up with them. Regardless, there is a certain method to how an athlete should leave a team. You have a press conference, you say very nice things about the former team, how much you loved playing in the city of former team, how hard the decision was to leave former team, but in the end this was best for you and your family. Blah Blah Blah. It’s the “it’s not you, it’s me” speech for athletes.

LeBron didn’t do that. LeBron decided to break up with Cleveland on national tv. He broke up with Cleveland for a younger, hotter team. It was a debacle. LeBron and his advisors probably knew that Cleveland fans would be upset, but they probably didn’t take into account that all the other fans would be upset. Howard Stern can say what he wants about how LeBron didn’t owe Cleveland anything, but Stern doesn’t get it. Cleveland fans were angry he left, certainly, but they were more angry as to how he left. The rest of the fans were just angry with how he left. It was a douche-move.

So how does this apply to the Rick Sanchez situation? Recently, LeBron and Maverick Carter went on CNN. Not Rick Sanchez’s show. That might have brought Sanchez ratings. Soledad O’Brien asked LeBron if race played a role in people’s reaction to “The Decision.” Lebron said, “I think so at times. It’s always, you know, a factor.” ESPN’s J.A. Adande wrote a column about LeBron and race and basically said that because the NBA had predominantly black players on teams owned by predominantly white owners, race would be a factor.

Here is where Sanchez, LeBron and Adande all fall into the same trap. Race is not always a factor. Just because there are different races involved in any given situation does not necessarily mean race was a factor. Just because most of the players are black and most of the owners are white doesn’t mean race is a factor. All of the WNBA players are women and most of the WNBA owners are men – does that mean sexism is always a factor? Of course not. Jon Stewart and the writers of TDS criticized and poked fun of Rick Sanchez because they were not impressed with the work he did. His race had nothing to do with it. LeBron was criticized and poked fun of because his decision to do “The Decision” was a horrible decision and he came across like a jerk.

Both situations remind me of the banter between Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson in Die Hard: With A Vengance. Willis’ John McClane accuses Jackson’s Zeus of not liking him because he’s white. Zeus retorts, “I don’t like you because you’re gonna get me killed.”

Sanchez, James and Adande are not going to get us killed. But they don’t seem to grasp the idea that it’s ok to not like someone regardless of what race they are, and that is killing us.

If there was a television show with an Australian surrounded by Americans, would the world end? Would our minds be blown? That must be the case, because everytime an Australian actor does an American television show, that actor uses an American accent.

Would it really change the story if Simon Baker was Australian, in any of the many TV shows he has been in, including the phenomenal The Mentalist?

What if Alex O’Loughlin was an Australian working with Hawaiian police in Hawaii in Hawaii-50? Would we turn away from the show? Do we hate Australians? I didn’t get that memo.

While we’re on the subject, why is CBS so obsessed with Alex O’Loughlin? I watched Hawaii-50, and I enjoyed it. I will continue to watch it. But I don’t really see what is so great about Alex O’Loughlin. Sure, I can admit he’s a good looking guy, but the show is good primarily because of Scott Caan. Caan is absolutely hilarious – steals every scene. O’Loughlin is ok, but you could replace him with any number of actors and the show would be the same. Take away Caan, and the show is not nearly as good.

Plus, the only reason I wanted to watch the show in the first place was because of Daniel Dae Kim. I wonder when Sun is going to re-join him on the island?

I’m getting sidetracked – the point is, what would be the problem with having an Australian actor use an Australian accent while in an American television show? Does Hollywood believe that there are no Australians in America, working and living while still talking about putting their shrimps on the barbi? I’ll admit, I don’t hear the Australian accent every day, but I would assume there are some Aussies here in the States.

I just think there is a major anti-Australian attidude in Hollywood, and it has to end. The only time Hugh Jackman ever was able to use his real accent was when he was in the movie Australia. But fellow Aussie Nicole Kidman had to use a British accent. In a movie about Australia, called Australia, an Australian had to use a British accent.

Hollywood, that’s just hurtful. Crocodile Dundee did not show us what a real knife is so that we could turn around and use that knife to cut his accent away from him.

Although, Mel Gibson is Australian. He hates Hollywood. Even badmouthed Hollywood a bit. Then he badmouthed every race and religion he could. Maybe Hollywood is taking its revenge on all Australians. Isn’t the fact that Gibson’s career is over enough?

It is amazing how much better TV shows are than movies. It is also amazing ho wmuch better cable TV shows are than network TV shows. Using the transitive property, that means that x=3. Or something. I didn’t really pay attention in match class.

Movies are ridiculously expensive, and there is never a guarantee that a) they will be good or 2) you will enjoy them. But if you don’t enjoy them or they suck, you won’t get your money back. The popcorn ALWAYS sucks, and yet it costs $20 for a small bowl. And the drinks…basically a giant cup of ice with a splash of soda. For $10. Does anyone else think that is ridiculous? Apparently not, because the line for snacks at a movie theater is always long.

Anyways, back to the point. Movies are not very good these days. And they are expensive. And if you wait just a few months, you can have Netflix send you the movie. Do you realize that the monthly cost of Netflix is basically the same as a ticket/snacks for one to a single movie? Why wouldn’t you wait those few months for the movie to come to DVD? You can watch it like you watch your TV shows, with better popcorn, cheaper soda, in the comfort of your own home, while in your underwear. What, just me?

Movies in the theater used to be a weekly or bi-weekly occurence, but no longer. They are too expensive and too many of them are horrible. Now, we need hard proof that the movie will be good before we shell out our hard-earned cash to see it. We need to know the movie is good in the cockles of our hearts, maybe below the cockles, maybe in the sub-cockle area, maybe in the liver, maybe in the kidneys, maybe even in the colon. Which usually means we need a friend to play the role of guinea pig and see the movie and give us their scouting report.

But even if Mel Kiper Jr.’s hair tells you that a movie is a can’t-miss prospect, outside of going on a date (unless you’re me, who goes to the dollar theater to see Ransom), or a movie that everyone talks about so you have to see it to feel a part of the human race (like Avatar), there is no point to seeing a movie in the theater. None. At all. Besides all the reasons listed above, these days, TV shows are just plain better. Better scripts, better acting, better plots, better everything. TV shows can actually play out a story line and not gloss it over because they only have 90 minutes to get the entire story in. TV shows can get you to fall in love with multiple characters, not just the one or two big names. When you watch a movie, generally speaking, you leave saying you really liked [insert actor’s real name] and [insert other actor’s real name] did a great job, but when you watch a TV show, you talk about what Sawyer and Kate and John Locke and Hurley and Jack all did in the last episode.

Granted, there are plenty of duds when it comes to TV. But the great thing about the duds – you didn’t pay specifically for them. You watch an episode of some new show and it stinks, no skin off your back, you just won’t watch that episode again and your tivo will thank you. But you go to see a movie and it stinks, you ain’t getting that $12 back.

Network television obviously have their shows, and they market the heck out of them. But you know where you can find the highest percentage of winners? Cable television. After Tony Shaloub and Monk became popular, being a big name actor on a cable television show no longer was uncool. Although Monk’s run came to an end, USA Network now has White Collar, Psych, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, Burn Notice and In Plain Sight. NBC even sent Law and Order, Criminal Intent to USA. TNT has Leverage, Rizzoli and Isles, The Closer, Dark Blue, Hawthorne and Men Of A Certain Age, among others.

Why does cable have a higher percentage of winners than network channels? For one thing, the expectations are much lower. A cable show doesn’t have to pull in 14 million viewers an episode to be successful. One would think that cable channels were just the network channels with beer goggles, going after any crappy tv show to put on their air because it was past midnight and you felt lonely. But that is not the case.

Cable channels, again, thanks to Tony Shaloub and Monk, go after big stars and put great casts around them with great writers and producers, probably good grip people as well (whatever that job means) and more often than not, they make great television. Because it’s cable and the only thing on other than original shows is grown men in spandex pretending to hate each other while actually hitting each other in the back of the head with metal chairs, the channels can then replay the bejeezus out of their original shows, giving We The Viewers multiple chances to watch and/or tivo said shows. They don’t worry about competing with the big boys and girls on network tv. They say “hey, you can go watch their show during primetime, but we’ll leave the light on and the door open when you come back home at 1:00 a.m.”

I think the growth of the cable shows has made the network channels stand up and take notice. I feel like even the network TV shows have become much better. Which makes it much easier for us to say “I don’t want to go out to a movie tonight, let’s stay home, make some popcorn, grab some sodas, and what all the shows we have on tivo.”

Like college football, I would assume that the movie-television battle is all cyclical, and that eventually movie companies will start putting together a higher percentage of better movies. Even if they do that, though, for them to start bringing in higher crowds, it might be time to lower the prices. Theaters are no longer the place to go on a Friday or Saturday night. For one, most people have a big screen tv with HD, or at least know someone who do, so watching TV or a Netflix movie is just as much fun as going out.

Especially since home means better popcorn, cheaper drinks, and underwear.

None of you? Seriously?

While sitting at lunch, a fellow A’s fan and I became involved ina conversation about the upcoming Moneyball movie. For those of you who don’t know, Moneyball is a phenomenal book by a phenomenal writer, Michael Lewis. It’s the inside story about the Oakland Athletics, how the team is run under general manager Billy Beane, what type of players they look for, the relationships between management and manager(s), etc. It’s an amazing book not only for A’s fans, but also for baseball fans and people who think baseball is one of the most boring sports in the world, so pretty much 99.9 percent of Earth’s population.

Regardless, while discussing who is going to be in the movie (A’s assistant GM Paul DePodesta has been renamed to Peter Brand and will be played by Jonah Hill? Really!?), it reminded me of the A’s under Art Howe (who will be played by Philip Seymor Hoffman), and how they had the Yankees on the ropes, holding a 2-0 lead in 2001, needing only one more win to advance to the ALCS.

The year was 2001. I had just graduated. I was working for the A’s in kind of an internship situation, helping out with the radio broadcasts. They were nice enough to allow me to work at the ballpark on Oct. 13, when a young A’s pitcher by the name of Barry Zito was about to go up against Mike Mussina and the Yankees. The A’s had won games one and two at Yankees Stadium, 5-3 and 2-0, and needed just one win to knock off the hated Bronx Bombers. The next two games were at home. Oaktown Mojo was about to knock off New York, New York.

To say the game was a nail-biter is an understatement. The two pitchers combined for five 1-2-3 innings in the first four frames. In the bottom of the fourth, the A’s put two on with one out, but Mussina induced groundouts by Eric Chavez and Jeremy Giambi to end the threat. (Remember the name Jeremy Giambi – 1) because I can’t forget his name, and b) because he plays an integral part in this story.)

Know that I am not bitter about what happened.

In the top of the fifth, Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who always seemed to get big hits against the A’s, homered with one out to give NY a 1-0 lead. Mussina recorded 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth, and then came the bottom of the seventh.

Mussina opened the seventh with two quick outs, as Jermaine Dye popped out and Chavez flew out. Jeremy Giambi ended the A’s hitless streak with a single to right. Terrence Long, affectionately known as T-Long, sent a shot down the right field line.

Now, Jeremy Giambi is not what you would call fleet of foot. At the time, in fact, he was quite slow. Probably still is. I’m not bitter.

So Giambi is chugging around the bases. Since there are two outs, and Mussina hasn’t given the A’s many chances, third base coach Ron Washington waves Giambi around third. Shane Spencer, rightfielder for the Yankees, corrals the ball and sends it towards the infield. It had NO chance of getting home, even with Mr. Molasses on the bases. Derek Jeter, in one of his many ridiculously heads up plays, runs to cut the ball off and flips it towards home. The ball, and Giambi, get there right at the same time. Posada catches the ball and swings his glove around, hitting Giambi on the back of his leg as that same leg is stepping on the plate. Needless to say, the umpire calls Giambi out.

Say what you want about the call (I still maintain he was safe), why in God’s name wouldn’t Giambi slide in that situation?! What could he possibly be thinking as he nears home? One would imagine that he is paying attention to the ball, that he knows where it is, that he can tell the play will be close, so WHY WOULDN’T HE SLIDE IN THAT SITUATION!!! If you are a professional baseball player, you know how to slide and you know WHEN to slide. On a play like that, if it’s going to be close, how do you not slide? You know that one way or another, the umpire is going to make a decision that will determine the outcome of the game, so why wouldn’t you want to make it easier for Blue to decide in your favor?

Still not bitter.

Mariano then comes in for the two-inning save, gives up only two hits but eventually gets Jeremy Giambi (him again!) to ground out to end the game, cutting the A’s lead in the series to 2-1. The next day, pitcher Cory Lidle gets bombed, Jermaine Dye shatters his ankle, A’s lose game five, lose the series and lose Johnny Damon and Jason Giambi to bigger market teams.

Here’s the kicker to the story. Opening Day, 2002 season, A’s vs. Rangers at Oakland Coliseum. Jeremy Giambi is now the leadoff hitter, because the A’s love guys who can walk (because Lord knows, Giambi can’t run). In my memory, it was his first at-bat of the game, but in reality it was in the third inning. He leads off the frame with a single. Frank Menechino doubles, and Giambi comes all the way around the bases. There was no throw to home, no play at the plate, but Giambi SLIDES HOME ANYWAY. The crowd goes crazy, Giambi jumps up and pumps his fist, everyone’s happy.

Except me.

Where was this in game three of the Division Series? Did he use the offseason to learn how to slide? We knew he knew HOW to slide, we just never saw any examples that he knew WHEN to slide. Sliding on Opening Day when there is no play at the plate? Yawn. Not sliding when your team leads the five-game series 2-0 but is trailing game 3 1-0 and this might be the last chance to score?

Ok, now I’m a little bitter.

I realized what was great about our country today. I was listening to the Howard Stern Show, and he had on Glenn Miller, a nut-case from Missouri who is running for Senator. Miller is the first person to (openly) run on the “Anti-Jew” platform. From what little I listened to the interview before I had to leave my car, Miller believes that Jews control America, and he wants to get into the Senate to try to help America get free of its Jewish Burden. On a side note, he is also not a fan of blacks, hispanics or gays, but the Jews, in his opinion, are the worst.

Glenn Miller and I agree on nothing. He is a racist, sexist, homophobic whack job who takes as gospel the word of Louis Farrakhan (gulp) and Pat Buchanan (double gulp). When Howard asked him about his anti-Jewish stance, Miller used Buchanan and Farrakhan was a way to make his ideas sound not-crazy, as in, “well Buchanan believes this and Farrakhan does as well so obviously that gives my thoughts credence.” The fact that Buchanan and Farrakhan are universally laughed at and thought of as nutcases themselves apparently does not occur to Miller.

But here is what is great about our country – Miller has every right to speak his mind, as crazy as he sounds. (Although crazier still – and sadder still – is the thought that there are people out there who agree with him.)

Ignoring that, our country allows people like Miller to say what they want to say, to run for government if they wish, to go on national radio shows and tell us how they feel about things without fear of going to jail. And to give credit to Stern, he treated Miller like he would any other guest, asking questions and not trying to argue with him about his crazy ideas. It was obvious that Howard did not agree with Mr. Crazy Man, but he also recognized that an argument would not make for good radio – letting Miller spout his wacky thoughts was much funnier.

There is a Facebook page for “Making It Illegal To Protest Army Funerals.” Apparently an extremist right-wing “Church” (I put “Church” in quotations because I refuse to believe any true Church would be as hateful as this group is) protested the funeral of an Army soldier with signs that basically said our brave men and women were dying in a war that was brought onto America because our country allows gay people to live here.

Again, ignoring the craziness of their opinions (and the sadness that there are people who actually buy into this crap), what makes America beautiful is that these people are allowed to protest at a funeral. Whether or not they see the irony that they were protesting the death of a soldier who was fighting for their ability to protest his death, I do not know. I am guessing not. The father of this soldier sued the protesters for emotional pain, and the judge ruled in the “Church’s” favor.

Does that suck? Of course it does. Do I agree with the judge’s decision? Of course I do. People have every right to protest whatever they want. His own son went to fight a war so that these whack-jobs could protest whatever they want. (Another argument for another day – whether or not fighting in a war halfway across the world actually does protect our freedoms. I say not.)

But the people who became fans of this page on Facebook, and the father of this soldier, are missing the point. Being American means accepting different opinions, religious, sexual orientations, races, no matter how much they differ from our own. Living in America gives us the right to express our opinions, no matter how crazy. If we start making it illegal to protest, we lose what makes us Americans.

Freedom of Speech is a great power, but with great power comes great responsibility, and most people aren’t mature or smart or informed enough to handle that responsibility.

For example, I have a blog.

I just read in my USA Today that Jose Canseco plans to file a class-action lawsuit against Major League Baseball and the players’ association, because apparently he feels he has been ostracized for going public with tales of steroids use in the sport. He’s going to enlist the help of Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro to go after “lost wages.”

Here is is reasoning:

“Because I used steroids and I came out with a book, I was kicked out of the game, but I have not beein inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

Ok, Jose, couple things: First off, you were never getting into the Hall of Fame. Ever. That just wasn’t going to happen for you. Your career average is .266. You hit a lot of home runs, 462, but you’re only 32nd on the all-time home runs list. Fred McGriff is No. 26, he’s not in the HOF. Palmeiro is No. 10, he’s not in. Sammy Sosa is in sixth-place and after the recent news that he is one of the 103 players who tested positive for performance enhancers in 2003 has led some HOF voters to label him a question mark. Heck, your former teammate Mark McGuire is in 10th-place on the home run list and he received less than 25-percent of the vote in his first shot at the Hall. But with all that said, baseball is not shunning you because of steroids. When I look at your all-time stats, my guess is that you were never going to get in to the HOF. Maybe if there was a “Hall Of The Very Good,” then we could talk.

Secondly, you made your bed, time to sleep in it. You wanted money, so you decided to come out with a book that really started this whole steroid mess. Because of your book, baseball could no longer sweep steroids under the rug or beneath the bed – suddenly both MLB and the players’ union had to sit up and act like they were concerned. You have been proven right more often than not, and for that I thank you. I think what you did was good for baseball. You turned the spotlight on an ugly part of the game. The problem is, you are also in that spotlight. If voters were on the fence about you before you admitted steroids, they certainly were not going to vote for you afterwards. Heck, Barry Bonds is baseball’s home run king, he was a Hall of Fame player before someone replaced his head with a water melon, it has never actually been proven that he used steroids, and yet he is not a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer.

So Jose, it’s time to go away now. You hit the lottery with the first book, because suddenly there was a voice from the inside of the game telling us what we really already knew. You thought about writing a second book. You took up mixed martial arts. You are doing everything you can to remain in the spotlight, but it’s time to call the fight.

Thank you again for what you did for baseball, but don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Thoughts from the weekend, in no particular order…

Brady Quinn was drafted where he should have been drafted, if Cleveland hadn’t traded up KC would have taken him at 23. But I predict he will stink as a pro. I just don’t see him doing well. Not just stat-wise, I just see him as a guy who doesn’t have “it.” Whatever “it” is, he don’t got it. Everytime Quinn played a really good team, a team that will have a lot of players drafted into the NFL (i.e. Michigan, USC, LSU, etc)…his team got smoked, and he wasn’t great.

Let’s look at Notre Dame’s schedule…three losses, to Michigan, USC, and LSU. Average margin of defeat: 24.3 points. Brady Quinn’s average against those three teams: 20 for 43, 219 yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs…not awful numbers, but definitely not top 5 or top 10 pick numbers. Cleveland getting him at 22 is perfect for Quinn, because now he plays for his hometown team, with the pressure of the 22nd overall pick instead of the 3rd. And he has Joe Thomas protecting his blindside. That said, I just don’t see him becoming a good NFL qb.

What the hell was Miami thinking with Ted Ginn Jr at #9?! I mean, fine, you don’t like Brady Quinn, I have no problem with that. But to draft Ginn Jr at 9? A guy who is still rehabbing the left foot sprain he suffered during the BCS Championship? If that’s the guy you want, why not trade down? Why not pick up some more draft picks, then get your guy Ginn later in the first round? Maybe they tried to, but I haven’t read anything to prove that. Bad job by Miami.

Yankees are in the hurt box. 9-14?! These are not your father’s yankees….or maybe they are. They did struggle during the early 90s. So maybe it’s better to say these are not your older brother’s yankees. Or your older sister. Or your uncle who’s younger than your parents. Or aunt, for that matter.

Whatever relation it is for you, these Yankees are struggling…and the Red Sox look awesome. Josh Beckett with 5 wins, Schilling and Matsuzaka both with 3, Papelbon looking solid as the Closer, and the bullpen doing a good job getting to Papelbon. And the offense is, well, the Red Sox offense. Big Papi, Manny being Manny, plus JD Drew, Julio Lugo, Mike Lowell, Coco Crisp, et. al….like a fantasy team! Barring injuries, Red Sox will be in the playoffs…

Warriors up 3-1 over the Mavericks. Don Nelson is a genius. Mullin and Higgins have put together the perfect team for Nellie, and Baron Davis is playing like the leader Golden State wanted when they traded for him. I don’t think they will close out in 5 or 6, I think this series will go to a seventh game, but as a Warriors fan who didn’t have faith in the team or the coach or the front office, I am officially eating my words. Great pickup of Matt Barnes, who hit a huge three pointer late in the game last night. Great trade to get Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington, perfect for Nelly’s system. Got to hand it to Jackson, even with his baggage, he has playoff experience, and if he can keep his emotions in check and his head screwed on straight, he can be devastating.

The Warriors were pretty much the worst team to get the 8 seed from the Mavericks opinion. GS is led by a coach who knows all the Mavericks players inside and out, they always play the Mavericks tough (GS won 6 of 7 against the Mavericks the last two years before the playoffs), and right now the Warriors shots are all falling for them. I expect this series to go 7, and then the Mavericks will pull it out in a hotly contested game.

Not surprised Bulls swept the Heat, not surprised Suns are up 3-1 on the Lakers, and certainly not surprised that Cleveland is up 3-0 on the Gilbert-less Wizards. I think Houston pulls away and wins the series against Utah 4-2, I don’t think Denver wins another game against the Spurs, and I think the Raptors win game 5 at home before falling to the Nets in game 6.