Dan Gould

Wow. I had no idea there were steroids that built lean muscle without bulking up. This not only is a huge thing for A-Rod (much bigger than whether Torre called him A-Fraud) but this really opens up the universe of possible steroid users from the McGuires, Bonds, Clemens, Sosas and Pudges of MLB. When Canseco claimed that A-Rod used, my reaction was that A-Rod was a naturally strong, lean muscled guy - where is the evidence? This really changes things.

I thought the reaction was "Oh shit, now I have to buy Blue Train again."

More here.

Or maybe Gillick's successor figured the roster needs a couple more days to get over the partying and the hang-over before they go to work on defending their title? Well hey they are the "World Fuckin' Champions" so I guess they do deserve a little rest. Do you get to catch any Spring training action where you are? I used to get decent seats for me and the wife for Boston vs Baltimore at Fort Lauderdale. Then last year Baltimore announced that stadium tickets for the Boston game would be available only to those who purchase a three-game pack. No way was I going to buy six tickets to see one game! So we got bleacher seating last year. I've never tried to get tickets when the Cards host Boston in Jupiter, and this year, the finances won't allow any games. (The last time I sat in the stadium, I got a chuckle out of a heckler who was sitting behind me. Some Oriole pitcher was warming up, and he was really "popping" the glove. So this guy stands up and screams "TO ANNOUNCE MY PRESENCE WITH AUTHORITY!" I thought more people would recognize the Bull Durham reference, but only me and a few other people laughed. )

No doubt. One of my best customers during the Stupendous days happily took every Black & Blue release I had.

Or maybe Gillick's successor figured the roster needs a couple more days to get over the partying and the hang-over before they go to work on defending their title?

It goes even beyond the audience, I have a friend who saw him do a solo concert at Oberlin many years ago and after intermission he had the piano tuner come out, he wasn't happy with the tuning, bitched the guy out and started to tune the piano himself. Someone from the audience yelled "sounds good to me asshole" where Jarrett said "only at Oberlin" and walked off. Despite how much I love his talent I have yet to see him live as it always seemed like a high risk or high reward type of proposition. And what are his extraordinary fees per concert? Give me a musician who gives a shit about his audience any day.

Phillies must be behind the times then. Today is truck day in Boston, and the Globe countdown clock says 5 days 20 hours and 14 minutes.

Despite how any of us feel about Bonds the tests were given under an agreement of confidentiality and should be thrown out. Different tests. These are the BALCO tests. The Judge said without someone to testify (that is, Gregg Anderson) this is Barry Bonds piss, its hearsay. Gregg Anderson better never want for anything for the rest of his life for the shit he's done for him.

Looks like Bonds had a pretty good day in court: More here.

I think you're mixing up a lot of different issues here, WorldB3. Number one, Bonds is facing trial in Federal Court for multiple counts of perjury (and related offenses) in his testimony before the BALCO Grand Jury. That is all he is charged with. There are no charges related to the act of using steroids, the charges relate to his perjury when asked about that use. I would think that we can all agree that perjury in Federal court is not a minor offense or something that should be ignored. Number two, there's no question that the owners were happy to see increased attendance and revenue from the steroid-fueled offense of that era. The owners, most writers, the players and their union all share blame for what happened - though I would argue that until the Andro story broke, writers should have been expected to be doing big exposes of PED use or how it might be changing the game. The use itself was behind closed doors. There were whispers, especially for people like I-Rod, but what could the writers do? Things only changed when McGuire was foolish enough to leave his Andro in full view. Third, as for the Hall of Fame, character is one of the six things voters are explicitly told to consider. One can argue the point about using PEDs and whether or not they were illegal according to baseball rules at the time, but I don't think you can argue that being convicted for perjury doesn't reflect poorly on the character of both Bonds and Clemens. But really at this point the question is whether they will lose their freedom over their statements under oath. Getting or not getting into the Hall is something they'll ponder down the road.

Well I always say, don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Should he serve any time, at least his kids will continue to live in the style they've grown accustomed, unlike a typical family whose breadwinner goes to jail. And for the time being, I can't discount the possibility that a jury in San Francisco could at least deadlock. He's paying a lot of money for good representation. There are going to be good days and bad days ahead. And they still have to prove that he knowingly used steroids. I could see Gregg Anderson finally testifying by insisting that he kept it secret from Bonds, and then right there you've got reasonable doubt. Clemens, on the other hand, definitely has an orange jumpsuit in his future, and of course its all of his own doing. He insisted on testifying before Congress. He made unequivicol statements under oath. He deserves to be indicted, convicted, and sent away.

Shawn, If I were in your shoes, with minimal income and a lot of old debts haunting you, I wouldn't take a single phone call from a collector. No one has to subject themselves to such calls. If they do catch you, tell them to f*ck off because you can't pay the debt. The second thing I'd look into is a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing. Its virtually a given that your income will qualify you for Chapter 7 instead of 13, which means all debts will be wiped out*. The fee is $300 if you do it yourself, obviously more if you can afford an attorney. But you need to move forward in a way that allows you to start fresh. Especially if you are looking at a possible job in Dallas. But at minimum, don't talk to bill collectors unless you are prepared to initiate the contact because you are in a position to pay something off. *income qualification is your income in the last six months compared to the state median income divided by two. And the income that counts is only what you earn from a job. If you borrowed from friends or family members shot you a little help, it doesn't count. Even if you used a cash advance on a credit card, that's not "income" as defined by the bankruptcy code. So you shouldn't worry that its tougher to qualify for Chapter 7 after the bankruptcy "reforms". Most people who qualified for Chapter 7 before, qualify for it now.

I'm real curious to see the transcript of the conversation between Greg Anderson and Bonds' former business partner that will be released today. We've seen the Grand Jury transcripts and we've heard about doping calendars and we watched Bonds' physique and head grow in completely abnormal ways. But this will be the first bit of evidence direct from Silent Greg.

The full Times report is a little more detailed. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/sports/b...&ref=sports Bonds can argue about chain of custody issues with the BALCO test results, but there are no chain of custody issues with the samples and results from the anonymous "survey" tests done in 2003. And those apparently show Bonds testing positive for BALCO's designer steroids as well as other steroids.

I've been going back and forth on responding to this - ultimately I find this just as annoying as the claim that beneath every negative reaction to Jarrett is the belief that "I find him irritating, so you should find him irritating, too." Its as if Jarrett's fans have some lingering fear that the persistence of negative comments will ultimately convince them that indeed they should find him "irritating". I am quite certain that for folks like Dave James, his persistent attacks on Jarrett only communicate his response to his music. It says nothing about Dave except that he doesn't hear Jarrett as others do. Jarrett's defenders ought to be able to live with that instead of attacking his detractors.

One law professor's view of the recent reports about Bonds' upcoming trial: More here. When the Giambi's testify that Anderson gave them their doping calendars, told them what they were taking, explained everything about it ... that's very strong circumstantial evidence that Bonds also knew what he was taking, and knew what the doping calendars were about. But it will be real interesting if Estalella actually can testify to a direct conversation in which Bonds said he used. But in the end, should his lawyers pull it out on the basis that the Clear wasn't recognized as a steroid at the time, or if he gets off because of the poor phrasing of the questions, it won't matter in the end. There will be so much evidence of Bonds' steroid use that the reputation of the home run "king" will be permanently destroyed.

I don't see how there are chain of custody issues - he put the material in the box, stored it in the basement. His wife knew about it. The box was moved in subsequent relocations. They can establish their continued possession of the material. And the claim that it isn't reliable or credible - does Rusty really intend to argue that while being Clemens friend and trainer, he conspired, years ago, to screw Clemens at some unknown time in the future? Forget whether or not they find traces of steroids - how does McNamee have Clemens' blood on the gauze unless he did in fact inject him? And if he did inject him, what is plausible, that PEDs were injected, or B-12 and Lidocaine? Furthermore, Clemens says that the injections were in the clubhouse or trainer's room. He took this medical waste home from there, in front of everyone? And certainly, McNamee's explanation of why he kept the material is backed up by the events of the past 14 months. He said that he feared that if the shit hit the fan, Clemens would distance himself, would try to put the blame on him, would be a dishonest scumbag just as McNamee has witnessed (or came to perceive) while he was working for him. Remember that McNamee said that Pettitte would cop to the PED use, because he's that sort of person who would want to tell the truth when pushed. But he said that Clemens would never admit it, and could probably convince himself that he never used. But the bottom line: McNamee saved the stuff to protect himself against Clemens. And Clemens, from the moment he went on 60 Minutes and had his first press conference, demonstrated that his instinct was correct: he did need to protect himself from Clemens.

It may take longer to get that 14th and 15th Slam, but let's remember that Federer has won 5 straight US Opens, where Nadal has yet to reach the final. Pete had a great record at the US Open, too and set the record there, too. The big difference with the rise of Nadal is that a year ago, it looked like Federer would roar past Sampras, and now it will probably be a slow, unsteady climb.

Or figure out the actual purpose of the Album of the Week forum before posting something like this.

Reminds me when I was going to Florida State, turned on SNL one night, probably around 1986, and coming out of the opening monologue when they usually go to a commercial spoof, a porn clip started playing. Everyone was clothed at the start, so we were wondering if this was some sort of sketch or what even though you couldn't recognize anyone from the cast. Then suddenly the girl is naked and pulling on the guy's jeans, and then it went to black and up came the show. I always figured that the engineer on duty hit the wrong switch and sent out the tape that he was watching while SNL was supposed to be broadcast. Better that than some guy's package.

I tend to agree with you on the clock thing, Dan. The absolute worst example is basketball, where the end of close games are often nothing more than a series of fouls and free throws. A fatal flaw in the game, for me. At least with games like football you have the potential for frenzied finishes, which last night definitely qualifies. My view is that in the case of basketball time running out still allows for a strategy (tiresome as fouls and free throws are) that allows for some chance of a comeback from a small deficit. But since the offenses change possession so rapidly, it doesn't really matter that the clock decides the result - clock expiration is as good a reason as any to end it. But in football, you have a strategy, an offensive game plan that has to be forgotten in that "frenzied finish". It would be a different game at the end if the teams could simply play without regard to a clock. I've also always preferred the college football method of playing OT.

Well MG gave a huge list - I'll recommend the Arnett Cobb's on Muse which, iirc, have Cleanhead, Buddy Tate and Ray Bryant in the band. Definitely second the Candy Johnson on Black & Blue recommendation, and I've yet to hear an unworthy Al Grey release from that era.

Isn't it a little early to say that, Paul? I mean I hope you are right, but ...

Pittsburgh 35-6 If the Cardinals score even one TD, it will be simply astonishing. You must have spent most of the second half with your jaw in your lap then. What an annoying game - the outcome decided by a fluke of a play. I mean, isn't any 100 yard interception return flukey? And the end really only serves to remind me why baseball will always be superior to any clock-based sport, but especially football. What would happen if, on the last possession, the team that is behind simply runs its offense. No clock. Stop them in four downs, force a turnover, or they score. If they're still behind, they can run an onside kick and if they recover, they get another four downs. Seriously, why should a clock determine the winner? Baseball is superior because you can't run out of time, and no one can run a clock out. As long as you've got an out left, you have a chance. So congrats Steelers fans, and what is it? Twelve days to Pitchers and Catchers? Thank God!