"You're out" - made famous by Mindy McCready

Strike one, two, three; you're out! The first strike was when his "roid" rage got the better of him and he threw a broken bat at Mike Piazza in the 2000 World Series between the New York Yankees and New York Mets at Yankee Stadium. Strike two was being called out on steroid allegations in the Mitchell Report, and having it confirmed by two other people, and then lying about it! Now everybody has been waiting for strike three to come around, and on Sunday, the Daily News rung him up. On Sunday night, the Daily News posted news of Roger Clemens participating in an affair with country singer, Mindy McCready on their website, nydaileynews.com. Then when Roger Clemens' fans still think that maybe all of this is rumor, the best pitcher of all time couldn't have done this, it just makes me feel all the better to see McCready's confession last night. "I can not refute anything in the story." Said McCready. After this, his number will not get retired by the Yankees (I'm not even sure if it would have anyway), and it's another nail in the dugout against his hall of fame induction. No this does not affect his statistics, but it definitely has reporters, and other prestigious hall of famers lose their respect for him.

Ethics in Sports

There are quite a few ethical issues in sports. First off, last year Michael Vick was a big story in his involvement of dog-fighting. Dog-fighting is a delicate issue, and Vick was a major participant in this cruel and unusual "sport" if you would. Another major ethical issue in the wide world of sports is ongoing story of Adam "Pacman" Jones. Jones has been arrested on various occasions, the most serious was last year when he was arrested at a strip club under serious charges including murder. There are ethical issues to consider whether a journalist reports on injuries or other reasons a player might take a break from their sport. An example of this is when Todd Hundley was scheduled for a surgery. When asked why, there was no comment. Now it turns out it was a steroid issue, and they didn't want that to get out to ruin Hundley's reputation. Another issue is the Mitchell Report, which revealed a great deal of current and former baseball players who have used steroids. This affects many fans in an unusual way to either stay by the players' side or betray Major League Baseball's authenticity. The question is whether or not fans are okay with knowing that kind of information.

The Boo York Mets

Well it is almost the end of April and the New York Mets have done almost absolutely nothing to start the season on a good note. Sure it turns out Johan Santana was a good move, but our multi-million dollar batting lineup has done diddly squat. Going into tonight's game, the Mets have had an astounding 10 home runs from five players, two home runs from lead off hitter Jose Reyes, which matches sluggers Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado combined. Speaking of which, Reyes is batting .260, while Beltran is batting .230 and Delgado, .208. Where is the hitting!? Plus, going back to Reyes, he has stolen a mere four bases while the league leader has 12. Now after the Mets have lost a pair, with I might add great disappointment, to the Chicago Cubs, they come out strong with Santana and get a win against a weak Washington Nationals team. But now in game two of the series, the mighty Aaron Heilman gave up a grand slam to let the Nats grab a 7-3 lead. So what is the key to success in a web of Mets' weaknesses? First off, it's okay if you don't have a lead, hey it happens. But when the Mets have a lead, they have to hold onto it. So Duaner Sanchez is the key to revive that cruddy bullpen with his comeback, and to make future New York success.

Devs Embarassment

Last night the New Jersey Devils lost to the New York Rangers to finalize a five game series loss in the NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. After a Brian Gionta goal (4:40) in the first period, the Devils gained the first momentum for the first time in the series. For 18 seconds, it looked like the Devils might take it to game six in Madison Square Garden. Then, less than two minutes later, the Rangers put that dream in the toilet when they scored two quick goals. The Devils would never get the lead back. To me though, the Devils were in it until the Rangers scored the first goal of the second period to make it 4-1. Despite Gomez making it 3-1 with two minutes left in the first, which Brodeur should have prevented in the first place, the Devils went into the intermission with the mindset that they could turn it around; it's only two goals, we have two periods to come back. But 4-1 was just too overwhelming. What really makes me mad though is the fact that the Devils sincerely outplayed the Rangers in that game. They were more aggressive, and they hit harder, but I told all my friends all week that the Devils needed a five on five brawl. Frankly, the Devils needed to beat the crap out of the Rangers. Right off the face-off, someone like David Clarkson, Vitaly Vishnevski or Bryce Salvador needed to throw the gloves off and just start fighting Gomez or Avery. All this would have done would be put the fans back into it. If Devils fans saw Scott Gomez unconscious on their own ice, they would have never let up. And that's all the Devils needed.

ESPN Gets it Right

On a night where nothing really special was happening in the world of sports, ESPN finally put the right thing on television. The NCAA Hockey championship is this week and today started the frozen four, which included Boston College and North Dakota, and Notre Dame and Michigan. Boston College played earlier on ESPN winning 6-1 over the Fighting Sioux. But at 9:30 eastern time, my Irish played rival and number one seed overall Michigan Wolverines. Notre Dame skipped out to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period, but sloppy defense with around ten minutes left let up two goals in less than 30 seconds making it a one goal lead for the Irish. Then late in the third period, with the score at 4-3 in favor of the Irish, Michigan dumped it in their offensive corner and got a lucky bounce of the boards. Michigan shot on goal and Jordan Pearce, 07'-08' team most valuable player, got lazy and let the shot ricochet off of his left skate and into the net when he should have been all the way against the post. So the game was off to overtime where whoever scores first wins and heads to the championship. The underdog Notre Dame was getting demolished off the face off; they lost 40 of them in regulation. So with about fifteen minutes to go in OT, the Irish finally won a face off and freshman forward from Stockholm Sweden, Calle Ridderwall got a rebound from a hard slap shot and put a nice wrist shot in the top left shelf, sealing a Notre Dame victory, and a chance to play another rival, BC in the NCAA championship hockey game. So as sure as I stand here at 12:48 in the morning, I am glad that ESPN finally aired a hockey game, their first of the season, especially in college hockey, a sport that should be more appealing to hockey fans around the country.

Get Outta Here!

Last night was the NCAA National Championship game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Memphis Tigers. In a relatively low scoring game, especially for two powerhouses such as Kansas and Memphis, the course of the game ran pretty standard with Kansas out-scoring Memphis by five in the first half. Then late in the second half, a three-pointer, as it seemed, that beat the shot-clock from Memphis stopped any momentum that Kansas had in a hurry. But then later, replay officials confirmed that the triple actually was only two points because the shooter's foot was inside the arc when he shot it. Then with 2:37 left in regulation, Shawn Taggart laid it in to make it 58-51 in favor of the Tigers. Little did anyone know, that would be Memphis' last field goal for the next 6:38. Then with 1:23 left in regulation, Memphis playmaker, Joey Dorsey fouled out of the game while Memphis had a six point lead. Mario Chalmers made both of his free throws, and it became a four point deficit. Then Chalmers fouled Chris Douglass-Roberts. Douglass-Roberts would miss the one and one and Kansas rebounded and quickly made a basket to make it a two point deficit. Then Douglass-Roberts was fouled again, and missed both of his free throws. Memphis rebounded and was fouled again. This time Derrick Rose missed the first free throw and made the second. Now with 10 seconds left, it was a one possession game, the ball got into Chalmers' hands and by some miracle, he hit an unbelievable fade away three to tie it with 2.6 seconds to go. In overtime, fate was on the Jayhawks side. Kansas went onto a 8-2 run, but with under a minute to go in OT, Douglass-Roberts hit a three to make it a three point game. Unfortunately for the Tigers, those would be their last points scored for the game and the Kansas Jayhawks would go on to win the National Championship. This game has only further proved that the Big Dance is always exciting and always comes down to the wire, and usually contains a play that will be shown on the highlight reels forever. This time it was Mario Chalmers, who knows who it will be next year.

Poor Pedro

Pedro Martinez was the starter on the New York Mets' second game of the season against the Florida Marlins. All Pedro wanted to do was show New York fans that his shoulder wouldn't be a problem and that he could still pitch well. His shoulder was fine, but he gave up four runs off of two homeruns. But the bigger problem here was that he pulled his hamstring in the fourth inning, taking him out of the game and onto the disabled list. Trainers estimate that Martinez will be on the DL for about three weeks, which is just short of devastating to the Mets' starting pitching staff. Now the Mets are faced with a dilemma of either bringing someone up from their farm system, or bringing Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez back to the rotation from the bullpen. So hurry back Pedro, we need you, and more importantly, a collective decrease in injuries.

No Disappointments, Except the Newspapers

Yesterday, the New York Mets' season started with a day game against National League East division opponent, the Florida Marlins. The Mets exercised the talent that they picked up in the off-season, Johan Santana. Santana played brilliantly striking out eight and giving up only three hits. Third baseman David Wright went two for four and had three runs batted in. This game insures that the Mets are indeed ready for this upcoming season; everyone's playing well, no players are seriously hurt although the minor injuries are starting to pile up.
Now when you look at the game, everything's fine, but this is why the Mets might never gain superiority in New York City. The New York Post has both covers with Johan Santana on it, great. The first sports story coming from the back page is the Mets, two pages. But then when you keep flipping, the Yankees got the next four pages. This is stunning because they didn't even play! They got rained out! What is there to write about? "Oh yeah the Yankees did not play because of rain." There's no other story there. It never ends! The Mets are always least regarded in New York.