No Sense in Letting the Recovery Take Hold

Megan Woolhouse, Boston Globe.

"A study by The Pew Charitable Trusts, an independent nonprofit, found the median interest rate advertised by most credit card companies in July 2009 was 13 to 23 percent higher than rates in December 2008."

The banks are not going to take regulation lying down. They've fired a preemptive strike. Credit rates are going to rise and rise quickly in the next few months. Just what our economy needs right now. Tighter credit with predatory rates.  Let's see what Congress does. Especially now that we're entering an election year.

Unemployment Numbers Explanation

Maybe an this is the explanation for why unemployment jumped. It's the up-until-now resilient self-employed who are finally feeling the pinch. Catherine Rampell.

It might be the self-employed, said Joseph Brusuelas, director at Moody’s Economy.com. Self-employed workers are not included in payroll (establishment) numbers, and the household survey data show that this group was hit particularly hard in the last month. 

There may be some hope in the darker numbers, though. From Dave Leonhardt at Economix.

The drop in the blue line toward the right side of the chart shows the pick-up of job loss in September (to 219,000). In October, job losses fell to 190,000 — better than September but still not as good as August (154,000 job losses). Looking at these numbers, you might be tempted to conclude the recovery in the job market has stalled; things have not really improved over the last few months.

Still going to be a tough holiday season, though.

Chart of the Day

Chart by Calculated Risk. Quote from James Pethokoukis.

"Remember in the early 1980s 7 straight quarters of avg. GDP growth of roughly 7% (!) lowered jobless rate by only 2.5 percentage points. Hard to see economy booming like that between now and Election Day 2010."

World Series 2009

27th World Series Champions

No. 25 Syracuse loses stunner to Le Moyne

Nice way to wake up this morning. I didn't even know that Le Moyne and Syracuse had started their seasons.  Le Moyne scored 50 points in the second half and overcame a 10 point second half deficit.  Le Moyne will use this picture in a lot of recruits homes in the next few years. Especially as they (tentatively) prepare to go D1 by the middle of the next decade. 

Update 1/20/10:: Syracuse has risen to the top 5.

Post-Season Picks - Updated (better performance than the umpires)

Off to a good start, picked three of the four division series correctly (what is a "division"?). One shoulda-seen-it-coming stumble. Doing much better than the umpires. What's going on there? They used to be the best of all the referees. I sure hope this doesn't mean replays. Fox-driven baseball takes too long as it is.

Series	Winner	Comments	How I'm doing
Red Sox-Angels	Sox in 5	Home field plus better bullpen. Changing of the guard at catcher for the Red Sox. Ellsbury is the difference. Abreu re-surfaces.	Who saw that coming:  Papelbon giving up his first run and blown save in 26 post-season innings? The end of a (brief) Bosox era. Ironically, Angels sweep is good for the Yankees.
Dodgers - Cards	Dodgers in 4	Torre manages better than LaRussa. Manny shines. Cards' Cy Young candidates are overrated.	LaRussa outmanaged again in the post-season
Phils - Rockies	Phils in 4	Phils have the edge offensively. Rockies are riding their late-season rush (again) and may win one at home. Phils could almost play in the AL East. Almost.	Phillies were the better team.
Yankees- Twins	Yankees in 3	Biggest danger for the Yankees is to finish too soon and then have to wait for the war between Boston and LA to conclude.	True to form. Twins did not have the talent.
League Championship Series
Yankees - Red Sox Angels	Yankees in 6	It's been too long for Derek Jeter and company. This may be the best team he's played on. Girardi goes back to Posada behind the plate for every game, realizing he needs the extra bat. Burnett is on the spot.
Phils - Dodgers	Phils in 6	Manny does all he can. Then gets lost on the way to left field. Phils have too much depth, offense and pitching. And Howard.Interesting match-up. Although the Dodgers have Torre and MANNY.
World Series
Yankees - Phils	Yankees in 5	Phils almost have the power to compete with the Bombers. But not quite enough. Yankees have better pitching and the home field advantage. Sabbathia becomes a Yankee legend.

Are You Kidding Me?

With major sports leagues' seasons overlapping this time of year and the start to the NBA season still a short three pointer away, I guess I missed the Celtics signing  "Rasweed" Wallace as a free agent. What in the hell is Danny Ainge thinking?

Signing such a selfish player can't be a good thing. It won't work. There are certain uniforms in sports that demand respect and should be considered an honor to wear.  Requirements for wearing a uni like the Celtics green should necessarily exclude players like Wallace, well known to be a disruptive force on any team for whom he's played.

He has the potential to dishonor the uniform that so many  guys who went before him were honored to wear. I'm calling a technical on Ainge.

Poor Children Learn. Teachers Unions Are Not Pleased

RICHARD WHITMIRE AND ANDREW J. ROTHERHAM writing in the Wall Street Journal on October 1st make note of the fact that teachers' unions are taking a hit in some of the most liberal publications in America.

$15 gets you a ticket, a hot dog, a soda and two All Stars

If you need a reason to go to a minor league game, here's a beauty: former New Britain Rock Cat teammates Tori Hunter and David Ortiz getting ready for the ALDS. Not every minor league player turns out to be an All-Star, but that's true in the majors, too.

Post-Season Picks

Last night went according to form. Here are my picks going forward:

MLB Post-Season Picks

Series	Winner	Comments
Red Sox-Angels	Sox in 5	Home field plus better bullpen. Changing of the guard at catcher for the Red Sox. Ellsbury is the difference. Abreu re-surfaces.
Dodgers - Cards	Dodgers in 4	Torre manages better than LaRussa. Manny shines. Cards' Cy Young candidates are overrated.
Phils - Rockies	Phils in 4	Phils have the edge offensively. Rockies are riding their late-season rush (again) and may win one at home. Phils could almost play in the AL East. Almost.
Yankees- Twins	Yankees in 3	Biggest danger for the Yankees is to finish too soon and then have to wait for the war between Boston and LA to conclude.
League Championship Series
Yankees - Red Sox	Yankees in 5	It's been too long for Derek Jeter and company. This may be the best team he's played on. Girardi goes back to Posada behind the plate for every game, realizing he needs the extra bat. Burnett is on the spot.
Phils - Dodgers	Phils in 6	Manny does all he can. Then gets lost on the way to left field. Phils have too much depth, offense and pitching. And Howard.
World Series
Yankees - Phils	Yankees in 5	Phils almost have the power to compete with the Bombers. But not quite enough. Yankees have better pitching and the home field advantage. Sabbathia becomes a Yankee legend.

Don't Doubt the Power of Manny Being Manny

There are few position players in baseball who can realistically carry a team for any significant length of time.

Sure, there are guys who can do it for a series, or even two. But rarely alone - when Jacoby Ellsbury seemingly carried the Red Sox in the 2007 post season, he wasn't even the MVP -  and more rarely still for any significant period of time.

It's possible for Albert Pujols to carry the Cards. It may be possible for Alex Rodriquez, although he's always had superstars around him who make him better, not the other way around.

But Manny Ramirez can do it.  By himself, he can keep a team winning for weeks at a time. He did it in Boston and he did it in Cleveland. He is potentially the most dangerous player in this post season.

There is a columnist in Los Angeles who disagrees with that assertion. Steve Lopez has decided that Manny is no longer playing hard enough. And if you agree with him, he might give you his World Series tickets. Of course, the World Series is still seven post-season wins away and it seems as if Steve Lopez is already thinking World Series. And if he is, he must believe that the Dodgers will get that far.  And the Dodgers are going no where without Manny.

Sportsmanship

You may have seen this. A Connecticut high school football player, Nick Reardon of Wolcott Tech, scored his first career touchdown. He had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and began chemotherapy the Monday after this game.

Walcott Tech is not a very good football team. They typically lose by several touchdowns and rarely score one themselves. 

So when they played against Avon High School recently, the score was expectedly lopsided. Late in the game, though, Reardon scored. 

The sportsmanship part of the story is that the play was called from the other sideline, by Avon head coach Brett Quinion.

It Will Come Out Eventually

I'm a freebie virgin.  It's true. I get no gifts, free products or demos when I write this blog. Nothing. Although I'm certainly open to it.  I must be one of the few not on that gravy train because according to the New York Times,

The F.T.C. said that beginning on Dec. 1, bloggers who review products must disclose any connection with advertisers, including, in most cases, the receipt of free products and whether or not they were paid in any way by advertisers, as occurs frequently.

Frequently?  What am I missing? And what's the value of the freebies? Has Apple been sitting on my free iPhone? Has Audi held out on the S5? I'll be glad to offer musings on what it's like to live on the beach in the Hamptons. Really. And I don't need one of the bigger cottages either. Anything on the water will do.

It's possible they've been trying to reach me all along. So maybe I shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss the telemarketers who - whoops - ignore the fact that I'm on the Do Not Call list. I should have accepted the call from "Your Credit Card Company".  It's possible my credit card company merely wanted me to accept an all-expenses vacation. Or a new jacuzzi. They've been known to be generous from time to time, after all. Just ask Chris Dodd.

Call me back. I'll be home all morning.

AIG and Manny

Could there be a better sponsor for Manny?

The Most Trusted Man in ...

No, no Bill, it wasn't Monica. Believe me.

I'm Coming Teddy

I'm looking out my door right now at this shady establishment, about a shank 8-iron away and I'm about to walk across the street and kick some Alcor ass.

No Contest

Given recent events, the IOC made the easy choice:

This...

not this...

Replacement Refs: Not a Big Change

When has the NBA not used the equivalent of replacement refs? Certainly not in my lifetime. Officiating has been broken ever since the day the league decided to scrap the rule book and and let the games become Vince McMahon-like entertainment exhibitions.

There was a time when referees were independent and acted like it. Now, they are too aware of the game clock, which players are involved in a play and how the call will be perceived by the fans, teams, owners and league officials. And they too often want to be part of the drama of the game. This game to game inconsistency and uncertainty gave room for rogue refs like Tim Donaghy (pictured) to operate.

This may be an opportunity for the league to re-invigorate the referees profession.

Or, get rid of refs altogether. Think about it. It may be possible to bring back the integrity of the game by letting the players call their own fouls - "street rules". Let the players call fouls and work things out on the court. Players know what is or is not allowed in the context of a game. Let courtside - not on-court - officials decide the really hard fouls or when replay is needed to be used.

One thing street rules will prevent ... it will stop the flop. What player would dare flop if his peers are calling the game. Regardless, unless we have a return to the basics of Dr. Naismith's' game, it doesn't matter a lick who's blowing the whistle.

Lousiana with Foliage

Rampant corruption in Connecticut has gotten the attention of media across the nation, most recently the Boston Globe. 

My concern, though, is that the headlines also provide cover for numerous small acts that will never see the light of day, but which are costly and erode trust.

We've Been Down This Road Before

A summary of today's headlines:

• Threat of nuclear war. (NYTimes)
  
• Unsuccessful military presence halfway around the globe (CBS News)
  
• Violent domestic protests (Yahoo)
  
• Bank struggles and restructuring (Bloomberg)
  
• Washington is the worst team in the majors (Yahoo)
  
  
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it - George Santayana

Double Dipping

@Walt Handelsman, Newsday

Double dipping by public employees has become endemic. Tens of thousands of educators (higher ed and k12), military veterans, police and fire officers as well as municipal, state and federal bureaucrats practice the fine "art" of receiving compensation from multiple public sources simultaneously. It results in rising taxes, bloated payrolls and long-term debt

In Connecticut, lower tax revenues caused the Governor to consider ways to cut state payrolls. The incentive for employees to leave public service (heaven forbid anyone gets fired) was to offer them early retirement. This followed on the heels of a previous negotiation with public unions to lower the rate of their pay increases in return for a no-layoff guarantee. Nice situation, if you can get it.

Bud Selig's Vision of Baseball

This is what 3-22 looks like

The Yankees and Red Sox are meeting this weekend in an epic meaningless series in the Bronx in front of a sold-out (except for the lower bowl) crowd.

In the meantime, in a galaxy far, far away the Pirates are doing their best to catch the Phillies. Not this year's Phillies. The all-time losingest Phillies.

The Right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (not so fast, whitey)

These clever guys appeared outside a Center City Philadelphia hotel this weekend. Their pitch? "It's whitey's fault".

Their message seems a little dated. Nice hair, though.

What's with NL pitchers in Boston?

John Smoltz and Brad Penny were (relative) bargain signings this year for the Sox. Penny was the better of the two, and while he was never great, he chewed up a lot of innings. In that regard, he fulfilled his end of the bargain.

On the other hand, the pitching-smart Braves had given up on Smoltz, and the Red Sox should have paid closer attention to why.

But now the two pitchers have gone back to the National League. And while Smoltz had a one-game revival for the always-smarter-than-you Tony LaRussa, he may be now reverting to form. Penny on the other hand has had back-to-back solid starts for the Giants. Is this a National League v American League thing, or just an anomaly? The Red Sox have had little luck importing National League pitchers.

A Great American

Ted Kennedy is being buried from the Mission Church in Roxbury (Mission Hill). My Aunt Kay used to go to pray for the boys at the Mission Church when they were sick. She used to drive over, go to Mass and then come back with holy water, which she sprinkled on them. I guess her faith paid off.

And Kennedy's mother, Rose Kennedy, grew up around the corner (as they say in Dorchester) on Ashmont Hill from where we lived on Regan Road. It was a mile away and but in reality a world away in terms of the neighborhood.

This may be why Jim Rice had to wait so long for the HOF

For those who were around when Jim Rice was in his prime, his words to Little Leaguers last week are not surprising. When he spoke - which wasn't often - he said what was on his mind. And he wasn't always pleasant in either the substance or the delivery. Many people attribute the 15-year delay to his deserved entry to the Hall of Fame to his outspoken, blunt and sometimes under-thought-out comments.

So you'd think he would have learned. But apparently not. His inspirational speech to Little Leaguers in Williamsport was a bit short on humbleness and inclusiveness.

I understand why he might go after Manny ["We didn't have the baggy uniforms. We didn't have the dreadlocks," Rice said.]. But Jeter? ["You see a Manny Ramirez, you see an A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez),  you see (Derek) Jeter ... Guys that I played against and with, these guys you're talking about cannot compare," Rice said].

He better hope they don't take a re-count in Cooperstown.

Brett Farve is Tempting Fate

Brett. Say it ain't so.  You must know that quarterbacks never die, they just get hurt. Ask Drew Bledsoe or Tom Brady or Tim Tebow. You have a chance to get out before you suffer a permanent injury.

I hope your "Obamacare" is paid in full before some blitzing linebacker has you on your knees. Like YA Tittle.

Thank you...Tom Watson

Golf survived. The great and powerful Tiger Woods missed the cut at the British Open and the sport of golf actually survived. An even greater storyline emerged,thanks to Tom Watson. The 59 year old, 5-time British Open champion shook off challenge after challenge heading to the final hole where par would have handed him a sixth Claret Jug. But it wasn't to be. It was Stewart Cink's time.

But the sport of golf won this weekend. In the end it didn't matter that Tiger missed the cut or Phil was home with his wife. A great story was written by one of the games great champions. It brought back echos of Arnie and Jack and Slammin Sam and Hogan. So thanks one more time Tom for a riveting weekend, me and my HDTV.

Happy 4th of July!!

What a country...Wrap yourself in an American Flag, lay out at your pool, grill some hot dogs, have a few brews, a slice of apple pie with ice cream, kiss a pretty girl, watch some baseball and catch the fireworks.

We're all Americans today.

Finally...It's Over

This had to be the longest NBA season of my life and thankfully the NBA Finals ended last night. I had minimal interest at best. I confess to not being either a Laker or Magic fan. As the NBA goes there seem to be more and more teams each year I grow to dislike or am disinterested. But if pressed, I hate the Lakers. The team of my youth were the Russell/Bird Celtic's and since my relocation to the Valley of the Sun, I love the Nash led Suns. I was raised in a basketball family and I love the GAME of Basketball. Maybe that's why I'm having a fallout with the NBA version. I admit being a basketball snob and a bit of a purest and I hate that the best players in the world are held to less of a standard when it comes to the rules of the game. Traveling, palming, grabbing, slapping, flopping, ball at three quarters court late in a game, superstars being protected are just some of the items that cause me to rant. And I have been know to rant. I would recommend the College game but they are close behind in the same tactics. So for now, its down to the high school level for those of us who want to see rules enforced like they were originally written. If only the NBA would see the error of their ways and bring back the the most beautifully played game we have. It would be "Fantastic".

Cheater, Cheater, Cheater

Another John Calipari program is coming under NCAA scrutiny for alleged violations and as usual the "teflon don" of college basketball has already fled. The allegation centers on star player and #1 NBA draft pick Derrick Rose and who may have taken his SAT test. Of course Calipari denies any knowledge of the wrongdoing. Just like when he was at UMass and his star player, Marcus Camby had already signed with an agent. I guess the "man" placed in charge of a major college program is always kept in the dark about important personnel matters. And I'm perfectly sure after checking Rose's high school transcript and having a couple of deep conversations with his recruit, he must of been perfectly satisfied he had the needed intelligence to gain his eligibility into the highly accredited University of Memphis. What's the graduation rate?

Not...Calipari is a scam artist pure and simple. He's a bane of college basketball. He toys with the lives of young men for his financial and egotistical benefit. University of Kentucky basketball, the most heavily sanctioned basketball program in the history of college basketball has been put in his hands and I'd care to wager within a few years, the lights at Rupp Arena will go dark as the NCAA evokes the "death penalty" for his follies.

Some years ago at a NBA draft combine, I had the unfortunate experience of sitting a row ahead of the esteemed Coach Calipari for a session and I found him to be one of the most arrogant, pompous, self promoters I have ever encountered. These are the virtues I'm sure you never hear from the likes of Dickie V or other college basketball promoters. But then again they'll never kick a dog like Calipari until he's down for the count. Well, start counting.

Arlen Specter - Senate Turncoat

News reports tell us the five time elected scumbag senator from Pennsylvania is switching parties from Republican to Democrat. It's been a long time coming that this turncoat shows his true colors and makes a run to the left side of the aisle. I feel sorry for the people of his state who voted for his hypocrisy. But what surely is the reason why this scumbag made the switch might you ask? Because he would be facing a serious primary challenge within his own party that he was sure to lose. So he sprinted into the welcoming arms of Obama,Reid, Pelosi, Schumer and such. It tells you something about the morals and conviction of this guy or any senator for that matter. When push comes to shove, members of Congress will do and say anything to retain membership. To hell with America, it's an all about me attitude. I certainly hope the great people of Pennsylvania in their next election puts this miserable excuse for a public servant out of service for our country's sake.

March Madness...Hardly

The college basketball season came to a close last night in a yawner of a game. I actually turned the channel within the first ten minutes of the opening half. My wife of 34 years was astonished to think she'd see me turn off a national championship game. It has never happened in all the years I can remember. So why, last night?. March Madness has turned into March Badness. Last year all four # 1 seeds made it to the Final Four. This year, two #1's. a #2 and a #3. Cinderella has been only a fairy tale. You can count on one hand the exciting games of the entire tournament. Not one last second shot. Hardly an upset. March Madness has gone stale.
Or maybe the college game itself is what's failing us. Unless you have a astronomical budget(money, money money) and belong to major BCS conference, your dreams of cutting down the nets is the fairy tale. You have "NC" and that doesn't stand for North Carolina. The yucks on ESPN think college basketball starts and end with UNC, Duke, UCLA, Indiana, UConn...etc. No other schools should dare join the elite. My Alma mater, Xavier, who's crafted quite a winning tradition for a small Jesuit university just had their head coach bought by the University of Arizona, for the tune of 2.2 Million reasons per year. And it's not the first time that has happened.
So here's my solution, at least for next year. Send all the top four seeds as far away from playing at home as possible, no home court advantages. They have enough already. Limit the number of selections from the major conferences. No .500 or lower in conference record teams allowed. Finally, let's accommodate them at the local Motel 6 and feed them McDonald's. That should be good for a couple of thrilling upsets for next year.

Let's Pray...there is no Dodd

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/20/sen-dodds-political-future-cloudy-aig-bonus-controversy/

March Madness II

State schools dominate. So the real question is, who's the top PRIVATE school in the tourney. Is it:

• Duke
• Gonzaga
• Syracuse
  
• Xavier
• St Anthony's (NJ)

Not many choices.

March Madness

Days BEFORE Selection Sunday, I'm picking the NCAA winners:

Men's Final Four:

• UConn
• North Carolina
• Michigan State
• Pitt

Winner: UConn

Women's Final Four:

• UConn
• There's
• No one
• Else

Winner: UConn

Our Father who art in ... Hartford?

In Connecticut, the ranking members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have proposed legislation aimed at one church. The legislation would require individual Roman Catholic (only) parishes to be structured and governed in a particular way. In its current form, it is called Raised Bill 1098. It won't pass. But you can imagine what this means. Legislators feel free to attack the First Amendment. Anti-religion is on the rise. In (fill-in-the-blank) We Trust? This is what I wrote to my legislators and to the bill's authors:

It is a frightening day when the government acts directly against a religious group. I am adamantly opposed to any intervention by the Legislature into the governance of the
Catholic Church. I urge you to oppose Raised Bill 1098.

On its face, this proposed bill is a violation of the separation of Church and State. Perhaps more importantly, how does such a blatently unconstitutional bill get this far?

I am concerned that the lessons of history are lost on the very people who have been given the authority to write history. One of the core precepts of this country is religious freedom. This right allows individuals to join institutions based on their free will. If the institution is not being governed in a way that makes sense, each of us has the right and ability to choose another institution. If any individual's constitutional rights are being abridged, there are already state and federal laws that can be brought to bear.

That a legislator would use the power of government to attempt to force an organizational change in the Catholic Church is stunning. If this attempt succeeds, the consequences are almost too profound to grasp. Imagine a priest being arrested for carrying out pastoral and episcopal duties. Imagine individual believers having to declare for a 'state-sanctioned' church, with tax levies or other consequences for failure to comply.

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews, And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew;

And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

- Martin Niemoller

The issues facing the Church are real and need to be addressed by its membership. The legislature has no role to play.

Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi,Christopher Dodd, Harry Reid

I can't remember but were these morons on the Presidential ballot last November?
How do we shut this foursome up? They are expects on everything.
Maybe if our supreme "Messiah" wasn't such a rookie and actually took some time away from delivering three or four speeches a day he'd take them to the woodshed to deliver the beating they deserve.

Jim Calhoun, Urban Meyer, Roy Williams, Jim Tressel......

Every state budget in this current financial crisis is drowning in a sea of red ink and I would bet one of those government $Trillions$ the highest paid state employee in all 50 states is some coach at a university. And now you can see and hear the arrogance from someone on the taxpayers gravy train. He's won a couple of National Championships. He brings in Millions of dollars to the university. He sure sounds "Entitled". Sort of like one of those Wall Street types. Maybe President Barack Hussein Obama should come down hard on state government waste just as hard as he's come down on Wall Street salaries. It would at least be consistent.

Annual Events

The annual far-off sighting of spring: "Pitchers and Catchers report to spring training." But there's snow in the forecast. And we all know that it has snowed many times during the opening week(s) of the baseball season in April. So there's at least another month - or more - of winter in the New England.

Plenty of time to speculate on which month the Yankees will collapse this season.

Oh yeah, Yankees collapse. An annual event. Like spring.

Take Your Pick

Jeff Pearlman has it right. Bud Selig is either an idiot or he's full of sh--.

Selig has made barrels of money during the Steroids Era. Which makes him self-serving at best. But no idiot.

So my pick is ....

... he's a total cynic.

Secrets? What Secrets?

Did the world really need to hear this??

Dianne Feinstein has proven once again that any sentence with the words Intelligence and Senator in them is inherently oxymoronic. She stated at a Senate Intelligence hearing that the Predator planes used to launch missile strikes against Islamic militants are based in Pakistan. Something that had not been previously acknowledged by either side.

The age of transparent government has begun.

I've been forced, due to my business, to watch the testimony today of all the major U.S. bank CEO's getting grilled by idiotic Congressmen and Congresswomen. I think if each voter in America watched any part of these congressional proceedings, they would vote all these lame brain representatives out of office.
After watching, I say thank God for these CEO's because at least they know their business, whereas the government knows noting about their business.

First of all, I admit fully without hesitation to being a huge Yankee fan, but much more than that, a huge baseball fan. I'm sick and tired of all the steroid news and accusations the last few years. I've never been a big fan of Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens. And I sure hate to hear that A-Rod is the latest moron to have injected his body with deadly drugs.

But...if in fact you are against steroids in baseball, you are now smack on the side of the U.S. Government and Jose Canseco. And knowing their track record, maybe it's time to re-think our opinion.

As I said earlier, I'm not a fan of Barry Bonds, but boy was I a fan of seeing and hearing the crack of his bat when he connected. And I booed every second he rounded the bases. Or to see the fireball and hear the popping of a catchers glove when Clemens unloaded a high hard one. And as much as A-Fraud would fail in pressure situations, the chance that he connects is why you're there.

We live in a new era for sure and it's hard giving up our past hero's for these impostors. Mickey, Willie and the Babe will always stand the tests of time and will remain in our hearts. And I will argue that both Bonds and Clemens were HOF'ers before their first injection. It's time to forgive and forget.

I was sitting around yesterday watching the Buick Open golf tournament from La Jolla and the thought occurred to me that golf too is guilty of adding steroids to their sport. The difference is that they allowed their illegal injections into their clubs and balls. Think how we shudder to see Tiger scorch a drive of 350 yards. Think Hogan, Snead, Palmer and Nicklaus would have loved to have had the present day technology when they dominated?

And how about the NFL? That league is all about steroids. I mean guys 275-300 lbs with no body fat running sub 4.5 second forties. Jim Brown would have gained double the yards with the Mack Trucks of today clearing holes for him. Just close you eyes and look away. It's entertainment.

Training and workout structure has come along way since the days of Babe, Mickey,Willie, Jack and Arnie. The majority of professional athletes back in the day had to carry a job in the off season to pay their bills. They didn't have time to train and they certainly didn't have the luxury of a personal trainer. Let's face it. Today's athletes are the best conditioned in our history. The competition of their sports demand it. And with a widening appeal of the money sports offer and the increasing number of participants from outside the Unites States, the competition for jobs are at a boiling point. So athletes turn to performance enhancing drugs (PED's) for an edge.

In closing, let me state as emphatically as one can, that I do not and will ever look favorably upon an athlete who has to stoop to PED's as a way to compete. It's a killer as in a death sentence for those individuals. But let's also learn to accept we have a whole new paradigm for sports and its athletes and even it means re-writing record books, who cares. We have much more as humans to care about right now.

Hip Surgery

Reading a nice article on Carl Yastrezemski's grandson in the Boston Globe, and I came across this, "Papa Yaz has had a tough few years. His only son, Michael, 44, died of a heart attack Sept. 15, 2004, after undergoing hip surgery." Mike Yaz was a Triple A player at one time. I vaguely remember a news story when he died.

However, since I'm considering hip surgery soon, that sentence really jumped out at me.

Manny being Manny

Taxes? Not for me.

Let's stop the hatin' and start the learnin'.

Daschle, Killefer and the other sainted tainted Obama nominees clearly know something we don't know. There are no downsides to tax evasion. The only mistake they made was agreeing to work for the President. So, knowing that there is no chance I'll be asked to submit my name to Congress for a cabinet-level job, I'm going to learn from the masters: no more taxes for me. Taxes are for the little guy. Wait that's me. Taxes are for the littler guy. Yeah you.

Dodd: Is This Full Disclosure?

I'll assume you know that we've waited 8 months or more for the senior Senator from CT to reveal his relationship with Countrywide Mortgage CEO Angelo Mozilo.

Now that he's finally decided to let the public in on his financial records, there are still more questions. The elephant in the room remains: did he or did he not give favorable treatment to Countrywide (and others) as a result of the favorable rates he got on his mortgage.

He might actually believe he got no special deal. And he might even believe that his actions as head of the Senate Banking Committee weren't influenced in any way.

In other times I might say that Sen. Dodd was the poster child for all that's wrong in Washington government. And as the Hartford Courant points out, the central question of whether he took favors from Countrywide mortgage or just negotiated shrewdly has still to be determined.

But, Sen. Dodd looks above reproach next to the other headliners in today's news: former Sen. Daschle (isn't tax evasion a felony, by the way?) who just withdrew his nomination, Hartford mayor Eddie Perez (who pleaded not guilty to bribery in court today and triggered a NYTimes editorial) and Nancy Killefer, who withdrew from being a candidate for the (holy cow) position of Chief Performance Officer.

Citigroup Adds to "Fleet"

Bowing to pressure from President Barack Hussein Obama and the rest of his government cronies, Citigroup abandoned their plans to add a $50 Million state of the art private jet.

Instead they elected to take the slow boat to China. It comes complete with oars for all those upper-mangement types.

Now if all investigative journalists can fixate on pork barrel government spending on behalf of us taxpayers, then maybe we can fix this financial mess.

Congratulations Jim Rice

Finally

After 15 years and in his last year on the Hall of Fame ballot, Jim Rice will take his rightful place with the greats of the game.

As a lifetime Yankee fan, Jim Rice was the one Red Sox slugger who struck fear into my heart. In the most wondrous baseball year of my life, 1978, Jim Rice was MVP.

I wonder how Fred Lynn feels today, because he and Rice formed a truly dynamic duo and if he had stayed a Red Sox instead of taking the money from the Angels, Fred Lynn might be together with his Red Sox teammate in Cooperstown.