Hall of Fame

Bob Hayes, Randall McDaniel, Bruce Smith, Derrick Thomas, Ralph Wilson and Rod Woodson were enshrined in to the pro football hall of fame today. It was great to see Bruce Smith in there. He has always been a very classy and eloquent athlete and his speech today was great as usual. He spoke about how it almost feels like yesterday that he came into the league and how time flies. I couldn't agree with him more. I remember seeing him play and now he is a hall of famer already - a deserving one at that. The HOF ceremony also means that the games are here to start. While I don't watch the pre-season dance in any sport, it is good to know the first football game of the season will be played tomorrow - Buffalo versus Tennessee. I guess T.O makes this game interesting - kinda, sorta.

There was a mini-scandal in the NBA last week as Rashard Lewis was busted for steroids. NBA has always been assumed to be clean though there has been isolated suspensions over the years of players like Matt Geiger. But Lewis is the biggest name so far and it raises some serious questions. While it's fair to assume that steroids are probably not as rampant in basketball as it in baseball because of how directly they can help a baseball player, it is still naive to assume it in non-existent in the NBA. The NBA tests the players, but apparently the policy is pretty slack in the off-season when the athletes actually are prone to take these PEDs. Enough bankers, clerks and fireman walking on our streets are on steroids just because it makes them look good or helps them pickup chicks or whatever. So why wouldn't the NBA players, who do live off of their body and strength and speed, not be tempted to use them?

It is true that steroids don't help the NBA players with the primary objective of the sport, which is to put the ball in the hoop. But all the peripheral benefits of steroids that we have heard of in baseball like recuperation, quick recovery from injuries etc. are all applicable to the NBA too. As a matter of fact, NBA is a lot more grueling and some of those benefits are probably even more relevant for the NBA than MLB. But of course the culture of an environment and a given ecosystem is always a major factor in what people do and how they behave. I think this is one of the major reason that I believe that NBA is relatively free of steroids. Why do a lot of baseball players chew tobacco and why do 80% of NBA players have tattoos? It's just the culture they live in. I do hope and think the steroid culture is not pervasive in the NBA, but I hope commissioner Stern tightens the policy and tests these guys more aggressively. I have always been joking LeBron is on steroids. Guys like him and Dwight Howard and Corey Maggette are sure built like they are on something. Now these jokes feel a lot more real and I hope these guys are clean.

In baseball today, C.C.Sabathia shutdown the Redsox today. This guy is 12-7 now and is doing exactly what he was brought in for. The game of the week was yesterday when the Yankees won 2-0 after 15 innings. It's amazing to even imagine nobody scoring for 14 long innings at the new Yankees stadium. The ex-Florida boys Josh Beckett and A.J.Burnett pitched great for their respective teams and A-Rod won the game in the 15-Th with a homer. Apparently that made him a true Yankee - whatever that means. As for the Redsox, they have not scored in 24 straight innings. Thats almost 3 straight games. In the NL, I can't believe the San Francisco Giants are still going strong. They are 61-49 and even Barry Zito is pitching better now. He has not given up more than 2 runs in 5 straight starts. Thats Cy Young stuff right there. Not sure what's in the water out there in the Bay. This team is over-achieving out of their minds.