An A-Bomb for A-rod…

Waking up this morning and turning on ESPN news I expected to hear about the previous nights scores and what not.  But no.  It couldn’t be that simple.  There had to be some kind of breaking news flashing at the bottom.

“SI.com is reporting that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.”

Immediately I turned off the television.  Instead of going through my normal routine of checking espn.com, foxsports.com, and SI.com, I decided to get some coffee and think about this later.  I then thought maybe  I should blog about this but decided against it because I didn’t have all the facts and was simply running away form reality. 

So after reading the original SI articles and the ESPN ones as well as some Yankees blogs I have come to my own conclusions on the much discussed super star. 

I don’t care.

Just of the boat, this is information that should never have been released into the public.  Rodriguez participated in a voluntary drug test in 2003 and was told that none of the results would be revealed and was to be sealed under court orders.  So none of this is supposed to be public knowledge and whoever has released this information to SI is the real criminal and I wish there were a way of trying them for violating court orders.  So all of this information should be irrelevant and nullified by the fact that it was obtained illegally.  Just the way that evidence obtained without a search warrant is thrown out because permission was not given for the search to be conducted in the first place.

It doesn’t matter to me that he took steroids in the past before it was being tested or even if it was considered wrong.  Whatever happened as happened.  You can say what you want about steroids but it does not give you better hand eye coordination which is what most of hitting is.  Rodriguez has never been on the media’s right side and is constantly being bombarded with questions about his character, marriage, hitting, fielding, kids, contract, image, friendships and of course for him not being "clutch”.  When will it end.  It seems reporters try anything and everything to find something wrong with him. 

Say what you what but A-rod was a star and the best player in baseball way before he tested positive for steroids.  Even before 2000 he had two seasons of 40+ home runs.  I can guarantee by looking at him at that time you would see a scrawny little kid who just had all the god given talent in the world and was using it to max.

Now for those of you who are going to say that the Yankees now have another steroid user on their team and they are full of them.  Well screw that.  The Yankees did not know about any of this and are just as shocked as me or you.  This all just a sad situation that should never have happened and now Alex Rodriguez is going to be the next Barry Bonds and will probably get dirty looks for the rest of his life.  Great job Sports Illustrated!  You just ruined another life.  Kudos to you!  Did someone say Pulitzer?

You don’t deserve it.

Technorati Tags: SI,espn,arod,pulitzer,foxsports,steroids

Reality is a cruel woman who throws salt on your wounds..

Cruel mean woman = Nadal  vs. Wounded child = Federer

Nothing was more defining of the legacy that Roger Federer will have to live with than the winners ceremony at the Australian open early last Sunday.

Staying awake until 2:30 a.m on Sunday I was hoping that Federer would finally take down Nadal because he had yet to loose to him in a hard court grand slam final.  You notice how there are such little places or surfaces that he has not been beaten by his arch rival and this was the last straw.  Federer came out of the gates and was nicely broken in the first game but broke back in the second.  So both men were shaky but Federer had to have the edge as he didn’t play a 5 hour semifinal match.

Nadal looked crisp and won the first set as Federer was unable to again unable to hold his serve at the end of the set and I believe he was broken 3 times in the set overall.  Not a very auspicious beginning.  Over the course of the match they kept giving and taking cracking blows and neither showed much signs of wearing.  Federer won the second set and seemed to have some momentum.  Fed had about 10 break points in the third set but did not capitalize on Nadal’s mistakes and was forced into a tie break.  Fed made too many errors and Nadal claimed the tie break.  The story of the match so far was Roger’s inability to serve a high percentage.  He went as low as like 40% first serves in the second set but managed to win that set.  For the match he ended up with a 52% first serve percentage.  Horrible stats for someone who knew he had to serve well in order to beat Nadal. 

Throughout the match I saw the most unbelievable gets and shots I have ever seen.  Both players showed why they were the cream of the crop and produced some of the most amazing points I had ever seen.  Federer to me still has the best forehand and used it greatly to his advantage and won a great deal of his points thanks to that side.  He firmed up his backhand as well and kept it flatter and I thought for a while that he had changed and was playing smart and could finally beat Rafa.  He used all these to his advantages and won the fourth set and pushed it to a deciding 5th. 

Federer came out flat and I had a really bad feeling.  After Nadal went up 4-1 I couldn’t watch my idol any more and turned of the television and went of to to sleep hoping to dream of a better result. 

Nope, I couldn’t even come up with a dream that had a different solution and Roger was beaten 6-2 in the deciding set.  I would later watch the highlights of the trophy presentation and see Roger come to tears and couldn’t even complete his sentences.  I felt disgusted and did not know who I was seeing.  It wasn’t the 13 time grand slam champion but a mere child who couldn’t move the rock that was Rafa Nadal. 

In the end Nadal proved that he was the best indeed and that the era of Federer complete dominance.  I have to this point despised Nadal for being the one hump that Roger couldn’t go over and kept him from the title of greatest ever, but I have realized that he isn’t going away and he has a better shot of gaining that title then Roger does. 

I will still cheer for Federer in future events but will never forget the images of him crying holding on to the runner up trophy, jealous of Nadal’s abilities and his own stubbornness to adapt to his toughest opponents weaknesses. 

Nothing is more defining then the pictures below:

                                                  

Oh how hard the great fall…… 

Technorati Tags: Federer,australian open,crying,nadal,greatest,pathetic,first serve,looser

Apparently there is a NFL game tomorrow..

This might come as a surprise to some of you but there is actually a football game today.  I think its called..it’ll come to me…give me a minute.  Oh yeah!  It’s the Super Bowl! 

Now I know most of you had no idea because it’s not like ESPN, Fox Sports, NFL network were talking about this game for the past week and every hour of the day.  No that would never happen.  I mean it’s not like there is anything else happening in the world that’s important. 

There isn’t much to say about the super bowl since every single person on this world is an analyst, self included, and has had their say about the teams and the game.

So here are my two cents. 

The Cardinals are an amazing story and everyone is rooting for them.  But let's be real people.  The Steelers aren’t from the NFC and have super bowl experience which as much as it is overstated it is still important to a teams success in the most watched event in the world.  I am just trying to come up with something to write here but I can’t because all those damn analysts on every network in the world has said it about a 1000 times already and I don’t want to sound like a broken record and repeat what they say. 

So I am just going to give you guys a pick.  I hate the Steelers not even going to try and lie.

Cardinals 17 Steelers 10.  You read it here. 

What’s with the grunting..seriously?

Now I have been following tennis for a while and have loved almost every aspect of it.  But one thing that I just can’t get past is certain women tennis players grunting like wild boars after each and every shot they play.  Now I know the argument is that they are just trying really really hard and trying to hit the skin of the ball every time and this leads to them releasing their inner “uruk-hai” and scream at the top of the lungs that would even shatter a windshield.  Now I am not just trying to single out women here because there are many men who grunt when they play their shots such as Guga Kuerten. 

But seriously ladies.  You guys grunt even when you play a drop shot.  Come on.  There is never a record of Steffi Graff grunting but she managed to win a couple of grand slams I think.  But ever since Serena and Venus Williams stepped on to the tennis stage grunting has taken over women’s tennis like a fad.  I feel like these players think that they have to grunt in order to be real competitors.  For example Sharapova, Dementieva, Serena, Venus and now even this little girl have grunted all the way to the news stands.

I am sitting here watching the first women’s semifinal at the 2009 Australian open between Serena Williams(2) vs Elena Dementieva(4).  These two women have been orchestrating an incredible amount of “melodies” between them but seem to be able to turn of their cries even during points.  I don’t get this.  They grunt for some of the point then just stop and are quiet even though they hit the ball and run just as hard. 

I am all for effort but they just take it to the next level.  We have to be real here.  Most tennis players don’t let out these tribal cries but for those who do please be considerate of the audience and provide ear muffs. 

Oh and one another thing.  Not to pick on Serena or anything but a friend of mine photo-shopped the picture below and I had to give it to him.  The uruk-hai of lord of the rings and serena do look awfully similar not because of the color of their skin or any of that.  But just look at them..their both ridiculously muscular and look like they could eat a child.  I am just saying..that’s all.

                        

Technorati Tags: serena,lord of the rings,tennis,grunting,women,uruk hai,orks,dementieva,venus,sharapova

What is the most difficult sport to be in?

Been a long weekend and difficult to write about things other than the fact that my sister is now married, well kind of.  Very happy for her and wish Vidya and Vivek a very happy married life, kind of. 

But I also found out that people actually have read this blog.  Which is flattering to know that even one person has read your material no matter how much they agree or disagree with what I have to say. 

Now I have never been a runner, cyclist or any sort of track and field star.  I had my hay day as a tennis player in high school and gladly told people I was my team captain.  Now I am biased to tennis and have always felt that it is a very challenging sport that requires a lot of physical strength as well as endurance. 

So this weekend someone told me that cycling, supposedly considered a sport(something I will talk about other day) should be recognized as the most demanding and difficult sport.  Now I feel that cycling is a very demanding sport as you have to bike for extreme amounts of length and requires a great amount of concentration and over al physical fitness.  But when I thought of a difficult sport to play that required those most amount of physical fitness would be football, soccer, and something like that.  Cycling just is not on my radar, even if poster boy Lance Armstrong has won a million races and is trying make a “comeback”, and probably never will. 

Now I was thrown all this scientific data like V2 max or something like that supporting cycling saying that they have the lowest resting heart rate and the most pristine examples of fitness.  Cyclists travel north of 50 miles with out stopping up inclines and down fast slopes. 

Now I am probably never going to appreciate cycling for what it is, but I figured that I would give it some due credit.  I would rather play tennis for 4 hours in Australia rather then bike 70 miles up and down mountains in France.  So here’s to cycling! Wu Hu! But it still isn’t a real sport and that is all.

                        

Technorati Tags: Cycling,sports,armstrong,funny,endurance,france

How to not remove a security tag

I purchased a suit for my sisters engagement and not going to lie it was pretty nice. However the geniuses at macys forgot to remove that plastic security tag thingy and it didn't even beep when we exited the store. 2 weeks later I realize that my suit jacket still has the tag and being the lazy bum that I explored ways to remove it shoplifter style.

Step I: Open computer and google "how to remove tag thingy on clothing."

Step II: Unsuccessful search. Retry. Reword. "How to remove security tag from clothes?"

Step III: Eureka. Instructional videos on youtube posted to help bums like me.

Step IV: Take break. Check facebook. Stalk people. Now Check the video.



Step IV: Realize I do not have a bent screw driver and attempt to do procedure using a coat hanger.

Step V: Try and try to force open the dam thing. Apply voodoo curses. Sweet talk and ask the tag nicely to disengage from your expensive suit so that hopefully you won't destroy the suit by accident out of anger.

Step VI: Decide a career in shoplifting isn't in the cards for me. Think about going to macys today to have them remove thing. Have a tube light moment and remember I am lazy and procrastinate the job to tomorrow(hopefully).

Step VII: Check facebook. Update status. Eat lunch. Watch the NFC championship game on TV feeling accomplished.

Karma is a bleep

People who come to a blog hoping to read an unbiased opinion are asking for a lot. So with that out of the way I feel free to show my "unbiased" opinion on a few recent occurrences in the sports world.

The Yankees have not yet signed their groundskeeper to a 100 million dollar contract yet. The reason obviously is that he is a Scott Boras client and likes to play hard ball seeing that he is going to have to tread and maintain a whole new field in the New Yankee Stadium. No but seriously on someone that maybe is worth at least a 100 million bucks to the Yankees is Andy Pettitte. Pettitte was virtually the leader and the ace of an injury depleted staff during the past season. No one will doubt that this is not the same pettitte of the pennant winning teams but he nevertheless provided a sense of stability to a much needed team. Sure his era ballooned and the wins went down but his experience and clubhouse standing were indispensable for a team that lost Mike Mussina and is in the process of firming youngsters Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes in to the rotation. It seems Pettitte rejected a 10 million dollar offer while he was looking for something closer to his last year salary of 16 million. Now I don't think either side is right in the negotiations and they must arbitrate and come to a compromise in the middle because pettitte does not deserve to be treated the way bernie williams was when he was on his way out.
But the reality is Yankees GM Brian Cashman is fully invested in his youth movement and believes that Phil Hughes will come to fruition and that he and Joba will live up to their potential at the expense of a valuable part of the Yankees last dynasty.
All in all it is simply out with the old ( Pettitte) and in with the new(Hughes and new Yankee stadium)

Lets consider a similar change in the NBA. For the past couple of weeks more and more "experts" are saying that Lebron James is the best player in the NBA and has surpassed Kobe Bryant in this category. Well since everyone today is considered an expert on anything and everything, this certain expert disagrees with the rest of his peers. James shows uncanny ability to penetrate and complete almost every drive he attempts at the basket with the ref usually signalling an and 1. His free throw percentage has gone up to 78 %, an improvement from his career average of 73, and his FG% is at an excellent 51%. The majority of his shots are layups therefore leading to such a high shooting percentage but most good teams will have the strategy to block of the lanes and force James to settle for jump shots. James has struggled tremendously in this area. He has a horrible three point shooter at about 29% which is an excellent way to change momentum as well as clinch a game. Just today in the Cavaliers loss to the Bulls in OT, James missed somewhere in the neighborhood of his last 12-14 shots. That is just unforgivable for the so called Chosen One. He hasn't proved to me yet that he can take over a game when his team is struggling and knock down shots when they need it. Today he missed a game winning two just inside the 3 point line as the clock expired showing once again he just isn't a pristine jump shooter like the other greats such as Jordan, Bird and Bryant. Kobe shows the amazing ability to drive his team and puts up numbers to back them and comes through when his team needs him. He revs up his team after a win and scolds them after the loss seizing the role of the leader. Even though Kobe passed up a shot to win the game last night against the spurs, it was ultimately the right call as he was being double teamed and had to give it up instead of just heaving up a long range three. To give the lakers the lead before Roger "Rocket" Mason's incredible three point play, he knocked down a huge 3 in the face of mason with time winding down. Just as a spectator I was scared to my bones, even though I won't publicly admit it, that whenever Bryant touches the ball I feel like he can go for 50 any given night if he really wanted to.

Oh and how awesome is it that the day after Martin Luther King day, the first black president will be sworn in to office. Karma sure is something alright.