Manny Ramirez...Latest MLB Liar

Manny Ramirez was suspended for fifty games for failing a drug test. A baseball performance enhancing drug was found in his urine test. I will tell you his pathetic excuse in a moment. But first I must let you know what I believe needs to be done to stop this atrocity in baseball.
Roger Clemens was a disgrace. He lied under oath, he was a seven time Cy Young winner. Two more times than any pitcher in Major League Baseball! I feel he should give those award up. He didn't and won't, instead he tried to take the pressure off of himself by throwing his wife under the bus. He let the world know she was being injected with steroids while getting ready for a photo shoot. What a stand up guy and wonderful husband. Let's just hope he stays out of the hall of fame.
Then we have Alex Rodriguez, Arod. Rodriguez's scumbag agent, Scott Boras, negotiated a ridiculous monetary package with the Yankees for ARod. The deal is worth a guanteed $275 million dollars for ten years. Boras front loaded the deal. ARod will get paid $32 million in each of his first three seasons. He will receive and extra $30 million for each of his homerun milestones he hits! Gross, I know. But it gets even better.
Rodriguez tested positive for steroids back in 2003. In 2003 there were no penalties for steroid use. It was known back then by owners and the league that Rodriguez was using steroids. But they didn't care. He was still able to negotiate this contract worth over $300 million dollars! Why do you think that? Money, the owners of the Yankees will make more than that off of Rodriguez if he reaches his potential.
There are 104 other MLB players that tested positive for steroid use back in 2003. We don't know who they are, but the league does. I want to know what their contracts are worth. Where are they playing? Who signed them knowing they were using steroids?
Barry Bonds, the king of bullshit! He is liar and a cheat. The San Francisco Giants have known that for years. They have watched him go in and out of court. They kept him, because people kept paying to see him go for the homerun record. That is what the Yankess are hoping will happen with ARod. ARod has a chance to break the homerun record. I actually think we should have two homerun records. One for real baseball players and the other one for cheaters.
Here we are with another cheater in baseball. I have to tell you Ramirez made the Dodgers work hard to get him, and pay him a lot of money. The only reason he ended up with the Dodgers is because the economy slumped, with a slumping economy how many families will be able to buy tickets to the ball park this season. Where do you think players get their salaries from? If no one is coming to the ballpark, the owners are not making bucket loads of money off of $5.00 beers and $10.00 hot dogs! Let's not forget the souvenirs.
In the end, after a very dirty battle, Ramirez got a two year contract worth $45 million. The first year is a guaranteed $25 million! This is what Ramirez gives the Dodgers in return. The loser can't even help his team for fifty games and won't be back until July. Hello people, this can do serious damage to the Dodger's record. I say to the owners of teams that recruit these liars, "YOU DESERVE IT!"
This brings me to my point. The players should be punished. Ramirez will lose $8 million during his suspension, but I think the owners should be the ones that lose money from their pockets. The owners are leeches. They leeech off of the players. The owners are not in it for the fans or the players, they are in it for themselves to feed their egos that are so large they can't feed them enough. Do not think for a minute that the owners are not aware of who is doing steroids and who isn't.
Owners don't care if players are doing steroids. All they want is the player to show up and play at levels that are almost unattainable without steroid use. This is what Rodriguez said after getting busted for steroids, "When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all of the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level everyday." That says it all folks. I actually believe that statement.
I will end with Ramirez's excuse," Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me. Unfortunately the medication was banned under our new drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsiblity. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons."
I would like to say, "Manny, you are a liar. Manny, you have watched Bond, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa and Canseco make the same bullshit statements and claims. Own your mistake and tell the truth, you injected steroids for the money!"

And She's Dead.....

This past Saturday night Mark and I went to our favorite bar in San Francisco to watch the seventh game of the Bulls against the Celtics, and play some pool. I am a HUGE Bulls fan. The series between the Celtics and the Bulls was one of the most spectacular and entertaining series in sports I have ever watched.
I had predicted before the series started that the Bulls would pull out an upset. Needless to say, I was so excited on Saturday night. I was envisioning my glorified ego stating, "Yep, I predicted this. Go Bulls." Well, they lost. I was pretty upset.
We moved on to our pool game. I was not playing too well and lost too many games to Mark to count. I was frustrated and getting bitchy. I decided enough of the pool table. I started talking to a fellow patron at the bar. Nice guy, but then I realized how incredibly arrogant he was about the New York Yankees. I am a White Sox fan, and then the discussion erupted into a tense conversation.
We rallied back and forth. I of course had to point out the Yankees loss to the Red Sox a few years back, you know, when they had the Red Sox down three games. I let him know that Derek Jeter is the oldest short stop in the league and his days might be numbered. Then I threw in ARod, the overpaid no show in the playoffs third baseman. Of course I asked, "Hey, his ARod's cousin still traveling with him on every roadtrip?" ARod's cousin was the one injecting steroids into ARod for all those years. The banter went back and forth.

His name was Ragu. In my juvenile state I kept calling him Prego and Classico.

Yes, at one point, I realized I was a bit frustrated at the Bulls, and my loss in pool, and I needed to walk away from this conversation.

Once again, God brought me back to reality of what is really important. Mark and I were getting ready to head home. I was tired and wanted to get to bed. In walked our friend Dave whom I haven't seen in six months. I went up to Dave and said, "Hi! Where is Deb?" Deb is his wife. He said, "Deb died six months ago."
I cried and said I am sorry. Then we talked. Dave and Deb had just celebrated their twenty year anniversary together,and then she died. Deb was fifty one years old. She was the love of Dave's life. The coroner still can't figure out what she died from.
I called Dave on Monday. I am having him over to our house for a BBQ next week. Life is so short, I know this, and here I was getting caught up in the Bulls loss, losing over pool and argueing over the New York Yankees whom I don't even care about! I am still in shock that at times I allow myself to get caught up in the trivial things in life!
Kiss your loved one good-bye when they leave, look them in the eye and say I love you, and enjoy your day today!