I haven’t watched the All-Star Game (let alone the Home Run Derby) since Bid Selig called one of them back in 2002, but this video is priceless. Chase Utley was being announced as a contestant in last night’s Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium. As he was making his way out, the fans at the ballpark started to ‘Boo’ him. Watch Utley’s response to the crowd at the ‘Cathedral’.
In case you had trouble hearing, that was “Boo? Fuck You”
Now, fan feelings aside (because I’m a Mets fan who is clearly against the Phillies if you read my old Mets posts), I don’t disagree with Chase’s reaction at all. His choice of words could have been more “National TV” friendly, but I think his reaction is correct. This wasn’t a Phillies/Mets game. This was the 2008 Home Run Derby at one of MLB’s most historic fields. This was a showcase of some of the game’s best players. These guys work their tails off just to make it to the Major League level, let alone the All-Star game. This should be a time to throw down your team’s colors and come together to watch some of the best players in the game. Be proud of who is representing your team, but acknowledge the talent of the other players there as well.
If there’s anything that might be guaranteed to happen after that little boo-fest, it’s that the Philadelphia sports writers and bloggers are going to be all over this like crazy glue… and they’re not exactly going to defend New Yorkers.
Are you a sports fan? Are you a die hard sports fan? I bet there’s someone out there who is a bigger fan than you. Okay, I lied. He’s the biggest sports fan in the entire world. How big, exactly? So big, that he’s beginning to look like a Stalker in Training at a very young age. Take a look…
Last month, I wrote a pretty bad, yet cheesy, poem about Jose Canseco, and what I thought about his ‘name calling’ in his books and interviews. I made up my mind about him from the beginning, and never gave his word a chance. But that changed today, when I finally gave in and bought one of his books. I bought his newest release, ‘Vindicated’, from a Penn Station bookstore that was selling it at 20% off (not that the discount is what led me to buy it). It was time for me to give ‘Jose’ another chance. After all, my former opinion of his ‘allegations’ and ‘name calling’ was mostly fueled by the media bigwigs at ESPN or CNNSI, instead of my own cerebrally-formed opinion. So, here it goes.
[Start of ‘Bizarre Story’ Break]
I was riding the LIRR with my girlfriend, on our way to visit my grandparents, when a whole bunch of Mets fans got on the train at Woodside (I say Mets fans because they all had Johan Santana jerseys on). One of them caught a glimpse of what I was reading, and said down at me, “What does it say about A-Rod?“. I ignored him, and kept on reading, because I wasn’t about to get into a conversation with a guy on his way to a baseball game who already looked drunk (at 11:00am, mind you). He turned to a friend of his and continued by saying, “This kid is reading that Canseco book. Man, @&#% Canseco… and @$&% A-rod too“. Kid? Amazing how an 18 year old “kid” calls a 26 year old a kid (I know he was 18 because a friend of his had said “you’re NOT drinking at the game, you’re only 18”). Okay, how in the world would he know I’m 26 anyway… but that’s besides the point. Back to the post…
[End of ‘Bizarre Story’ Break]
I’m not going to give away the meat of the book, because I believe everyone (who has an interest in this topic) should buy the book and give it a chance. The guy is simply recalling his life, from start to present day. Sure, he names a bunch of players and recalls a lot of conversations, but that’s purely secondary to what he really talks about in the book. The majority of this new book was focused on two things (at least from what I took from the book):
A) Why steroids and performance enhancing drugs were kept so ‘quiet’ during the post ‘Strike of 1994’ years of baseball. (I happened to have the same ‘theories’ that he had)
B) How steroids created a ‘Level Playing Field’. (That’s where I was a little skeptical)
My opinion on Jose’s claims haven’t change dramatically, but simply looking at what he has to say (lie-detector passed and all) has given me a whole bunch of new theories to rack my brain with. I will agree with him on this, though. “Chicks Dig The Longball”. How many of you remember that commercial with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Big Mac? Jose made a reference to that commercial in the book, and how it was a funny reference to the state of baseball back in the (now referred to as the ‘Juiced’) era. Fans (and sports coverage hounds like ESPN and others) love the home run ball. Whether it’s a solo shot, a grand slam, or a game-winner… there’s something about the ball being crushed into the next atmosphere that gives baseball fans an incredible rush. After reading this book, I’m starting to believe in the idea that Steroid use was kept quiet because it kept fans (notice I didn’t say ‘all fans’) in their seats, buying more tickets, buying more food/alcohol, and fueling the baseball economy.
None of this means I’m a believer in everything Jose says. What it means, is that I was knowingly hand-fed media garbage and used their opinions as my own. I accepted it without questioning it, and now I want my own opinion back.
So what have I learned from all this? While I never did know a whole lot about Jose Canseco, his book has given me some neat theories to play around with. Thanks Jose!
Believe what you want. Believe who you want. We’ll all believe who we want and what we want. It’s our god-given right to do so. But me? After all of the ‘Canseco Nay-Saying’ I did? I’m glad he opened his big mouth. Then again, the media-opinion-hungry kid on the inside wants this guy to fade away into the darkness that is the “Steroid Era” and never been heard from or seen again, along with everyone else involved. But then I’d just be a media-puppet… and we all know that’s no fun!
Doing my usual web-browsing for baseball news, I came across this Yahoo article on Alex Rodriguez and the Florida Marlins. The article had nothing to do with statistics or the game itself. It had to do with money. This article was about how Alex Rodriguez ($28 million) makes more money, annually, than the entire current roster of the Florida Marlins ($21.8).
If you’ve read my previous “Major League Greedball” post, you’d know my stance on the flow of money through sports, and where I believe it should really be going. I have nothing against Alex and his talents, or any other player in baseball and their talents, for that matter. I just have a hard time believing in the sport with so much money being dumped into it, when all that money could be going to more important places (in my opinion), like into the pockets of educators. Now, I’m not saying that highly paid players don’t give back to their communities. A lot of players have foundations, charities, or donate money because of a clause in their contract. That’s all wonderful and great. But at $28 million a year… if Arod doesn’t win any World Series rings as a Yankee, that’s one big waste of money, in my opinion.
I’ll feel a little better when the $21.8 million Florida Marlins make a playoff run… or will Jeff Loria sign a truck-full of high-priced Free Agents at the end of the season to win a World Series, and fire everyone when they finally win it? How very “Huizenga” of me to say…
As some of you readers might not know, I do enjoy a nice session of Warcraft. But what I didn’t know, is that the creators of Warcraft, over at Bilzzard Entertainment, love a good prank. So when I woke up this morning, forgetting that today is April Fools day, I saw a page for a new console-ready Warcraft game. By the middle of reading all about it, I finally realized that it was all a big prank. Silly Blizzard, you ‘half’ got me! What was even funnier about the prank, is that they went through the trouble of creating a trailer for this ‘new game’. So, without any further interruptions, I bring you: “World of Warcraft: The Molten Core” (for the Atari 2600 platform)
While the first video shows Barack Obama as the winner of the upcoming presidential election, that doesn’t mean I share that same vision of ‘hope’. As it turns out, I’ve lost all interest in this year’s Presidential Election. I’m a big fan of Ron Paul, and I hope he shows up during the final campaigns as a nominee. Wait, did I say Ron Paul? It’s too bad you can’t sense sarcasm from reading words on a screen. If you could hear me read that last sentence back to you, it would make me laugh too! But aside from all that hoopla , I’ve been completely turned off by all of the inter-party bickering between Clinton and Obama supporters. As a registered democrat, I no longer feel like I’m part of a united party, but part of a divided a party. (Sarcasm… taking over… make it stop!)
(Thanks CNN and FoxNews for brainwashing me with those terms, and thanks K.C. for helping me point out my own sarcasm!)
But I digress… Enjoy this awesome clip of one person’s vision of this year’s presidential race!
For some reason, ‘Obamachu’ just sounds wrong…
It could also go down like this…
She should have used “Bill’s Big Mouth”!
Since a good majority of readers who’ve left their comments here and on other sites haven’t been able to read into my sense of humor and assume I’m actually supporting anyone, I’ll have to get serious for a moment. If the selection for President of the United States came down to my vote, it would have to go to these guys. (Serious? Me? Did you fall for the sarcasm again? I just can’t stop!)
[ Readers. please keep the comments at a PG level ]
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J Soul 
The Webestrian’s Opinion