Sunday, February 08, 2009

Sunday 02/08 (Very A-Rod) Quickie: A-Roid

Aaand.... welcome to the story that will dominate the next month or two or ever:

A-Rod is a cheater. Or was a cheater. Or whatever. Positive PED test a half-decade ago...yada yada yada...cheater.

I find myself unmoved by this news, for a couple of reasons: Who DIDN'T think he was using PEDs... The entire ERA is assumed to be tarnished by cheaters (why didn't we hear about the other 103 players to test positive?)... The 2003 test seems like forever ago... Oh, god: the media coverage of this is going to make you even more sick than the coverage of Barry Bonds.

So the greatest hitter ever (Bonds) cheated. The 2nd-greatest hitter ever (A-Rod) cheated. "Meh" has become a cliche, but that sums up how I feel about this story. And, yet, it will be unavoidable.

More:

*Gonzaga ain't ready for prime-time: I didn't think Memphis was all that good, and the Tigers just beat down on the Zags.

*Is Duke just not that good or is Miami better than we thought?

*(Clemson is NOT as good as anyone thought, as usual.)

*Just when you thought Xavier was a cool pick to get to the Final Four...

*Given the way Michigan plays against top teams, should their decent-but-not-great record keep them out of the NCAAs?

*Texas loses again (3rd straight L): This qualifies as a tailspin.

*For those of you tracking Northwestern's bubble NCAA Tournaments status, it took a huge hit with a loss at Big Ten bottom-feeding Iowa. Typical NU hoops...

*It seems so strange that Georgetown isn't going to be in the NCAA Tournament. This seemed like such a talented, well-coached team. Biggest disappointment of the year, nationally.

*Adam Morrison traded to the Lakers: He can't play D (which the Lakers do very well), but I see him having a career renaissance on the NBA's top contender.

*Best NBA performance in a win: Dirk (44 pts); best performance in a loss (Ramon Sessions: 44); best fantasy performance: Al Jefferson (36 pts, 22 reb... and he's NOT an All-Star?)

-- D.S.

2 comments:

Binny said...

Dan --

I know cynical fans like you, me, and probably anyone who reads this site aren't completely shocked by this story, nor are we excited about the coming media firestorm. However, "meh" is not the appropriate response, either.

While suspicions certainly abounded for anyone playing in this era putting up those kind of power numbers, the facts remained that A-Rod never had a Bonds-like "spike" in numbers, nor had there been a whiff of proof that he was juicing. We were to believe, as I did, that he was just that freakish, he was just that regimented in his training. And as much as you or I could've suspected that he was enhancing, there was never any evidence of it. Until now. And that's a big deal. A very big deal.

Also, Jose Canseco is right again? What a world...

Neil Johnson said...

Dan, you're missing the important details from Ramon Sessions' stat-line last night. Forty-four points, from a PG, with zero three-point field goals. That is impressive. I'd love to see the Elias stats on that. Also, I'd like to pay myself on the back for picking him up off the waiver wire to backup CP3.