I was all set to write an article proclaiming Lance Armstrong's guilt, I was gonna use the TO line of reasoning to make the case ("if it looks like a rat. and it smells like a rat, then by golly, it's a rat") but I just watched him hold an informal presser at the Tour of Cailfornia and I have to say he defended himself well and definitely had me thinking that this Floyd Landis could be totally full of shit.  It may be easier to side with Lance, he is the all American Golden Boy that was a symbol of just how badass America still was post September 11th.  It also helped that his body didn't change in any overtly freakish way.  We may never know if Lance ever used PED's, he never failed a test, people may continue to make claims, but the only way we will ever know now is if Lance comes out and admits it.  The only person we can be totally sure took PED's without any proof is of course Barry Bonds.

When Project Franchise has our team, we need to see if this guy from the Cleveland Indians' post-game show is available. This was his, um, rant from a few days ago when the Indians blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning (with two outs) to drop a game to the Blue Jays.

All Bets Are Off 5-5-10 (via SportsTimeOhio)

We at Project Franchise make it very clear that we are seeking true, die-hard fans who know that they can do a better job running a sports team than the owners and general managers that have been making their lives miserable for years. Together, we'll run a minor-league team the way we know it should be done!

However, we do want it to be clear that the word "die" is not meant literally. We are all fans who get incredibly invested in our favorite teams, and I know I try to spend as many summer nights as I can by a TV during baseball season. As much as we love passionate sports fans, I think this man may have found the limit. The Hour has a unique story today, called "Dispute erupts when wife cancels ESPN, cable TV." The story describes a domestic dispute ending in a man holding his wife at knife-point over her decision to cancel the household's cable, including the World Wide Leader in Sports, for economic concerns.

Luckily, when our team takes the field, we'll be so involved that every game will feel the SuperBowl, so hopefully none of us will feel the need to go to that sort of extreme over one game, even if it is the real f'n SuperBowl!

So in conclusion: Passion = Good; Knife-Point = Bad.

So I was just came across this interesting piece of news - apparently Lil Wayne, much like the AP, decided to reward Chris Johnson for his amazing season with a commemorative plaque, however (if you are too lazy to click the link) Wayne decided that a fitting award for Chris Johnson would be a very large plaque that praised Wayne for his Carter III album having sold 8 Million ringtones...? I mean what?  OK Wayne you are a rap genius and all but that is akin to having a buddy pass the BAR and sending him your high school varsity letter.  It is just so weird and funny that I think that Wayne may be on to something - Wayne sets a lot of musical and fashion trends maybe  "inappropriate gifting" will be the next big thing to sweep the nation.  My sister is getting married this summer - maybe I'll hook her up with the golf ball I got a hole in one with. For my parents anniversary I will give them my "top salesman of the month" award that I got back in '04. Wayne drinks codeine cough syrup on the reg and smokes so much weed that the only explanation for this gift is that his gift giving judgement must have been severely "clouded"...all in all it is a seriously hilarious thing to do.

At this point even the most casual sports fan must have heard about Mark McGwire's admission to using steroids.  Unless of course you get your baseball news from MarkMcGwire.com, in which case you think the sport of baseball went into a catatonic  hibernation when Bonds* broke* BigMac's* record* in 2001*.  I'm honestly not sure why I put an asterisk next to all those words, but the little star shaped punctuation seems to give baseball purists a sense of comfort, so I included it next to all the words that seem to get them antsy in their pantsy. 

You have all read plenty of reaction articles to this latest steroid development, this is not one of them.  I don't think anyone seriously disagrees that steroids are a form of cheating...the disagreement seems to boil down to whether people should care. That being said, this article is about keeping it real...and don't mean the way the Fresh Prince kept it real when he moved to Bel Air.  I want sports fans to think about the following poll and be completely honest with themselves when I ask the question "Under the right circumstances, would you take steroids?"

Here are those circumstances.  You have a smokeshow wife that you met while playing ball at Arizona State and a child on the way that you plan to name Fastball if it's a boy, Harriet if it's a girl.  You are a first year minor league (AA) baseball player, current salary approximately $1,500/month ($18,000/yr).  You have dedicated the vast majority of your waking hours to the sport of baseball, perhaps to the exclusion of education and the development of other marketable skills that could be applied to another career. You are a very good player, but not a phenom and your major league club is overstocked with solid outfielders that hit for average, but not power.  If you could increase your production at the plate just a little bit, you would have a realistic shot of making the major league club.   The minimum MLB salary in 2009 is $400,000.  The average MLB salary is $3 Million.  Meaning, if you could boost your performance to match that of even a below average Major League Baseball player, you could still put your family in a situation where they would be financially secure for a very long time, even if you only played for a single year.  Let's say steroids gives you a reasonable chance to get to this level, maybe even better.  You are aware of the potentially dangerous side effects.  Do you use steroids under these circumstances?

Continue reading this post »

As if there was any doubt Mark McGwire confirmed that he used performance enhancing drugs.  He did it solely for medical purposes.  You don’t say.  What ailment exactly Mark? Elephantitis of the Testicles?  Some sort of back acne deficiency?  Listen Mark, I’m an A’s fan, and as such you hold a very special place in my heart.  You lived in my home town when I was a kid, and seeing you around town was one of the highlights of my childhood.  I think you’re a good guy, a fantastic baseball player, and from all reports a really good dad.  There is a lot to like about you.  So please Mark, I beg you, stop selling me dog $h*t and calling it perfume.  You didn’t take supplements for medical reasons any more than I take bong hits ingest medical marijuana for glaucoma. 

                I know there’s probably a couple readers waiting to comment "he did it to recover quicker you idiot" and I’m sure that was part of his motivation.  The problem I have with all this new found "honesty" is he keeps the same BS company line that "steroids didn’t help me perform! That’s just silly, I just took them to get back on the field".  Right, and the 1976 German swim team took them because all those girls were just dying to shave their faces like the boys.  Hell, Barry Bonds only took them because he always dreamed of fitting into Mr. Met’s hat. 

via 1.bp.blogspot.com

                As a fan all I’m waiting for is someone to step to the podium and say the following….

 "Listen I had a choice.  The choice was stay clean, keep my integrity, be a good role model, and maybe be out of baseball in 6-8 years, or I could juice, have a more impressive peak, a much more gradual decline and retire a baseball immortal.  At the time syringes were as common place as groupies and I didn’t really think the risk of being caught was real.  We were all doing it, and Buddy Selig loved us for saving baseball.  I’ve made numerous millions of dollars and hit for tons more power because of what I did.  I cheated because I thought no one was looking, hell until that crazy twitching bastard Canseco started singing, no one was looking."      

                I’m not asking for much, just some real honesty, and until we get that I can’t forgive a single one of these guys not even the ones I liked (sorry Mark). 

Fedor has the cheery disposition of a serial killer.

View full size photo »

Mylanta!!  That was the most devastating punch I have ever seen in my life - and I have thrown my fair share of them.  Are you guys into MMA do you think it could be one of the biggest sports in the America or is it just a fad that has held on for a while (remember how big poker was 4 years ago)?  Let us know in the comments about any other gnarly MMA knockouts that we should know about.

via phillytalk.com

View full size photo »

People are always trying to predict the future, some look to the heavens, others to Nostradamus, however, none of these sources have the proven  track record of Back to the Future II. 

As of this posting, game 5 of the World series is underway, with the Yankees leading the series 3 games to 1.   Even in the Phillies' best case scenario, they head back to the Bronx where they would need to take two straight.  This fact didn't stop the baseball afficionados over at Macy's from getting a jump on formally congratulating the Phillies for repeating as world champs.  Of course, if the Yankees go on to win the series as many are predicting, this will go down as an embarrassing PR gaffe.  But if the Phillies somehow turn this series around, and pull off an improbable win...one would have to come to the logical conclusion that someone from Macy's T-Shirt design team has gained access to a Delorean/time machine, traveled to the future and returned with a sports almanac.  Instead of using the almanac to build an empire on sports wagering, like Biff Tannen, this sly dog has decided to make his fortune by selling sports apparel from the future.  The absence of the words "Ed Hardy" of "Affliction" anywhere on the T-Shirt prove that the garment originated from a society that has come to its senses. 

Really, how does this happen?  I'm no Don Draper, but I assume that full page ads like these have to pass a few sets of eyeballs before they make the Sunday edition.  I understand that as a practical matter, these types of shirts have to be printed in advance to fully capitalize on the event, buyt usually  the losing teams apparel never sees the light of day.  I've always been told that they ship the losers shirts/hats etc. to a far off land, somewhat of a bizarro sports world where Don Beebe and the Buffalo Bills are the equivalent of Jordan's Bulls.  This begs the questions, where is this magical land (has anyone heard from Don Beebe?) and who's runner up gear clothes the most people?