I have to turn my attention back to the sports world today. There are too many good stories out there to pass up this opportunity to spew my opinions into the mix. If you’re not a sports fan, you might want to come back for “Nobody asked me, but … (#48)” when it appears in the near future.

Of course, the big sports story today concerns Alex Rodriguez, and his admission to using steroids during part of his baseball career. Most observers feel that he was quite a bit less than 100% honest in the press conference he held at Yankees training camp yesterday, and I agree with that assessment. Much of it was clearly crafted, though not very well, by the assorted PR types that he has surrounded himself with. The question that I wish had been asked is: “You lied about steroids to Katie Couric in 2007. You told a totally different story to Peter Gammons a week ago. Why should we believe anything you tell us now?” And his repetitive confession to being “young and stupid” would prompt this follow-up: “We all realize that you’re not quite as young as before, but it certainly seems you’ve retained the other quality well into your 30’s.”

I’m also amused by baseball commissioner Bud Selig saying he is not to blame for the steroids mess in baseball. This is a new twist on the classic Harry Truman line, “The buck stops here.” For Selig, it must be, “The buck stops somewhere over there.” How about the prospect of Selig doing something significant about all of this? I know that he has led baseball into a strong drug-testing program, and that’s good. But how about striking from the record books all the home runs hit by Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and, at least for the 2001-03 seasons, Alex Rodriguez. Baseball has always been a game that focused on statistics. And while you can’t go back and undo wins and losses, you certainly can say something about the integrity of the game’s numbers in some of the most important categories in the sport.

On to football … the big local news is the Jaguars’ release of Fred Taylor, after 11 seasons as the team’s star running back. I’ve learned, primarily from reading Vic Ketchman’s column (on www.jaguars.com), that football is a game of replacement, a young man’s game, and so while Fred is and may always be associated with the Jags, it’s not unexpected and not unreasonable that they would let him go at this time. It gives him an opportunity to hook on with another team, where he may be able to be the featured running back for at least a year or two (and, in the process, pass Jim Brown on the career rushing list), and it makes official what was clearly evolving this past season - that Maurice Jones-Drew is the primary ball carrier now for the team. The days are long gone when teams, out of loyalty, would keep players well past their prime. It’s interesting that releasing Taylor is viewed as a proper, respectful, loyal thing to do, on both sides, but that is apparently what sports has come to.

I’ll close with a couple of quick hits in other arenas … I watched the New York Rangers lose badly to Philadelphia on Sunday, and lose again to St. Louis on Monday. There doesn’t seem to be much effort there, and when you see that, you suspect that the coach is about to get the blame, and a pink slip to go with it. Management is saying all good things about coach Tom Renney, even as the fans are calling for his scalp. I think the fans may get their wish, sooner rather than later … I’m anxious to see the repaired and recharged Tiger Woods return to the PGA Tour this spring. I don’t watch a lot of golf on TV, but it’s always more exciting when Tiger is part of it. Watching Tiger these past ten years has been like watching Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan in their primes - it’s truly a treat for the viewer, and something we just might tell our grandchildren about … I have no interest in the NBA, but I do enjoy college basketball, and cheer for Syracuse (where we lived for 20 years) and Florida State (where my daughter goes to school). The Seminoles cracked the top 25 last week for the first time in over ten years. A subsequent blowout loss at Wake Forest dropped them back out, but they have a good chance to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade, and that would be cool. As for the Orange, they’ve battled through injuries and the toughest conference in the country to be considered a respectable team and a likely NCAA Tourney participant (anything can happen, of course). As part of the Big East, they get a lot of TV exposure, and they are fun to watch … Baseball training camps are open. Can anyone talk about pitchers and catchers, rookies and veterans, prospects for the various teams, and so on, or do we have to keep focusing on A-Rod and other steroid users, or the huge contracts signed by CC Sabathia and others this off-season. Oh, for those lost days of our youth …

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Al. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.