Will the Colorado Rockies ever get it together?

Do you remember the Blake Street Bombers? Do you remember when Don Baylor got fired for winning only half of his games as Manager of the Rockies? Do you realize that the Rockies won 1 more game last year than their inaugural season? I'm trying to keep the faith but they're going backwards. I know it's spring training but they're already down 12-0 to the ever-powerful Brewers in the top of the 3rd inning.

The geniuses signing paychecks at Coors Field made huge tactical errors over the years. Signing Mike Hampton, Denny Neagle, Jeff Cirillo to name a few. Only to turn around and give Cleveland All-Star SP Jake Westbrook, and OF Jody Gerut for the no longer in the league great, lifetime .200 hitter OF Jacob Cruz. Do they have anyone who can evaluate talent? It was a terrible trade for the Rockies. Although it is similar to most of their trades, which were also bad, they should get a better value in a trade.

One of their worst trades was in 1993 when they traded P Andy Ashby, C Brad Ausmus, and P Doug Bochtler to the Padres for P Bruce Hurst and P Greg Harris. Hurst pretty much retired after tearing up his shoulder, and Greg Harris was a meatball pitcher at best. Meanwhile Ausmus has 2 Gold Gloves, 4 playoff appearances, and an All Star selection. Ashby is a two time All Star, with 3 playoff appearances.

In 2004 they also gave up on IF Chone Figgins much to the delight of Angels. I'm just curious whose brilliant idea was it to turn 2003 All Star P Shawn Chacon into a closer. The dude is a starter. He made the All Star game as a starter, and since other teams in the division have good closers they made him the closer. They took 11 wins out of the rotation in 2003 to get 35 saves along with 9 blown saves in 2004. I don't think it worked out like they thought.

It's almost like GM Dan O'Dowd doesn't want a winner on the field. They misevaluate talent and are often left holding the bag on overpriced talent. They want moderately priced athletes that'll hopefully do all right. After eating a ton of payroll with the contracts of Neagle, Hampton, Walker, Helton the fire sale conditions were ripe. It's hard to believe the Rockies and the Marlins joined MLB at the same time. The Marlins have 2 world championships, and somehow the Rockies always trade their good leadoff hitter to them during a championship run.

In 1997 the Rockies trade IF Craig Counsell to the Marlins and he proved to be a clutch hitter during that championship. In 2003 they traded P Mike Hampton and CF Juan Pierre to Florida for CF Preston Wilson, C Charles Johnson, P Vic Darensbourg and 2B Pablo Ozuna. The Marlins then traded Hampton to the Braves for P Tim Spooneybarger and minor league P Ryan Baker. The Rockies were looking to reduce payroll, while the Marlins were looking for pieces of their championship teams. It'd be nice for the Rockies to be on the right side of a trade, or signing one of these days. They need to make it to the postseason sometime, or the fans won’t come back.

What's up with West Virginia Hoops ?

Damn. I am surprised at the recent play of the Mountaineers. They entered the 2005 Big East Tournament as the #8 Seed. They opened on a roll by beating Providence 82-59. West Virginia won the regular season series from Providence in close games. They won on the road at Providence in Jan 82-78, and won at home against Providence in February 67-65. The win wasn't a big surprise, but the margin of victory was bigger than usual.

The next night they took down the #1 seed in the tournament, #7 nationally ranked Boston College 78-72. B.C. beat the Mountaineers handily twice this year, once at home 63-50, and on the road at West Virginia 73-53. West Virginia was thoroughly dominated by B.C. all season, except at the tournament. The score doesn't reflect how West Virginia dominated B.C. At halftime they were up 44-22. Early in the second half they were up by 25. They lost their focus and let B.C. back in the game, and they still prevailed.

Not to be undone tonight they beat a hot Villanova team 78-76. In their only previous match up Villanova dominated at home, winning by an 84-46 score. Tonight, West Virginia's Gansey hit two free throws with the score tied at 76-76 and only .2 seconds left on the clock on a controversial foul on Villanova's Allen Ray. They were up most of this game as well and Villanova got the lead back with under a minute to play. The Mountaineers are the first #8 seed to reach the Big East Tournament Championship Game, and it is the first time in school history the Mountaineers made it into the championship game.

The Mountaineers will face the winner of UConn and Syracuse. West Virginia lost to both teams this season. They lost at Syracuse 72-64, and lost at home to UConn 68-58. The Mountaineers opened the Big East Tournament with long odds and they have prevailed so far. They were a combined 2-4 against their foes during the regular season, and in the tournament they're 3-0 with a game to play. West Virginia plays a really open offensive system that is very turnover prone. They could beat either Syracuse or UConn if they keep playing the reckless, carefree, effective 3-point shootin hoops they've been servin up all week. Although they match up better against Syracuse. If they cut down on turnovers, and continue to convert on the offensive end, they will dominate teams instead of letting down for stretches to let their opponent back in the game.

Minnesota Vikings could be heading forward and backwards at the same time

What is going on in Minnesota? The first African-American owner is awaiting league approval. Mike Tice scalping Super Bowl Tickets is now coming to light. They got rid of my main man Randy Moss to the Raiders for Napoleon Harris; the # 7 pick in the 2005 Draft and a late-round pick. The Vikings also have the #18 pick in the first round as well. The Vikings have also been active in the free agent market as well.

They signed DT Pat Williams formerly with the Buffalo Bills, and CB Fred Smoot formerly with the Washington Redskins. They also resigned TE Jermaine Wiggins and lost former starting LB Chris Claiborne to St. Louis. There are rumors the Vikings are also working on a deal to bring FS Donovin Darius in from Jacksonville in a trade. There have also been rumors of the Vikings moving up to #3 in the 2005 Draft in a trade with Cleveland to land former USC WR Mike Williams in the event they cannot land a top free agent WR. In the 2005 Draft there are a few good WRs coming out. 1. Braylon Edwards- Michigan 2. Mike Williams-USC 3. Mark Clayton- Oklahoma 4. Troy Williamson- South Carolina

Free agent WR Plaxico Burress is on his way to Minnesota after a cold reception in NY. The Steelers slammed the door on bringing him back by signing Cedric Wilson away from San Francisco. Plax is the only good free agent WR left on the market. Plax (maybe) with Nate Burleson, Marcus Robinson, Kelly Campbell (hopefully) make a good set of wideouts. Since Onterrio Smith won't be serving any suspension, Michael Bennett is going to come into camp healthy, and Mewelde Moore recovering from a late season injury, the RB position looks stacked.

The Vikes can now draft on defense for an impact LB and speed and depth at DT and FS. Playing on turf the Vikes need more speed on defense. The offense will continue to produce as long as they all stay healthy. The O-Line is a great bunch of athletes all under contract. They might even be able to overcome the change at Offensive Coordinator as well.

In the 2005 Draft they should be looking at:
OLB Derrick Johnson - Texas
DT Travis Johnson -Florida State
DEs 1.Erasmus James- Wisconsin, 2. Dan Cody- Oklahoma, 3. David Pollack- Georgia, 4. Marcus Spears- LSU, 5. Matt Roth - Iowa
WRs 1.Braylon Edwards- Michigan 2. Mike Williams- USC 3. Mark Clayton- Oklahoma 4. Troy Williamson- South Carolina

Steroids in Baseball

Do you believe Jose Canseco's allegations? I have watched a couple of interviews with him, and I was left unconvinced about all of his allegations. According to Canseco he gave steroids to McGwire & Palmeiro among others, and some players he never played with. He didn't seem genuine on a lot of what he recalled. He couldn't remember the details of whom he gave steroids to, when he gave steroids to them, or what substance he gave them. He was still willing to answer all questions in a pay per view event he at one point planned to stage, but now he wants immunity to spill the beans. It has been rumored that Canseco feels that he won't be a Hall of Famer.

To most insiders, before Canseco went public with his steroid allegation, Canseco fell 38 homers short of 500 career homers and he didn't make the cut. 500 lifetime home runs is traditionally a hall pass to enshrinement in Cooperstown. Now that he went public it's all assured he will never be in the Hall of Fame unless he's a paying visitor. Canseco feels slighted because he didn't get the chance to reach 500 homers before he retired. While there were people who weren't as good as Canseco in baseball, he seemed to be a journeyman / platoon player after he left the Texas Rangers. His stardom was shortlived, even after being baseball's first 40/40 man. He feels left behind by his teammates and fellow All-Stars, some of which are sure fire first ballot hall of famers. Now he is some sort of forgotten child of baseball willing to give Congress the dirt it wants.

There are a lot of different types of steroid, or steroid like substances in the world. Starting with "the Cream" and "the Clear" from BALCO, to Human Growth Hormone, to Anabolic Steroids. He never mentioned anything but a passing recollection of if he injected steroids in someone, or if they just went to the same place to do it before the games they played, or if it was around a weightlifting session. Any way I look at it, Canseco's allegations aren't enough to call someone before Congress to answer questions. It's still hearsay in court. Almost virtually inadmissible. It's marginally believable at best until you start to look at the statistics during the home run explosion from 1986 - 2001. I know professional athletes ride the plane between entertainers and athletes, similar to the WWE during the mid80's and early 90's during their own steroid controversy.

To me the WWE needed huge muscular wrestlers to attract everyone's attention to wrestling in an attempt to save a dying industry. The WWE's gamble paid off just like the home run explosion paid off for MLB. After the 1994 MLB Strike revenues were down because attendance was down everywhere. Between 1986 - 2001 a few players were looking for an edge to change from career doubles hitters with warning track power, to hulking home run hitters with amazing hand eye coordination. The ones who hit home runs can instantly change games and are still in high demand in the league, and they get paid very well compared to a lifetime doubles hitter. Chicks dig the long ball, and the fans came back to baseball with a passion.

There are a few things about steroids that people have to remember. Steroids only help athletes to gain strength, or stamina when the work out. The athlete still has to work out for the steroids to benefit them. So during a 162 game season that transpires in just over 6 months (186 days in 2005) during our warmest seasons, players were looking for an edge to be more competitive. I can't say I blame them. The league had no rules against the use of steroids until this season that had penalties. Everybody won. The players through hard work, some with hard work and chemical assistance, became superstars. Players hit home runs, broke records, mended fences with fans, and everyone loved baseball. The owners and players both made a lot of money.

Unfortunately Congress believed Canseco enough to ask him, and a few people from baseball to join up for a Congressional Inquisition. There have been tongue in cheek guarantees that the Inquisition will not smear reputations, or name names of other users, but the Congressional requests turned subpoena pretty fast. Frank Thomas, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling, and Jason Giambi have been asked to appear. Why not Barry Bonds ? Congress didn't want to make it a one-person spectacle. By asking Giambi to appear while he already has a pending trial concerning BALCO seems a bit unfair. Anything he says will be admissible in his case with BALCO, but the witch-hunt goes on anyway.

The real question is why no other sports have been asked to appear. No one from track and field, no one from WWE, no one from bodybuilding, or powerlifting. It appears that the Inquisition on baseball will turn witch-hunt / McCarthy hearing to solve an already solved problem. There is one thing though. Congress requested the records of the drug tests MLB conducted on its players. The agreement between the MLBPA and MLB has a stipulation that MLB cannot disclose the names of the players who tested positive for steroids or the Steroid testing agreement between MLB and MLBPA terminates. So you can see the concern for MLB to not have it's own players testify, or have the steroid testing information become public. Because we all know no one in Congress can keep a secret if they aren't being paid to keep it.

The Denver Nuggets are on their way to the playoffs.

The Denver Nuggets have been on a tear late with big wins over the L.A. Clippers, and the Portland TrailBlazers. They are riding a seven game win streak. They have also won 14 of their last 18 games to squeak out the eighth place seed if the NBA Playoffs were to start today. I think their frontline of K-Mart, Camby and Nene can cause some interesting matchup problems for upcoming foes if they stay healthy. The sigining of Wesley Person was a stroke of genius. After Voshon Leonard got hurt their outside presence was negligable as a team. Person a career 41.6% three point shooter is a marksman from the outside in his short stay in Denver. He's shooting over 50% from the field and over 57% from three point land. Coach George Karl has them playing great. If they can get healthy as a team they might surprise us all and land a #6 or a #7 seed.

They'll need to win at least 15 of their remaining 22 games to get a #7 seed. In front of the Nuggets are the potential #6 seed Houston Rockets have been playing well as of late. T-Mac and Yao have been playing well. Trading for Mike james has made it easier to deal with the loss of Bob Sura to a back injury. The #7 seed Memphis Grizzlies have been up and down lately. Coach Mike "The Czar of the Telestrator" Fratello has them playing well, but injuries to Stromile Swift, Bonzi Wells, and Pau Gasol who is reortedly done for the season, have them at a disadvantage during the playoff stretch. They lost a heartbreaker at the buzzer to Sacramento last night as well. The Lakers have been cold for a while. They just ended a 4 game losing streak last week. In their loss to the Clippers Kobe scored 41. If Kobe scores a lot his team still stands a 40/60 chance of winning. Kobe has scored 118 points in his last 3 games. They won 2 of those three games, but Dirk Nowitski and Michael Finley were hurt when they played Dallas. The Lakers have 15 of their 23 remaining games on the road where they have won 9 of 26 this season. The Nuggets have 13 of their 22 games at home where they have won 19 of 28. The Nuggets definitely have momentum and if they keep playing smart basketball they can surprise some people.