About an hour ago on SportsCenter, some names started popping up concerning the Mitchell investigation into steroid use in baseball. According to SportCenter and ESPN.com, a source familiar with the report has said that a(former?) strength or conditioning coach for the Yankees named Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte as having obtained steroids through him. Also according to sources, 60-80 players will be named in the report, including MVP's and All-Stars. It has been said that the players to be named in the report will cause quite a stir in baseball. Although Clemens and Pettitte are about as big as it gets, these sources seem to indicate that it will go well beyond Clemens and Pettitte. They have also said it is going to be a rough day for the Yankees organization. Well, it has begun now. Clemens and Pettitte named, Bonds going to court, Sosa and McGwire are both as obvious as Bonds, Palmeiro outed a while back, Canseco to this day is trying to make a buck with his steroid tales, the sad story of Camanitti.....so many of the big stars of this era are being exposed for their steroid use. As a one time huge baseball fan, it's sad to see the game reduced to this. But at the same time, I'm glad to see steroid users being called out. We've known that so many in MLB were doing it, and I couldn't help but feel insulted when these guys tried to play themselves off as being clean. Hopefully this will help clean the game up, though I know there will always be ways to beat the system, and get baseball back on track. I just wonder if any other of my childhood heroes, like Palmiero, will be shown to have abused steroids.

I'll be interested to see if Clemens gets any where near the flak as Bonds has taken. Kind of a social experiment, if you will. He has 7 Cy Young awards and is considered by many to be the best pitcher to ever live. Yet he was named by Jose Canseco, who has been proven to be more correct than not, but no one has ever said a word about Clemens being suspect.

That is true, but Clemens wasn't near as obvious as Bonds. Clemens, with maybe the exception of his last Cy Young year, hasn't exactly had extraordinay seasons later in his career compared to his "prime" years. Bonds had some of the most dominating years in baseball history during what is supposed to be the downside of a person's career. Bonds was already one of the best players in history years ago, but his seasons only got better, to mythical proportions, just as he should have been leveling out.

Some, including Bonds, want to equate the scrutiny surrounding him to racism of some form. I've no doubt there are plenty of racists out there that hate to see him succeed because of his color, but crying racism just because you refuse to play along with his game is ridiculous. Bonds has got far more attention than any other player because he has been the most dominating player in recent years, and because of his enormous physical growth as he got older. He has received more scrutiny because he has challenged and shattered the two most reverred records in baseball(HR in a season and career), and acted like a prick while doing it. McGwire and Sosa may be guilty of roiding like Bonds, but they did it with smiles on their faces. They both had their moments where they acted like jerks, but who doesn't? You might say that doesn't matter, and from a certain point of view. it doesn't. Still, if I go into a room, look people in the eye, treat them decently, and so on, I will receive much better treatment than I would if I acted aloof, cocky, pissy, etc. Giambi got put through the ringer, and he wasn't nearly the star that Bonds is. He didn't truly challenge Aaron, Ruth, etc. He came clean relatively quickly(when he felt the heat anyways), and, I believe, even apologized. Still, he got a lot of crap for it, but he knew it was something he brought on himself. That's a far cry from Bonds, who dominated the game like noone before, snapped at people left and right, and so on.

So I don't find it strange that Bonds has gotten more crap than anyone else. He did everything on his own terms, yet expects the world of baseball to sit back and say nothing the whole time. I never cared for him as a person, but always respected the hell out of his abilities. Of course, as years went by, I lost respect for him as an athlete too. Still, I can't help but feel somewhat sorry for the guy, as he obviously isn't, nor has he ever really seemed to be, a happy man.

It's about time for the rest of the fireworks, so I'm off to see the who else will be named.

Does anyone else find this news more exciting and intriguing than the sport itself?

meh, baseballs sucks anyway, watch soccer, now thats a true sport

quigontcb said: That is true, but Clemens wasn't near as obvious as Bonds. Clemens, with maybe the exception of his last Cy Young year, hasn't exactly had extraordinay seasons later in his career compared to his "prime" years. Bonds had some of the most dominating years in baseball history during what is supposed to be the downside of a person's career. Bonds was already one of the best players in history years ago, but his seasons only got better, to mythical proportions, just as he should have been leveling out. Some, including Bonds, want to equate the scrutiny surrounding him to racism of some form. I've no doubt there are plenty of racists out there that hate to see him succeed because of his color, but crying racism just because you refuse to play along with his game is ridiculous. Bonds has got far more attention than any other player because he has been the most dominating player in recent years, and because of his enormous physical growth as he got older. He has received more scrutiny because he has challenged and shattered the two most reverred records in baseball(HR in a season and career), and acted like a prick while doing it. McGwire and Sosa may be guilty of roiding like Bonds, but they did it with smiles on their faces. They both had their moments where they acted like jerks, but who doesn't? You might say that doesn't matter, and from a certain point of view. it doesn't. Still, if I go into a room, look people in the eye, treat them decently, and so on, I will receive much better treatment than I would if I acted aloof, cocky, pissy, etc. Giambi got put through the ringer, and he wasn't nearly the star that Bonds is. He didn't truly challenge Aaron, Ruth, etc. He came clean relatively quickly(when he felt the heat anyways), and, I believe, even apologized. Still, he got a lot of crap for it, but he knew it was something he brought on himself. That's a far cry from Bonds, who dominated the game like noone before, snapped at people left and right, and so on. So I don't find it strange that Bonds has gotten more crap than anyone else. He did everything on his own terms, yet expects the world of baseball to sit back and say nothing the whole time. I never cared for him as a person, but always respected the hell out of his abilities. Of course, as years went by, I lost respect for him as an athlete too. Still, I can't help but feel somewhat sorry for the guy, as he obviously isn't, nor has he ever really seemed to be, a happy man. It's about time for the rest of the fireworks, so I'm off to see the who else will be named.

I dislike Bonds and I dislike Clemens, alike. However, Clemens has never been put through the ringer like Bonds has been and I find it disgusting and yes, borderline racist. I'm not going to bother to defend Bonds, because he isn't worth it. It's Clemens that warrants an inspection. To take a closer look at his record, here's some numbers. 1991, Age 28 18-10 record 2.62 ERA Cy Young Award 1992, 29 18-11 1993, 30 11-14 1994, 31 9-7 1995, 32 10-5 1996, 33 10-13 1997, 34 21-7 Cy Young Award 1998, 35 20-6 Cy Young Award 1999, 36 14-10 2000, 37 13-8 2001, 38 20-3 Cy Young Award 2002, 39 13-6 2003, 40 17-9 2004, 41 18-4 Cy Young Award 2005, 42 13-8 1.87 ERA 2006, 43 7-6 2.38 ERA 2007, 44 6-6 1996 was his last season in Boston, he leaves and suddenly he's pitching like he's 25 again. A 1.87 ERA from a 42 year old pitcher who misses training camp and only plays 2/3rd's of a season is just ridiculous. Most aging pitchers have to reinvent themselves to sustain their careers (i.e. depend on guile and breaking balls), not Clemens, he still throws 96mph. In 05 and 06, he had horrendous run support, or his w/l ratio would have been much better. What really has bothered me about Clemens is that he has disrespected the game by not traveling with his team, not showing up when he doesn't pitch and not playing full seasons. Just a quick steroid boost and POW, he's ready for the 2nd half of the season.

chuckd, I do agree with you on a lot of the Clemens stuff. I liked him as a kid, though he wasn't a favorite of mine. I lost a lot of respect for him when he went BACK to NY, but that's not enough to peg him as a villain. Now when he started getting special treatment, like you said about his not travelling with the team, I got pretty upset. To me it was obvious that Clemens and the Yankees were making a special exception for him(self), which was disrespectful to the team and the team aspect of baseball. But that's not cheating, just total bullcrap.

Still, what I said earlier, I stick by. With an exception or two, he didn't blow away his best seasons, or other player's historical seasons like Bonds did. He obviously got bigger, but he looks chubbier than anything else. He didn't grow a Hulk-like physique like Bonds, which made it far less obvious he was roiding. Except for the Cy Youngs, which is an award, and the 20 k's in one game, I am not aware of him breaking any real records, certainly not any as esteemed as the homer records. Bonds was surpassing highly regarded icons like Mays, Ruth, and Aaron. Clemens, even with his cheating, wasn't going to catch Young, Ryan, etc. And again, with the exception of no-hitters and perfect games, most pitching feats don't get near the press and attention that batting feats do.

Tejada is a player I liked. Palmeiro pointed a finger at Tejajda when he got caught, and though it threw suspicion on Tejada, and I didn't necessarily see him as a roid user. If he were hitting 60+ homeruns a season on the backside of his career, then I'd have started to consider him one. If he grew into a giant in his late 30's, then I would have started to consider him one. Of course, he was named in the report today, so it's pretty obvious he's no angel. The only real coverage he got when Palmeiro "outed" him was in the coverage of Palmeiro's story. They made Palmeiro out to be childish and desperate for pointing at Tejada. If everyone was so racist, I'd have thought this would have been a great chance for them to jump on Tejada. That I'm aware of, he only got minimal scrutiny.

But anyways, if people want to see racism in a situation, they will see it. Whoever has been using steroids, unless it was a legit use via a doctor, I think should have to face the music, regardless of their color, and get equal treatment. Bonds and Clemens, the most dominant offensive player and pitcher, will obviously get more scrutiny, but that goes along with being a bigshot.

People hate Bonds because he's a dick. Not because he's black.

Let's see here... The guy is an assto teammates/the media/fans, broke the most cherished record in American sports (both of them, actually), lied to a Grand Jury, and basically shit on the sport of baseball.

Yet people still say he's hated because he's black. Sigh...

I personally have no real issue with Bonds (I am a huge baseball fan and cheered him on to break the record just to watch everyone throw a fit over it) but he dug his own grave. Shit, Canseco, who is a friend of Clemens, never reported Roger as having done steroids, even under direct questioning about Clemens. By all reports, Roger is a friendly guy, making the media and fans less likely to target him so venomously.

In this case, too many people are confusing race issues with being an asshole.

rocketpig said: People hate Bonds because he's a dick. Not because he's black. Let's see here... The guy is an assto teammates/the media/fans, broke the most cherished record in American sports (both of them, actually), lied to a Grand Jury, and basically shit on the sport of baseball. Yet people still say he's hated because he's black. Sigh... I personally have no real issue with Bonds (I am a huge baseball fan and cheered him on to break the record just to watch everyone throw a fit over it) but he dug his own grave. Shit, Canseco, who is a friend of Clemens, never reported Roger as having done steroids, even under direct questioning about Clemens. By all reports, Roger is a friendly guy, making the media and fans less likely to target him so venomously. In this case, too many people are confusing race issues with being an asshole.

I forgot when he said this, either it was for hitting the most home runs in a season or breaking the overall home run record, but a reporter asked his son how it felt knowing that his dad set such a milestone, and Bonds cut his son off and said something to the degree of why the reporter was talking to his kid since tonight was all about him.

Snuffing your kid like that makes you seem like a big...