This guy is so sickening. It was bad enough that he lied face-to-face to Katie Couric and the American public on TV, but the fact that Alex Rodriguez feels he needs to cheat to get better shows his lack of confidence and how insecure he is about his ability. Is it really that much about the money? Why, if Alex was that talented and supposedly that hard of a worker ever since his high school days, would he need to cheat to get ahead? Was he not already one of the best players ever? Was he not going to make enough money? Just like he cheated on his wife, he cheated on the game I love and the game he supposedly loves. Well screw Alex Rodriguez — he definitely doesn’t love the game the same way you or I do. If he did, he wouldn’t stoop so low as to cheat it. Why do you think he chokes in the playoffs and in every big spot? It’s because the baseball gods know. The game knows. The game rewards the pitcher that trains cleanly and without steroids. It punishes guys like A-Rod for cheating, embarrassing him in the biggest situations.

It’s too damn bad, just too damn effing bad that not enough of these selfish mothers out there don’t appreciate and love the game the way you or I do. If they did, they wouldn’t have been blinded by the dollar or the need to compete to cheat it. 104 players testing positive for performance-enhancers out of 750 in the majors, that’s 14% at the least. What an effing joke. And to think guys felt they needed to take steroids just to keep up, to compete at a level playing field? What jerkoffs. To think there isn’t a trickle-down effect all the way to the high school level is ignorant. To think that the kid who got cut from his high school team wouldn’t consider juicing to make the team is ignorant. To think the kid on J.V. wouldn’t consider using to make it to varsity is ignorant. To think the kid on varsity trying to make it to D-III isn’t considering using is ignorant. Same for the D-III kid trying to get to D-I ball, and the D-I bench warmer to D-I starter, and the D-I starter to getting drafted in the minor leagues. Every single player from 16-46 thinks they need that extra boost to not only get better, but to be on an even playing field. And that’s the freaking problem.

If steroids and these performance-enhancers were good for the body, they’d be legal. But they’re not. They’re despicable substances that alter the balances in your body and cause people to roid rage, commit suicide, and die young. You think it’s a coincidence all the Steelers players are dying before the age of 60? Think again. It’s not all the Cheerios they were eating in the morning that’s killing them.

If people can’t see the reason steroids and performance-enhancers are bad, if people are overlooking how bad it is for A-Fraud and 103 other players in 2003 to be cheating was, then they are effing clueless. Any wonder why the economy is in the crapper and Wall Street fell apart? The same reason most of these major leaguers took steroids — they wanted to make more money. Greed is killing this country and there’s no sense of honor, dignity, or integrity left. How can you flat out lie to the American public on national TV having known that you failed a steroids test? How much more of a fraud can you be?

A-Rod can have his $252 million contract. Those players could have their jobs in the league. Bobby Estalella could have his gig as a backup catcher in the majors, and Jason Giambi can have his MVP and millions of dollars. All I know is that at the end of the day, some of these players could have invested with Bernie Madoff and wind up with their millions all gone. They’d be like me and you. The only difference is I’d be able to look myself in the mirror knowing I still have my dignity, honor, and integrity. The difference is I know I never had to cheat at my job to get ahead. You can never take away my integrity, but for A-Rod, nothing will ever change that he is indeed 100% a fraud.

I’m starting to really like this Tom Crean guy. As if building up Marquette into a powerhouse wasn’t enough, he came to Indiana where he stripped the program naked to clean it up, getting rid of their top returning talent and scholarship players in the process. The team hasn’t been successful on the court this year but you get the sense they’re headed in the right direction over the longterm. At the least, he’s building the program the right way. Another sign of Crean’s ethics was his indefinite suspension of Indiana’s top scorer this season, Devin Dumes, for throwing elbows against Michigan State, one that resulted in a flagrant foul and subsequent ejection. Here’s the elbow in case you want to take a look:

It also wasn’t an isolated incident for Dumes that game — Inside the Hall has the details:

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With the league trending towards young coaches who have no prior head coaching experience, I’m beginning to think that the time off from the game will do some former head coaches well, starting with guys like Jon Gruden. Talking with the Orlando Sentinel, Chucky said he’s going to take the time off to learn more about football, particularly the spread offense that has become so prolific in the college game. He says he intends to visit Oregon to learn about the spread, Virginia to visit with Al Groh, and South Florida to see how Jim Leavitt built up that program. I think it will serve Chucky well to make these trips. Heck, the firing may have even humbled him and taught him that he might need to start acting differently towards his players; this whole thing could be great for him. Anyway, in addition to saying he was hurt by the criticism he received from his former players, Gruden really took the high road when commenting about the Buccaneers:

“I’ll be the biggest Bucs fan out there this year. And I’ll be there; I’ll be at the games. I’ll root for Raheem. I love Raheem. I hired Raheem — twice. I have a lot of confidence he can do the job and wish him the best.”

And what perhaps might be most interesting to people — are you paying attention Mel Kiper Jr.? — is that Gruden thinks Tim Tebow will revolutionize the quarterback position in the NFL:

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What some call the fumblerooski, others may be more comfortable terming, “The Annexation of Puerto Rico.” Either way, the AFC ran a version of the infamous trick play at the Pro Bowl on Sunday. The play wasn’t quite a fumblerooski because the ball was never placed on the ground and scooped up by a lineman, but the quarterback conspicuously handed it off to Le’Ron McClain on a counter and it befuddled the defense. Check it:

That almost looked just like a rugby play out there. Considering it’s the Pro Bowl and guys aren’t going 100% you can’t be certain it would have worked in real game conditions. Still, the defense was startled by the play and the confusion factor definitely worked. I have to figure this would be successful on two-point conversions and other short situations where you need 3-4 yards and you’re facing a spread-out defense. I know this team I used to play in middle school ran it once a game and always scored a touchdown on us. When the entire offense is moving one way it’s pretty easy to get faked out along with it.

Remember these famous last words? “I have never used steroids. Period. I don’t know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never. The reference to me in Mr. Canseco’s book is absolutely false. I am against the use of steroids.” Yeah. How’d that work out for you Rafael Palmeiro? Apparently Alex Rodriguez is trying to join his former Rangers teammate by living in lying infamy. Check out this interview A-Fraud conducted with 60 Minutes in ‘07:

You’re putting me in a tough spot … these are my teammates, my friends. Oh yeah? This is YOU we’re talking about. Who’s the fraud now, huh? This would put a black eye on the game? You’re the one putting the black eye on the game. Did you think you were just going to scoot through this without anyone finding out? Maybe this is why he’s supported Barry Bonds throughout the negativity. And I’ll always say it — be leery of anyone who defends a juicer; it probably means he’s juicing, too.

My buddy HG at You Been Blinded came up with this idea a while ago and I thought it was genius: why not satisfy both crowds of fight fans with a joint MMA and boxing card? Figuring out how to work a steel cage or octagon and boxing ring in the same venue is kind of tricky, but I think it would go over well if you could swing it. Well apparently Roy Jones Jr. thought outside the box and came up with a good way to pitch his upcoming fight:

The boxing-MMA card — called “March Badness” — takes place Saturday, March, 21. Jones Jr. will fight his “homecoming” light heavyweight bout against the always tough Omar Sheika. Headlining the MMA portion of the card will be Seth Petruzelli, the man responsible for knocking out Kimbo Slice. He takes on Doug Marshall. According to a press release, three-time NCAA wrestling champion and Wrestlemania star Bob Lashley will fight in an MMA bout.

The star power for this fight is somewhat light but the idea behind it is great. I’m really intrigued to see how this works. And good to see that the beating Roy took from Calzaghe hasn’t cost him his creative brain cells — he needs them to try and get people to buy one of his fights now that he’s over the hill.