All Steriod/HGH Team

This is of course my All alleged Steriod/HGH Team (contributed also by Michael Pasternak)

Starting Line-up (AL Team)

Catcher – Paul Lo Duca
First Base – Rafael Palmeiro
Second Base – Brian Roberts
Third Base – Ken Caminiti
Shortstop – Miguel Tejada
Left Field – Barry Bonds
Right Field – Gary Sheffield
Center Field – Lenny Dykstra
DH - Mark McGwire

Reserves
OF – Nook Logan
OF – David Justice
UT – Chuck Knoblouch
UT – Rick Ankiel
First Base – Jason Giambi
Third Base - Troy Glaus
Catcher - Benito Santiago

Starting Pitcher:
1 Roger Clemens
2 Andy Pettitte
3 Kevin Brown
4 Brendan Donnelly
5 Paul Byrd

Relief Staff:
1 Jason Grimsley
2 Mike Stanton
3 John Rocker
4 Eric Gagne

Trade Deadline

So did you hear, the NHL trade deadline past?

You probably did not know until you saw in one of the local papers; in which, Ruutu and Lapointe, of the Blackhawks, were traded. But then again you probably didn't even know that the trade deadline was up until after it past. I bet you could not name one player who was on the trading block before the deadline.

Hockey, Basketball and Football you rarely hear anything on their trade deadlines. Baseball on the other is the total opposite. At the point of the trade deadline in baseball, you know where the fourth starter of the Devil Rays might end up and what three minor league prospects the Rangers have to give up to get him. It is nuts. Sportscenter has a countdown clock and it will butt into a show to tell you a trade has happened.

Basketball's trade deadlines are more of a joke to me. Example this year 11 players from 3 different teams were all part of a trade. One of those teams, Cleveland, traded away over 60 percent of their team. Think about that. 60 percent of your team gone. In return you have a whole new team, and they are to help you get a championship. Whatever happen to building a championship around a team. Not, this isn't working; lets get a whole new team.

Football, well if you see a trade during the season, it is a miracle. When sending a potential starter for the Cleveland Browns to the Seattle to become a back-up is big news, then I say you never have trades in your league during the season.

But baseball. When their is a trade, it is not with a ton of players (Ok, you do sometimes get one team trading 4 players for one, in the case of Santana. But come on, he is that good.). Instead it is, I will give you Major League back-up, Minor League Stud A, and cash for your pitcher, who is doing great this year. Sounds like a deal to me.

With that said, I can't wait for the baseball trade deadline. Nothing is funnier then seeing ones team starting second baseman get traded for a Single A player.

My predictions on the Baseball Season

I will now make my pre-Spring Training picks on the Regular Season. I will not be showing any bias in these picks, but what I believe will happen. I am interested how good I am at predicting.

AL

Central: Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Twins, Royals

East: Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays, Devil Rays, Orioles

West: Angels, Mariners, Athletics, Rangers




NL

Central: Astros, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Cardinals, Pirates East West

East: Mets, Phillies, Braves, Nationals, Marlins

West: D-Backs, Padres, Rockies, Dodgers, Giants



Playoffs

AL

Divisional: Tigers vs. Mariners; Red Sox vs. Angels ALCS AL Champs

ALCS: Tigers vs. Red Sox

AL Champs: Tigers


NL

Divisional: D-Backs vs. Cubs; Astros vs. Mets NLCS NL Champs

NLCS: D-Backs vs. Mets

NL Champs: D-Backs



World Series Champs: Tigers


YOU CAN PUT THAT ON THE BOARD, YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

The Season of Hope

The Season of Hope is what I think Spring Training should be called. Name one other major sport that when teams going into their spring training, training camp or preseason that you have no clue what is about to happen. I know. I know. You are saying in your head that everyone knew the Red Sox were going to win the World Series and the Yankees were going to make the playoffs. But who knew the Rockies and the D-Backs were going to be fighting for the NL crown. If you did know, then congratulations you are either one of the following:

1) a Rockies or a D-Backs fan
2) a person who just banked in Vegas and should become my friend.
3) or a psychic

I am guessing it is the top one of the three.

So this is why I believe Spring Training should not be called the Spring Training but the Season of Hope.

Every year when the boys of summer come out of hibernation and join together in Arizona and Florida a sense of hope is created. Ask pretty much any baseball fan and they will tell you how this could be the year

For Royals fans they would say, we have a new coach who has never failed in any of the leagues he has coached and Jose Guillen is in the outfield; we are going to get out of last place finally. For Devil Ray fans, we have young talent in the field and added a veteran pitcher in Garza; we are going to prove our division wrong and show we are no push over. For the Dodgers., they just have one word: Torre.

This echoes across the league from fans in the west to the east. Some have hopes of World Series others have hope that this is the year everything starts to look up. But their is still hope. The hope stays their throughout Spring Training until a week or two into the season. This is when the Season of Hope turns into the Regular Season and it seems the hope disappears in some people. But the glory of baseball never lets it slip away. As the Rockies and Phillies proved this past year, it is not over until the standings say you are eliminated.

So when my team, the White Sox, step onto the field in Tucson in less then a week to start, I will show hope. I will talk about the improvements we made to the bullpen; I will talk about the addition of Cabrera and Swisher and I will talk about the fact we have something to prove after not showing up last year. I will speak of hope. I will forget about the Tigers and what they added. I will forget what the Indians did last year. All I know is my team is back, and we are not the same team as last year. We are a new team and you never know what will happen.

YES WE CAN!!!!!

Feb. 5, Super Tuesday, started at noon; in which, I was able to pick up my pass for the Barack Obama rally. The pass in which people from around the world were denied, and a pass I probably, if I wanted to, could sell on the street to pay off some college debt.

But after receiving this pass, I would end up finding out some details on organization. When the campaign peoples say check in time is at 12 what they really mean is you can show up at 12 till the time for secret service to do their sweep (this was about a two hour break for the Obama rally). Pretty much all you do from the time you get your pass till you have to leave is well nothing, unless you're in the main ballroom (My pass was only for the Filing Center, which is the press only room across the hall from the main ballroom.). So, I went back to school and waited impatiently for the event.

Let the craziness began.

I went to the rally planning on doing a story on the media covering the presidential race. Great story right, I know. But, instead a different story decided to fall into my lap. After interviewing numerous politicians and interviewing journalists about their experiences on the campaign, we started to hear the same song from a certain group of journalists. From noon till around seven o'clock the foreign press were forced to sit in the hallway as spectators looking in on all the other journalists working. When they were able to obtain entrance it was still not easy. They were told not to film in the main lobby area, but they could film in the Filing center (Complete opposite of what I was told). Of course no one followed the rules and everyone just filmed in the lobby anyway. Still it was tough for them to get decent interviews. For by the time they got in most of the major politicians had already gone inside; instead, the foreign press had to interview local folks who had taken a few trips to the cash bar.

After getting away with taping in the lobby, the next obstacle came; like me, the foreign press was not allowed to enter the main ballroom. Not only were they not allowed in, they were only allowed to film or photograph through two doors in the back. These doors were not just in the back but on the side. So imagine 20 to 30 members of the foreign press trying to vie for that one spot in order to see. When I say one spot, I mean one spot that only one person can stand and film. This spot of wonderful, semi-obstructive view was right against the door hinges, but do not go passed the hinges. If you were to cross the door hinges one of two things would happen: you were told no press unless you have the right credentials, or security was called.

So here I am standing next to 20 to 30 odd members of the foreign press and a couple members of the media that did not get the all mighty event press pass. We all tried at some point to get into the ballroom, and we all failed. We were told we were not allowed to go in. The Italian reporter actually had security called on him; in which, he cursed, I believe, in Italian at the guard. But then a miracle, I use that term loosely, happen, in actuality it was just security going against everything they said for the past seven hours. The press, who only received passes to the Filing Center, were allowed in.

Pretty much it went like this, okay you guys can come in. Then out of nowhere we were running for a spot alongside the risers to catch Obama's speech. That event later made me realize there are two types of media for a presidential race.

1) The ones who have everything and do not have to rush at all (ex. Andy Shaw, ABC 7 reporter, for most of the time was sitting against a wall talking on his phone.)

2) Everyone else. The ones who have to run for the spots left over. The ones who have to argue, persuade and wait to get in. The ones who once in take chairs to stand on so they can see and maybe get that one shot. These people were the foreign press.

So after all the troubles the foreign press received, they were able to get into the ballroom. Because they entered the ballroom, I was able to enter the ballroom.

So if Tuesdays events were part of Obama's speech, it would go something like this, I believe.

When I hear that the foreign press cannot get into my events to take my pictures and interview my constituents. I think about the Italian reporter and cameraman fighting every obstacle to get in and being denied every time, but when I am about to speak I let them in after telling them they could not all night. Do not tell me they cannot get in. I will eventually let them in when I see fit. So, yes they can get in.

AUDIENCE: *CHEERS* YES THEY CAN!!!! *CHEERS*

Boston Fans Welcome to Reality

With less then a minute remaining in the game, it seemed like a miracle. Manning to Burress. Not Manning to Harrison or Manning to Clark, but Manning to Burress. Who would of thought the little Manning could do this.

Manning to Burress. With those three words, the Patriots run at a perfect season was over.

Before today, Feb. 4, people of Boston would have remembered the 2007 NFL season as the year of the Pats. Now they will remember the coming of age of Eli; the Pats going so far but not winning it at all and a season reminding us all why we play the game.

The images of players will last and stick in Boston fan's mind forever:

Moss scoring the record touchdown on the Giants to finally put the Patriots ahead for good in the final game of the regular season. In doing so becoming the first NFL team since the '72 Dolphins to go undefeated.

Bruschi and Seau hugging after Moss again puts the Patriots ahead in the Super Bowl.

Then Bostonians will remember Manning some how snaking through three Patriots lineman and then complete a ridiculous ( a word that does not come close to summing up that catch) to Tyree.

And finally, Manning to Burress.

The Patriots were over. Most of all the dream year for Boston and its fans was over. Boston fans were reminded and taken back to the days of Buckner, the Fridge rolling into the endzone, Bucky F'in Dent, Boone's home run.

What will that final touchdown be called by Boston fans. I hope Manning to F'in Burress, or Eillis F'in Hobbs (the corner who gave a perfect example to kids around the country on how not to defend a receiver).

Before the Super Bowl Boston fans thought they had it all. I would to if I was a fan. Red Sox won it; Celtics have the new big three or as the Sportscenter commercial calls it, The Boston Three Party (Scott Van Pelt is a genius), and most of all, an undefeated season in football.

Could this be the end to Boston's greatness? Probably not. But what the Boston fans have realized is sometimes it is too good to be true. They will look at the Celtics and look behind their shoulders at whom could get them and keep the championship away.

Boston is all about curses. They broke the Curse of the Bambino, but maybe they have a new curse. Curse of the Big Ego. Think about it. They went to lovable losers to big shot winners. Boston went from darlings of one Super Bowl and World Series to the teams no one wants to face. Super Bowl XLII reminded them of what they came from.

Now Boston will look at there sports history and see this.

8 Straight NBA Championships.
First MLB to come back after being down 3-0 in a best of 7 series.
Doug Flutie's Hail Mary to beat Miami.
18-1, the first NFL team to complete to obtain that record and not win the Super Bowl.

Well on the bright side the Pats did have THE best offensive season in NFL history and went 16-0 in the regular season. But I do not think Boston fans are thinking on the bright side.