Biogenesis update from Yahoo!: Most players will accept their suspensions, names listed.

Yahoo! Sports reports that most of the Biogenesis drug suspensions will be accepted.  A-Rod is still forecast to challenge his suspension, but that one is almost-certainly coming outside the scope of the drug agreement.

Word is that players WILL be additionally suspended "double-digit games" for refusing to comply with the Biogenesis investigation.  This probably makes Braun's 65-game suspension more of a baseline than the standard 50-gamer.

Names in the Yahoo! report include:

• Detroit's Jhonny Peralta
• Texas' Nelson Cruz
• San Diego's Everth Cabrera
• New York Yankee Francisco Cervelli
• Jesus Montero (29 games this year in Seattle, demoted to AAA -- was a Yankee in 2011) 
• Cesar Puello (Mets AA Binghamton, and there was some question as to why he was not promoted.  Biogenesis was not mentioned in a "Mets Official" answering that, but I'd have to think that's in play here.)
• Fernando Martinez (11 games this year in Houston, traded to the Yankees, now in the AAA Yankees system in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre)
• Free Agent Jordan Norberto (last pitched in Oakland in 2012, pitched 3 very ineffective outings for AAA Sacramento this year)
• and Free Agent Fautino De Los Santos (also last pitched in Oakland in 2012, bounced around several farm systems' AAA situations this year)

Anyone else beginning to think Urban Meyer got the BCS memo?

Ohio State University has suspended RB Carlos Hyde, a major contributor to their undefeated season last year, for at least three games (with "additional conditions" which must be met before he can be reinstated) for his arrest (though he was not eventually charged) for assault.

Anybody else think that, especially as the red flags continue to go up on Johnny Manziel, that Urban Meyer got the memo to clean up Ohio State's football program so they can get the shot this year against Alabama?

Hyde was the leading scorer on last year's team with 16 rushing touchdowns, and, now, I'd have to think he's probably going to transfer.

A-Roid Update, and the kinds of things that what he's been involved with MAY imply...

It appears as if we will know how Bud Selig will attempt to proceed on Alex Rodriguez in the next few days.

The AP, through ABC News, has reported that Selig will probably try to suspend Rodriguez through the Collective Bargaining Agreement, meaning his suspension is for more than just using performance-enhancing drugs.

In the report, the AP/ABC News reports:

• Numerous "charges" are going to be levied on Alex.  They include:  Obstruction of the investigation, lying in the investigation, and the open recruitment of players to Biogenesis.
• As a result, Selig may attempt to suspend Rodriguez for those offenses, which might open the door to an additional suspension for PED use later on.

And, yes, ESPN had to weigh in on it:

Much to the disgust of some, I include this for several key points of discussion:

• I find Smith's admission as to the culpability of MLB franchises in the perpetuation of the Steroid Era shocking, for it cuts right to the heart of one of ESPN's money franchises.  Yet, he does not believe MLB itself is so culpable.  For the record, I believe both MLB and the MLBPA could be actionable under the RICO Act for the stuff allowed during the Steroid Era.
• Though I disagree on the equivalence that Smith gives between A-Rod's situation and Ryan Braun's, I do actually see a point he makes:  Whatever punishment A-Rod gets, Smith does not want it to be a Get Out of Jail Free card for the Yankees.  I actually see that argument.
• Skip Clueless (Bayless) actually, for the first time, appears to make a valid point on what will and probably eventually will happen to A-Rod.  I agree that I believe Selig will go for the Disqualified List for Rodriguez -- a life ban.  I believe (and I'll explain why below) this should've happened two years ago for Rodriguez's ties to an illegal poker ring which led to 30 arrests in April, 2013.  Apparently, Russian gangsters and cocaine were involved!
• However, it's clear A-Rod would challenge such a punishment, and the word I've been hearing is the same Skip says eventually will happen -- rest of this year, all of next, career effectively over anyway.

I've been doing quite a bit of thinking over the course of the last couple of days, as we await the word on the suspension.

And a lot of it centers around that we know that the only entity Alex Rodriguez ever was playing for was...  Alex Rodriguez.

Let's put some facts together:

• We know that both A-Rod and Jason Giambi admitted to PED use in the years 2001-2003.
• Major League Baseball was actually cautioning Rodriguez to steer clear of such poker games as far back as 2005!  (Source:  Time Magazine)
• The poker games in New York (which went all the way into 2013) were "A-list" and "high-stakes" affairs.

Where am I going with this?

Somewhere which, if eventually proven true, would make Shoeless Joe Jackson look sane.

I'm going to forward a theory.  Yes, probably a conspiracy theory.

But if it's right, it would explain a lot of things, including what kinds of things are going on with some very compromise-able athletes.

Let's take a look at the 2004 ALCS, the classic "first ever comeback from 3-0 down" series.

A-Rod was 8/31, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 5 runs batted in.

Giambi, recovering from a benign tumor (related to his PED use, perhaps?), did not play.

I hearken back to Stephen A. Smith effectively accusing the New York Yankees franchise of turning the other way on PED use for the benefit of their team.

But it wasn't until 2009 (the one Yankees championship they got for the ~$2,000,000,000 they've spent the last decade, according to Smith) that Rodriguez seemed to finally shed the choker label.

So it makes one ask the question that I seem to be the only one who still asks, at least of those who write things:

Am I the only person who recalls the A-Rod poker investigation, and openly wonders why it got swept under the rug so quickly?

Especially on the latter, I do begin to wonder if it's because he wasn't the only Yankee involved in it!

The only reason that people knew about A-Rod's poker habits was that it was getting press in the likes of Star Magazine (which the Time article, linked above, referenced).

What if he wasn't the only Yankee playing, and it was 2004, and people were losing to the likes of these Russians who were running the games?

We already know of at least two Yankees who were on performance-enhancing drugs.

What if that entire 3-0 -> 4-3 situation was a manipulation because of the conduct of not only Rodriguez, but of a number of other compromise-able New York Yankees?

We may well never know the truth (because no one would dare say it -- no one dares piss off the Russian mob, and it's a Federal crime anyway), but it is the kind of thing that A-Rod's conduct does bring into the equation.

More American Exceptionalism *guffaw*

CONCACAF Gold Cup Final.

Annual (except for the World Cup year) national-team tournament for the North and Central American soccer region.

Finals:  USA vs. Panama, in Chicago.

69th minute, and if someone can please explain to me how the linesman and referee "missed" this one except for having the USA win the tournament on home soil (especially since the opponent was not Mexico!), I'd love to hear it.

From the official US Soccer YouTube:

That was the only goal of the match.

United States wins the CONCACAF Gold Cup, 1-0.

More and more evidence that "school" and "athletic factory" are two equivalent concepts...

Biogenesis fallout has included an Outside the Lines article on Friday which indicates that the Florida Biogenesis clinic, tied to numerous athletes with illegal performance-enhancing steroids and other illegal drugs, has been catering to high-school sophomores, juniors, and seniors (16 and 17 year olds, at least), many of them with the full knowledge of their parents.

Several of them were even seen being taken to the clinic by their fathers!

The head of Biogenesis, Tony Bosch, is not licensed (hence, illegal in and of himself), and HGH and other illegal performance-enhancing steroids were documented as being dispensed.

Should this be surprising to anybody, disgusting as it is?

First, let's get this out of the way right now.  In light of some of the recent developments (starting with Ryan Braun's "suspension"), Victor Conte (the founder of the infamous BALCO Labs) stated to FOX Sports' JT the Brick on July 23 that he believed that close to half of all professional athletes were on illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

Would it be too large a leap to basically say that our sports culture in this country, should this even be close to true, is inextricably tied to drugs, and that drugs run sports, at all levels?  A number of years ago on 20/20, Conte said that the only option people had was to legalize PEDs, because that would be the only way to ensure any part of a level playing field.

Second, an answer to the last question of the article:  Porter Fischer, a former Biogenesis employee, posed the question "What kind of parent wants their child taking this kind of stuff?"

A parent who wants a child in the NFL.

A parent who bore the child to "take care of them" in their old age.

A parent who wants "The Good Life", and wants his child's work to provide it for him.

Do you really want me to go on, Mr. Fischer?

Basically, a parent who wants to whore their kid.

It would not be a huge leap, especially for the types of families in Florida who've been effectively financed through illegal drug and gang payments to their sons for playing youth football games that the gangs and drug lords gamble on, to state that the kids were born simply to make a few extra bucks, be it on the welfare check or on some other means.

Many of these boys might well have been playing some form of professional for-pay football for several years, and that's if we are to believe they've only been at Biogenesis at 16 and 17 years old.

So it would not surprise me at all that parents were openly taking their kids to be drugged with this shit.

Hell, most people in this kind of sports today would say that it would be the only way to be competitive, and, in fact, it would be too dangerous to play football without using PEDs.

Several big Biogenesis developments are due soon:

• One report (hat-tip to my anonymous friend) indicates the rest of the baseball suspensions may come out, and that Alex Rodriguez will have his career materially ended this week.  The suspension for A-Fraud/A-Roid appears to be at least a full season plus the rest of this one.
• The whistle-blowers who aided in the OTL report indicate they have clients in the NCAA, NBA, boxing, tennis, and MMA.

But Awful Announcing does pose a real question:

Does anyone really care?

First off,  I think it's stronger than Matt Yoder puts it in the article:

"The groupthink on this basically goes like this - A) We don't care about steroids, B) We just want to enjoy baseball in peace and don't care who or who isn't cheating and/or C) Quit trying to scare us about scary drugs."

Especially if Conte's statement is close to true, there would be no meaningful sports at all in this country, at basically any level, without performance-enhancing drugs.

That, in fact, drugs run sports, and drugs ARE sports.

(And then you combine this with the news that OTL itself is being demoted to ESPN2 with a less-than-favorable timeslot (effectively, so it's ratings can disintegrate to the point of cancellation), because we can't have this degree of truth without basically being forced to disintegrate the entire Sports Machine out there.)

Second, when you combine this with the complete animal-pack/gang mentality of many fans, especially those who will swear fealty to their sport above their own lives (much less anyone else's!), you get to a very ugly conclusion that, given the choice, most fans would literally trade anything (their own lives, their friends, the sanity of any or all of the above, that the team is on illegal drugs, taking illegal payments, fixed games, etc. and so forth and so on) just to get that one championship high that will make everything better in their lives -- increase their pay, improve their love life, etc. and so forth -- or so they think.

When you get that kind of morality going on, it becomes easy to see where fans would openly and deliberately interfere with their own and everyone else's lives just to get the one thing which identifies them, Sports Fan Syndrome, as Howard Cosell put it.

So look at this in that realm:  Parents literally whoring their kids and pumping them with PEDs to try to get them to The Show so that they can "get paid", as it were...

At that point, little to nothing should surprise you.

USA Today: A-Roid will not plea. CBS Sports: Life ban still on the table.

Put together into one post at SB Nation is the impending :thunder" that the "lightning strike" of Ryan Braun's suspension yesterday is what everybody's waiting for.

Alex Rodriguez will not plea to anything, will appeal any suspension, and still faces a trip to Baseball's Disqualified List.  The first two courtesy of USA Today; the third courtesy of CBS Sports -- links in the SB Nation article.

Maybe we aren't as far away from flare- and fire-throwing and gunfire as I'd like to believe!

Ugly incident in Florida.

End of an elite soccer tournament for youths at Walt Disney World.

Orlando Football Club/QPR Academy has just narrowly defeated Pachuca Academy of Miami in the championship match.

All Hell broke loose from there, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Apparently, Pachuca players decided to attack the Orlando players, and parents got involved.

A full-scale soccer riot at Walt Disney World.

One guy's pacemaker got set off by several punches to his chest, and reports are the grandfather for which this occurred was also fighting the other team.

A massive "He said, she said." has broken out, with both sides accusing the other, and even the Race Card getting pulled, as many Pachuca players believed they were being targetted for being Hispanic.

What??  This another Black vs. Hispanic thing?

Video is up with the link from local television.

The More I Think About It, The More Aaron Rodgers Had Best Shut Up ... NOW

It all starts with a story that, on surface, is funny.

What happens from here might make this the biggest impact of the Ryan Braun drug career, and "this" isn't even in Major League Baseball...

Aaron Rodgers said, about 18 months ago, that he'd put up his "salary next year" to Todd Sutton that his friend Ryan Braun was clean on Twitter.

I have no idea who Todd Sutton is -- his Twitter tells me nothing on the subject.

That said, though...

Braun of the Brewers and Rodgers of the Packers are close friends.

If I were Roger Goodell, I'd at least field the question, because there is, now, "smoke".

Not sure if there's "fire" yet.  But there does appear to be some "smoke".

I would not (and if I were a fan of any Neanderthug Felon League team, it would be the Packers) 100% rule out the use of PEDs by Rodgers.

I wouldn't rule it in, but I cannot rule it out.

Braun "suspension" indicates Selig wants Second Steroid Era.

Well, The Show Must Go On, right, Alan???

(For those who don't know, Alan is Bud Selig's real first name.)

Ryan Braun, for all the histrionics and bullshit that he's pulled over the last three or so seasons, has just pled to a 65-game suspension for all his offenses, including his stuff with Biogenesis, it was announced today.

He would effectively be cleared to start the beginning of next year.

WHAT

A

FUCKING

DISGRACE

Ryan Braun has done so much against the game of baseball in his MVP-level years, Buster Olney (in an Insider-only blog post which is being free-previewed, so linking to it might not work for very long!) basically called him the Lance Armstrong of MLB.

No, Buster.  Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are the likes of the Lance Armstrongs.  Braun is, more, the Tyler Hamilton of Major League Baseball.

Bonds and Clemens were able to get away with it because of their station in American society.  Hamilton, really, only serves as a working bee to Armstrong's "queen" of the cycling "hive", as it were.

Ryan Braun lawyered his way through one offense (costing two people their jobs), lied his way through most of the Biogenesis shit and avoided questions on the rest of it.

Ryan Braun should be the same place Melky Cabrera should be after his histrionics and fake website from last year:  Baseball's Disqualified List!

How Ryan Braun is allowed into baseball after this, especially in anything which would encompass the Best Interests Of Baseball Clause, leads me to only one conclusion:

Bud Selig realizes that, at best, the former National Pastime is now a Balkanized bastardization on the American sports landscape which MIGHT have about 2-3 months to itself over the course of a calendar year (basically, the opening about 2 weeks (after March Madness, before the NBA and NHL playoffs), and then right about now while the football camps haven't opened yet).  Otherwise, if it's not the interminable Red Sox-Yankees Sunday nighter on ESPN, all people care about is either their local team or where they may have grown up.

To compete in today's sporting economy, Bud Selig feels he wants and needs the Second Steroid Era.  He basically drove Fay Vincent out of the sport due to what Vincent was going to do about drugs in MLB (and only baseball historians like my friend seem to recall this for even 15 seconds!), and, three years later, after the strike, the Steroid Era carried Roidball into the 21st century.

Now, football is God -- it's not even just "King".  Football is now Life for many of these bastards who prostrate themselves in homage and fealty to their National Religion.  (And, boy, do I have some barrels to empty on them in the next 6-7 months or so!)

Baseball -- nor anything else for that matter -- can't compete.  So Bud Selig, on his way out (or so we think) in the next three years, is going to try everything in his power to cover up just enough to get into Cooperstown while trying to revitalize an $8 billion industry (or so Buster Olney has said), and there's really only one way Selig knows how to do it.

This blatant cover-up -- part of a 20-year commissioner-ship full of pro-drug actions which should land Selig in a prison cell with Donald Fehr as his cellmate -- is just another indication of the real agenda of Bud Selig.

This could be a dark day for all but the worshippers of Corporate Sport...

And so, our Lords and Masters are at it again...

Tiger Woods is in contention at yet another major golf tournament, an Woods has not won a single major in the position he goes into today's (as of writing) final round of the 2013 British Open.

And, yet, once again, he is the one, sole, and only story of the tournament.

Never mind Lee Westwood, who is two shots clear of the field.

"The Door Is Open", as ESPN says tonight.

The fact of the matter is, once again, we have been subjected to one man becoming the sport.

This is, really, no different than the NBA becoming the JBA (the Jordan Basketball Association), in the era in which surveys basically noted (as Brian Tuohy has made reference to) that a significant majority of NBA fans of the day were Chicago Bulls fans -- and, hence, Jordan fans.

Never mind that his era single-handedly destroyed the game of basketball in this country.

Never mind that, had any serious examination of laws been done against him in his supposed 1993 retirement, he probably gets jailed, rather than exiled to baseball.

Etc.

And so forth.

And so on.

So why do I bring the man called Foolish Jor-don into this?

Because we now have the same thing going on in golf, and it's been going on 15 years or more.

Anyone with a clue understands that, if Tiger Woods were not in the PGA, Tour ratings would be that of the "real golf fan" and not much else.

In short, it wouldn't have these pigs squealing "GET IN THE HOLE!" on a tee shot on a 500-yard par five.

It would have a very hard time finding anyone willing to cover the sport, as it has been clear that the Tiger Golf Association has overtaken anything Tim Finchem might be Commissioner of.

Let's get a few of my opinions straight right now:

• The only reason he hasn't been rigged to more titles is that the guy is so self-entitled and so rich that his head has been screwed up beyond repair.  Anyone who watches this guy for five minutes can see it in everything he does.  
• The only reason he's even as close as he is to the remaining records of golf he does not have is that the PGA/TGA Tour is the weakest it's ever been -- full of a bunch of golfers making far too much money for their talent.  I'm talking about the likes of you, Dustin Johnson.  Even Phil Mickleson would fall into this category more often than not as he advances out of the age bracket in which he can still be relevant.  (Wow.  Didn't see that 66 coming, especially after his first three rounds and all the words he had for the R&A.)
• It is clear that Tiger Woods is/was going to be the athlete for which this age is remembered, much like Jordan was for his.  The guy was effectively pre-selected by the United States Sports Machine (media, corporate, etc. that basically tells us who we have to prostrate ourselves to in sports) and groomed (until his father died) to be The Next Big Thing.
• I would put real money (if I had enough meaningful money to throw around like this) on Tiger Woods being on Performance Enhancing Drugs.
• I would also put real money on more than a few "problems" being "fixed" on his behalf to ensure his continuance in golf.

Basically, IMODO:   He, his fans, and ESPN, the corporate stooges on his behalf, and the media which bow to him are, to put it bluntly, fucked in the head.

And, to put it similarly bluntly, if Tiger actually does it, WE WILL NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT.

This is why I cannot enjoy sports in this day and age, for Tiger Woods is nothing more than a media and corporate whore we are all supposed to bow down to.

Another example of fandom gone completely batshit crazy.

Actually, I'll give you two.

The first is from last Tuesday's All-Star Game in New York City, where an abject idiot went on Twitter and basically stated that, if he got 1,000 Retweets of the tweet he was posting, he was going to run on the field during the All-Star Game.

He did, he did, he got nailed by the security, and now faces a year in jail for it.  (Given the All-Star Game's apparent status as a High Profile National Security Event, I'm surprised it's not much longer...)

Now that the story has gone viral, why don't we have the NSA, since we know they're spying on everyone's Internet, decide that they're going to find all the fucking Internet Warriors who egged this SOB on and get them too?

---

But that wasn't the one which I was going to do this post on.

That is reserved for Australia's State of Origin rugby series.

The State of Origin, for those who do not know, is a hallowed traditional rugby series.  A three-game series is played every summer (and now, an additional game for players under 20) between players born in Queensland and players born in New South Wales.

Fights are common, the games are contentious, and a lot of bragging rights go to the annual series winner.

So each side has won a game, and the third game is extremely tight going down to the final minutes of the 2nd half.

The score is 12-10 in favor of Queensland. 

A quick primer (not nearly for all cases) for those who might not have watched rugby in Australia before:

• A "try" (touching the ball down with force in the end zone) in National Rugby League in Australia is worth four points.  
• The "Extra Point" kick (after a try) is worth two.  
• If a penalty is committed, and the team infracted against wishes to do so, they can kick a penalty kick from spot of the foul for two points, should the goal be successful -- much like a field goal, except no holder.  
• A "drop goal", in which a player drop-kicks (not punts) the ball for a goal, is worth one point.  (This is often used by teams to try to break a tied match near the end.
• 2 halves, 40 minutes each.
• A team has six "tackles" in which to advance the ball unless a penalty is committed against them.

So Queensland is up by a penalty kick with about 4 1/2 minutes to play as this clip begins...

The real action begins about two minutes into the clip.  Queensland (colors are on the scoreboard you see at the bottom of the screen) is near the New South Wales end zone, but is on it's last tackle (it's sixth) with about 2 1/2 minutes to go.  It has five meters to try to advance the ball and touch it down to get a try.

All Hell breaks loose from there.

No one knows where this joker came from, but a fat streaker made his way all the way across the field to the direct point of attack for Queensland, and, as a result of all the chaos, with security tackling him, a try is scored.

The announcers do a very good job of explaining why there is, obviously, no try to score on that situation ("interference by an outside agent"), but there's a problem.

The rules of NRL rugby give the ball back to Queensland in a scrum, 10 meters out, with only the 2 1/2 minutes left, and a new set of six tackles.

Though New South Wales get the ball back eventually, Queensland holds them off to win the third game (and the 2013 State of Origin series), 12-10.

This guy, Wati Holmwood, is no stranger to the authorities of NRL football.  This is, in fact, the second time in two years he's disrupted a major rugby match in this manner.

In fact, it may be roughly the same thing that happened in the All-Star Game incident here in the United States -- this one might well have been a Facebook challenge, with parties willing to chip in for the fine.

He's probably going to be banned from Australian rugby -- fact is, he should've been the first time!

From what I've read, he's from the Northern Territory of Australia, and he's not particularly welcome anywhere -- been in trouble off and on basically his entire adult life.

This was apparently a year in coming.  He had tickets to last year's second State of Origin match.

But, and I can speak from quite a bit of experience on this type of manner, he takes his place in the annals of sport-fan madness.

At least these two guys were somewhat innocent -- I do begin to wonder, especially in light of our National Religion, when they won't be anymore.

Another lunatic in the name of the Pigskin Cathedral...

If you want one reason that even I am not qualified to believe that we could feasibly end football (and, at the same time, yet another reason why it has to happen!!), I point you to Ben Rohrbach's post in the High School sports/recruiting blog "Prep Rally" today.

It is the story of one Damian Prince from Forestville, MD.

He is the #2-ranked offensive tackle for this year's high school seniors (the ones who would play in college in 2014).

He is one of the top twenty recruits, of any position, in this class.

So, obviously, there is much competition to secure his services.  He is down to a list of schools:  On Monday, according to the Washington Post, he is down to 10 schools:  Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.  In about three weeks, that list will become six, and all contact will stop, so that he can concentrate on his high-school senior season.

(No surprise that it's his home state school, Florida State, Ohio State, and six SEC schools...)

Purported fans of one of the schools (unsure whether it's still on his list or was beforehand part of a list of 30 cut to these 10) have gone so far as to give death threats.

One got his phone number.  Several masked men with guns contacted Prince on social media, threatening to kill him and his family if their school does not get the call.

Anybody want to explain to me what these fuckers would do without football, if they are this insane WITH IT?

So how much longer before we learn the truth about "Johnny Football"...

... and he has to return his Heisman(s)?

Look, I make no secret that Johnny Manziel, "Johnny Football", has enough Q-Rating to make himself the most relevant single football player the NCAA has had in 20 years.

I'm not saying the best, I'm saying most relevant.

I'm saying relevant that I actually would think that ESPN would want Texas A&M to win their September 14 showdown with Alabama and eventually win the final BCS National Championship...

... until this weekend.

The problems began to become more apparent (again!) for Manziel this weekend, when he was expelled from the Manning Passing Academy for missing a meeting as a counselor to the camp.

He has the blessing of the Mannings to return next year, though.

On Monday, he finally addressed a court issue, a misdemeanor (which should've resulted in a suspension last season, and that which WOULD have resulted in him not winning the Heisman Trophy, almost certainly!) for failing to properly identify himself to police as a result of a fight to which the cops were called.

Certainly not much more than a quarter- of half-worth at first glance (but see below!), especially for someone as ESPN/BCS-protected as Manziel, but that still should've been considered come December, especially for someone who appears to be on a one-way path to multiple Heismans and almost a forcing of the first NFL Draft Lottery after the 2014 season.

Manziel was actually supposed to be suspended, according to USA Today, for the entire 2012 season!

Johnny Manziel needs to return a fraudulently-won Heisman Trophy, because his coach had to pen a letter to prevent him from being tossed from the team and probably transferring somewhere else.

He's the centerpiece of coach Kevin Sumlin's Aggie program.  One must wonder, therefore, whether TAMU got a letter stating that if Manziel goes, so does Sumlin...

Where am I going with this?

Something's up with this kid.  I know people are going to come to me and say I think that about just about everybody (and they'd be right, for the most part!), but something is REALLY up with this kid.

He's clearly the biggest media darling college football has had in decades, between the Heisman in his first year of eligibility, his girlfriend, and his nickname.  He almost-certainly would have enough of a Q-Rating for ESPN to openly welcome Texas A&M into the BCS "Family" and rather see them play for the final BCS National Championship than, say, anybody else outside the SEC, Oregon, and Ohio State.

So he tells ESPN and the SEC media that he's held to a higher standard than most players his age.

YOU ARE, YOU FRAUD!!!

Have you forgotten that you are:

• A Heisman Trophy winner
• Almost certainly the favorite to, this year, become the second player to win multiple Heismans, and the first to go back-to-back
• The BMOC of Texas A&M University
• Probably the single major reason people are going to care about an effective BCS National Semifinal on September 14 when your team hosts Alabama.
• ESPN's new darling, and we all must bow to the Almighty Quarterback at the Four-Letter Network
• Almost certainly the #1 Draft Pick of the NFL (off-field concerns aside!) when you become eligible as such
• Probably going to be even a bigger target than the "Suck for Luck" campaign from two years ago -- a campaign that, with the media and NFL push, added about 4 wins to the expected total of Indianapolis last year

You ARE to be held to a higher standard.

And that you don't get it, and that you said today you're "still going to live life to[your] fullest" indicates to me you got people covering up for you at Texas A&M.

You are NOT a 20-year old sophomore in college -- you won't see four years in college.  You might find some way to get a degree, not unlike a number of NFL players do eventually.  But you are no student, at this juncture, and we need to stop this fraud of such.

You're going to the NFL, son.  You are probably the centerpiece of the NCAA FCS this season, should you make it that far before screwing up where people can't cover for you.

And you need to start understanding that unless being "Johnny Football" (not just as of yourself, but as of anyone with a similar nickname) implies basically running roughshod over your community and being allowed to rape, pillage, and plunder (as many football Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaahds are allowed to on all levels -- hat-tip to JBL), you need to start having the responsibility of your role.

We all know how quickly things can spiral.

Andrew Sharp says it better than I can in Grantland:

"Johnny Manziel needs to grow up or get lost."

"If Johnny won't do it for himself, he should do it for college football. The Heisman Trophy is more important than some undersize quarterback from Texas. The Heisman Trophy is one of the few awards in sports where character still counts. It's not good enough to be great on the field when you're the Heisman winner, you have to set an example for everyone. Kind of like playing quarterback. But Johnny Football's been struggling lately, and sooner or later he's not going to be able to scramble out of trouble."

(Though some people might question with Reggie Bush and the like, they did take the trophy.  The problem is, they also need to take the 2012 one from Manziel and vacate it.)

"I'm not saying Johnny Manziel is going to be Aaron Hernandez one day, but he's been on a slippery slope the past few months, and it hasn't stopped so far.

Texas A&M won't punish him, because how could they? Johnny put the Aggies on the map for the first time in decades. Coach Kevin Sumlin isn't worried about character, he's worried about recruiting. That's a fact. The NCAA won't punish Manziel, either, because today's media freaks out any time the NCAA has the gall to enforce the rulebook. And this is how tradition gets trampled."

Texas A&M won't punish him, because he's already basically been given the ultimate VIP card there.  They had the chance to toss him, and they should've, before the 2012 season.  Suspending him for the year would've had him transfer elsewhere, he loses that year of eligibility, and the like.  It probably costs TAMU Sumlin, as a coach.

The NCAA is losing relevance by the day (and the Commissioner of the SEC said as such earlier in the SEC Media Days).

The fact of the matter is:  Someone needs to investigate all this.

Something is badly wrong.

I know it's wishful thinking, but there is chatter out there...

Darren Rovell reported late last week that life bans are on the table if each pattern of instance of PED use is treated as a separate offense for both Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun.

This, on the same day that two other drug/alcohol developments have hit the world of sports.

1) Bud Selig is in damage control, insisting baseball is cleaner than ever.

ROTFLMAO.

Stop, shill.  Just...  stop.

The one reason that we can't go dancing in the streets on the Rovell speculation is that, if they ever get a true accounting of the game, they'll have to toss your ass too, Selig.

2) The Denver Broncos have suspended both DUI executives, without pay.  Former (and I will put that, because I do believe they will be terminated) Director of Player Personnel Matt Russell is gone indefinitely, former Director of Pro Personnel Tom Heckert for a month.

The way it sounds, it sounds as if this might even be worse than first reported.

Stop me if you've heard this one before...

Top-flight American track star.

World Championships next month.

Failed drug test!!

Whoops.

Tyson Gay adds his name to the growing roster of known roid cheats.

When are they just going to throw the United States out of "athletics" as a bunch of roid cheats?

And he's not the only one on a day where THREE major tracksters have been removed from next month's Championships.

Asafa Powell, basically one of the major Jamaicans BEFORE Usain Bolt.

And another Jamaican, Sherone Simpson (more a relay specialist, but has a gold and two silver medals to her Olympic credit...).

A Jamaican newspaper says at least two more positives were recorded, but those have not been revealed.

Maybe it's time just to shut down "athletics" entirely.

Perhaps this is some of the reason ESPN is panicking

Leave it to Deadspin.

Sports Business Daily gave some ominous ratings news for ESPN.

Year-over-year 2nd quarter primetime ratings are down by almost one-third, 32%.

Full-day ratings down over 20%.

Just something to keep an eye on at this point.

NBC Sports Network and it's NHL package scored 17% gains for Q2.

Keeping in mind this is April-May-June, perhaps, as several commenters noted, people are seeing through the NBA farce and not really in tune with post-Roidball MLB -- even before suspensions (which my sources are saying are imminent, the only question being length on some of them (Brawn, Roid-ruigez, etc.)) for the Biogenesis stuff.

It'll be really interesting once we start getting The National Religion hooked back up full-scale.

More apparent news from Dan Tan the Man...

Yeah, I'll say it's him straight-up on this one.

Third-division Nigerian soccer.  Now you may think "Who the fuck cares?", and you'd largely be right!

But this is usually where the operatives fixing soccer work with the greatest amount of impunity.

So I openly will say that I think we have another live one for the operatives of the likes of international soccer-fixer Dan Tan from Singapore as two very suspicious results have gained international attention.

Four third-division teams have been suspended -- taken off the field and effectively disbanded -- for taking part in a scheme which one would find openly alarming.

Plateau United Feelers was chasing promotion to the Second Division, and needed help on their goal differential.  So their match with Akurba Football Club wasn't enough that it was 7-0 to Plateau in the locker rooms at halftime.

No, Plateau was allowed to score SEVENTY-TWO GOALS in the second half to win SEVENTY-NINE TO NOTHING.

So you mean to tell me that a team needed such a goal differential in their game that 14-0 wouldn't even have been enough?  You have to resort to literally scoring a goal every 38-40 seconds of a 45-minute second half and not have anyone think that the game was fixed?

REALLY?  Do you think we are THAT FUCKING STUPID?

And, worse yet, I said it was FOUR teams!  We had another game like that with another such promotion candidate, Police Machine, who, after a 6-0 halftime lead over Babayaro Football Club, promptly duplicated the feat by scoring 63 goals in the second half of 69-0 disgrace.

Really...  I mean, at some point, either the other team is a co-participant or it's clear that the other team has no business on the pitch at any level of professional soccer.

But to allow a goal every 35-40 seconds of a 45-minute half and not eventually get the match official to blow the match dead as a farce and sanction every player and team official involved with red cards is just mind-boggling to me.

And the arrests continue: The NFL is continuing to show it's true colors...

I guess it may be time to start the Arrest Blotter this season.

Two members of the Denver Broncos front office both have busted for DUIs in the last month or so.

(Soon to be Former) Director of Pro Personnel Tom Heckert and (Soon To Be Former) Director of Player Personnel Matt Russell have both been busted for DUI in the last month.

Given these comments by Bronco president Joe Ellis, they're both gone from the team:

"We're not perfect. We've made our errors. We admit," Ellis told The Associated Press. "You can say we apologized for it -- but I think an apology rings hollow when you run into the back of a police car or you're blowing a blood-alcohol limit that's three times the legal limit. I don't think fans, I don't think the public, I don't think anybody wants to hear an apology."

"So, I think you have to acknowledge your mistakes and you have to fix them and you have to do that the right way," Ellis said. "There's a lot of things we do. We offer programs, we offer a lot of help, there's a ton of stuff the National Football League makes available to all the teams in an effort for them to avoid this kind of thing. In this case, we had two guys that couldn't do it. And that's just sad. That's too bad. But we're going to move on, and our hope is that you won't see this kind of incident from an employee again."

If the NFL is so image-conscious, one has to ask the real question as to who really wants to represent the NFL as it's champion this year.

With all the steroid and Pete Carroll shit from the Seahawks, and now we've got another New England Patriot in trouble with the law:  Alfonzo Dennard, ANOTHER DUI!

And simply the arrest is a violation of his probation from three months ago!

WHAT

THE

HELL!!!

Goodell has to go, there has to be a policy to get real human beings in this league rather than Neanderthal thugs (and that includes the stands as well as the field!), and franchises need to be sanctioned in the win-loss column for this shit.

The only question left is if this is only a matter of the 24 hour (sports-)news cycle...

MAJOR hat-tip to Brian for finding this.

The Sports Geeks have collated all the information from the San Diego Union-Tribune's database of NFL arrests (with some additions) into an infographic of all the known NFL arrests (and their resolutions) since 2000.

It's a revealing look into the Neanderthug Felon League in this era, especially in the last few years.

What becomes immediately apparent is one fact:

Either the league is becoming less able to hide the problems of players in the 24 hour news cycle, or the problem has gotten markedly worse...

More on this later.  Basically wanted to get the chart up there.

Another case of Dan Tan the Man?

FIFA is holding the World Cup for teams with players under the age of 20 in Turkey.

They are wrapping up the quarterfinal phase at this time with a result that I can only say is highly-suspicious.  (Which, given the recent investigations into Turkish football, should be a surprise to, summarily, NOBODY.)

The darlings of the tournament are (and this would not be entirely surprising to American soccer fans) Ghana.

The source on all this is a Deadspin report on today's quarterfinal match with Chile.

In the preceding round, Ghana needed two quick goals to oust Portugal, 3-2.

Their match with Chile went into extra time, 2-2.

This is where the video provided with the Deadspin post picks up, with a Chilean goal in the extra session to bring it to 3-2.

Soccer, however, has reverted (for, largely, stadium security reasons) to the classic extra-time format of playing the entire 30 minutes.  It had, for several years, gone to "Golden Goal" (sudden-death) formats, or a small modification.

Ghana squares the match at 3-3 seven minutes from penalties on a good goal.  (Approximately :36 of the video clip.)

It's the match-winner, in stoppage time of extra time, literally 30 seconds before the final whistle, that has me (and anyone intelligent) up in arms.

Yes, this is U-20.  These are young players, but this is still World Cup level for them, so a goal of this level of ineptitude at that time can only be seen as somewhat questionable.

(Goal starts at 1:03 of the clip.)

The Ghanian player barely keeps the ball in play on the goal line wide of the goal, then chips the ball back in front of the goal to #17, who puts a weak header on the ball.

There are two defenders in position (and a third out of position) and the goalkeeper there to receive it.  The goalie MIGHT be able to make a claim he was screened out.

Somehow the ball makes its way into the net for a 4-3 Ghana win.

How, short of an intentional act, can you claim the two defenders couldn't have gotten the ball standing, or, at the worst, lunged for it?

PUH-LEEZE!!

The lid is coming off the BCS...

A number of weeks ago, I decided to finally do a case study of the BCS Era in college football to see how much of a bloody farce the whole thing was.

What I found only surprised me in how far this whole farce has gone, and you'll (time permitting for editing purposes to clean it up and make it consistent) get the post on that before the college football season begins.

But the Aaron Hernandez situation has shone yet another light on one of the increasingly-apparent as corrupt championships of the BCS Era:  Urban Meyer's 2008 Florida team, which won the National Championship over Oklahoma.

A New York Times investigation, published today, indicates that there is no way the NCAA should not have stepped in to sanction this Florida team for the type of people it was bringing onto its campus.

Of the 121 players listed on the full roster, taking into account both arrests at the University of Florida and since, fully one-third, 41, have been arrested, according to the Times.  16 of those 41 were first- or second-string.  Another one was no less than Cam Newton for his laptop theft which led to his fraudulent National Championship at Auburn!

It got so bad that, the next year, one of the local Florida newspapers actually decided to chronicle the arrest patterns themselves.

These included, in the Times report:

• A safety who was arrested in 2008 for credit card fraud of at least 70 charges on a credit card of a dead woman.  This, one year after he was arrested for criminal property damage.
• A lineman who, in 2007, punched, spat, and then pulled an AK-47 on a man and tried to kill him!  (And probably half of the surrounding neighborhood, by my guess...)
• Two more safeties were arrested for incidents surrounding booted or impounded cars.
• A defensive end was arrested for accosting a worker at a sandwich shop.
• Another defensive end who got a DUI before the SEC Championship Game that year.
• A starting cornerback resisting arrest
• A backup running back threatening to kill his girlfriend (and continues to run afoul to this day)

And it's all discarded as normal college behavior.

If this is the case, it's time to shut down the higher education system of the United States of America.  That's how farcical this stand is.

Have we all forgotten that this is Florida here?  These "men" have probably been under the tutelage (and payment!) of thug, gang, criminal, and drug influences since their days in youth football!  Have we forgotten the ESPN Outside the Lines investigation showing that many of their parents could not pay rent without basically having their kids playing (effectively) professionally for the thug, gang, and drug lords of the area (many of whom, inexplicably, were allowed to coach them!) in the organized youth football leagues?

Have we forgotten about the number of schools having to be disciplined for collegiate-style illegal recruiting practices?

I think it's time we take a good hard look at the people who are allowed to play football (and sports in general!), and start wondering if how we are treating them means there is no longer a sense of right and wrong in this nation.