There was a time in my life when I actually did not have a Facebook. Well, not counting the first eighteen years of my life, that is. Those were the days, at least the later years, of MySpace. Now that was the shit - top 8 walls, a personal song on your page, a cool bio... but I digress. I am talking about sometime between 2009-2010. I actually went onto Facebook, deactivated my account, and went a whole year without logging back in. Don't worry, this post is not some personal pat on the back or a look back on a former New Year's resolution. I am just here to tell you that I will be doing that again, starting today.
Why?
I believe there to be a couple of reasons. For one, we all know it is a complete and total waste of time. I can go a good couple of hours in the office working away, but then I am usually back on Facebook for the next 15 minutes; doing mindless shit. Commenting on statuses, posting a "cool" music video, or going through Rico Barnes' profile pictures. Besides that last one, I won't miss much of the mindless time-consumption. I will admit, collecting meaningful and memory-filled images will take some time, so I guess I'll officially delete it when I am done with that. Any pictures taken after today though, I get to start using the "I don't have Facebook, e-mail them to me at fill in the blank e-mail address" saying I came to love that entire year I did not have the Book.
Another reason I cannot have Facebook any longer are precisely because of the status updates. I am no martyr here, but the next status I see about some political debate or socially conscious topic from someone who can barely finish a New York Times article is going to make me nauseous. Get over yourself, you're not that smart. Read a couple of books before you update your status with witty prose and release it to your 834 friends. I will never judge or blame anyone for having a political opinion, but let us work on becoming the most informed citizen we can before proving to the internet we know what we are talking about.
And what is with the concept of a Facebook friend anyway? What, I didn't accept your friend request within the first 10 minutes of your invitation and now we're not friends on the street corner? I honestly have experienced people who stopped me while I was out and asked if I had checked Facebook recently. Is this where we have gone as interactors and interactees, as it were? Cool story, bro. Or gal. Anyway, you get it.
At the end of the day, I can complain all I want about my personal beef with the Book, but for the most part we can all agree to how stupid it is. However, can you believe that people actually end friendships over that thing? C'mon man. Kids are up until 4 a.m. in the morning blasting chat messages to someone about how much of an asshole they are. Really? And I mean really, chat wars are one aspect, but actual comment debates for the entire public to read... ugh. Like I said, I am not the martyr, we have all been there, I just do not want to do it anymore.
Also, think about all of the other ways we can stay in contact and communicate with each other. Social Media websites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Yammer, and even Four Square are all ways for the general masses to stay in touch and keep themselves relevant. Okay, okay, Twitter is pretty much overrun with bullshit nonsense, as well, but I have found at least LinkedIn and Yammer to be useful, productive ways of online social interaction.
I like to consider myself as at least a partially enlightened individual, maybe I am giving myself too much credit there. I am not sure. The point is that I honestly think there are about ten other activities I could partake in (non-alcohol related) that would better ways to spend my time. Reading more, visiting old record shops often, frequenting my front yard; these are all perfectly suitable substitutions for liking a photo of a handle pull that was uploaded at 3:30 in the morning. Who knows, maybe this lack of Facebook will allow me to write more.
I know what you most of you are thinking (well, at least the ones who know me personally), "here goes Morton again with another almighty decision. Let's see how long this one lasts." I get that. Hell, I probably deserve it. However, I can assure I made it a year the first time I tried ran this race a few years back and I feel confident enough in myself to partake again. For those trying to read into this, stop. This is not some personal vendetta I am avenging or some hipster reaction to apathy. At it's core, this is just what I want to do and I felt compelled to write it out for you.
So... Is there anybody coming with me? Did anyone of the 14 people who actually read this feel empowered to say, "down to Facebook! No longer shall we sit and watch a two and a half hour film about the downward spiral of interpersonal communication!" No? Nobody? I didn't think so. Well, this is the only idea of mine that has come close to a New Year's resolution. So here goes nothin'....
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
New Albums To Look For In 2013
Rather than write a new year post about resolutions unfulfilled or a silly recap of a wild, new beginning year of 2012, I figured I would just stick to music. Some new albums have already dropped in 2013 that have made many music fans happy. A$AP Rocky's album, Long Live A$AP, was my first listen to any of his music. I can say, as a matter-of-fact, that I was simply blown the fuck away. If the album had not already been released, it would be number one on this list, without a doubt. Songs such as "Goldie," "Hell," which features a fantastic feature of Santigold, and "Fuckin' Problems," A$AP is climbing up the underground ranks and should find himself with a nice set-time come Coachella 2013. Back to what has yet to hit stores, though. This list of albums are what I am looking out for. I tried to incorporate something from each genre because there is a plethora of funky tunes out there. Some are new artists, some are of an older cut, but all should be making headlines with their releases this year. Take a look:
Artist: Alkaline Trio
Album: TBA
Release Date: TBA
Arist: Johnny Marr
Album: The Messenger
Release Date: February 25
This legendary alternative-rock guitarist will be embarking on his first solo effort since, well, ever. That's right, throughout Marr's progressive run with The Smiths from 1982-1987, his brief stint with The Pretenders in '88, and his studio work with well know artists such as Modest Mouse over the next fourteen years, the man never recorded a solo album. If I had it my way, this album would be completely instrumental. What ruined Slash's solo gig, in my opinion, were the bullshit features he had on every song. Hopefully Marr just sticks to guitar (that rhymes) and a small tour of indie-clubs soon follows. Marr's influence on rock music as a guitarist was undeniable. His rhythm matched Morrisey's soothing voice on "I Have Forgiven Jesus," his gritty guitar ripped through Modest Mouse classics such as "Dashboard" and "Florida;" I hope I do not need to say more. We should all be very excited this album is finally going to drop.
Artist: Kid Cudi
Album: Indicud
Release Date: TBA
If any of you have even remotely followed The Kid Named Cudi's twitter page (@ducidni), this album will not need a whole lot of background information. Cudi has proposed Indicud to be "the greatest album of all time," acknowledging it will be his version of Chronic 2001. Basically, Cudi will rap on some songs, produce others exclusively, and, at the end of the day, have a shit ton of features. I can dig. I have been a Cudi fan since Freshman year of college attending Santa Clara when the homeboy @trillbau gave me a couple of Scott Mescudi's mixtapes. I was all on the hype and have loved both of his studio albums: Man on the Moon I and Man on the Moon II. Speaking of Coachella, Cudi is my surprise guess as a second-tear headliner for Weekend One. Bang.
Artist: Killswitch Engage
Album: Disarm the Descent
Release Date: April 2
Look Mommy, we listen to metal, too! With their sixth studio album coming up, Killswitch Engage jumped back into the recording studio with original lead singer Jesse Leach. With uplifting lyrics and sometimes religious message, do not think Leach is peacefully singing these tunes. His howling scream has been missed on the last couple of Killswitch albums and I know some metal heads out there who are happy to have him back. While fill-in lead singer Howard Jones did a fine job, his high-pitched Dio-esque voice was a complete 180 from what Killswitch was founded on and what people came to love them for. I am relieved to know one of the founding bands of metalcore have reunited with their lead singer. Mr. Leach, we now give you the premission to head-bang the fuck out.
Artist: The Joy Formidable
Album: Wolf's Law
Release Date: July 21
Ah, the curse of the potential sophomore slump. Let's be honest, Mumford's Babel was great, but it is no Sigh No More, and Bon Iver's Bon Iver was mesmerizing, but I am not sure any indie album will ever come close to For Emma, Forever Ago. Which brings me to my next artist who I have incredibly high expectations for - The Joy Formidable. Their debut album, The Big Roar, grabbed hipsters by the ears and did not let go of their ear drums for for a good solid year. I found out about these guys at Outside Lands in San Francisco exactly one month after they debuted. Amazing. "Whirring" is still on every playlist I make and the opening track "The Everchanging Spectrum of a Lie" is a haunting, psychedelic, hard-rock adventure all put into a seven minute jam. Critics describe their music as shoegazing, whatever that means. All I know is that Ritzy Bryan is one of the coolest front ladies in the all the land. Let's just hope their second release lives up to the hype of the first. I'm voting yes.
Artist: Bad Religion
Album: True North
Release Date: July 22
The legendary LA punk band is at it again. Yes, those God-defying, red-line-through-a-cross-logo lunatics are back in the punk scene...for the 16th time, no less. Bad Religion, the saviors of the melodic hardcore genre, are releasing True North just two years after their release of The Dissent of Man, an album which was thought to be their last. Rumors began to circulate in the spring of 2012 that front man Greg Graffin and co-lyricist/guitarist Brett Gurwitz had rallied the troops and were recording new songs. Said to have been inspired by Pennywise's latest release, All or Nothing, Bad Religion said they went into the studio with the mindset of writing a fast punk record, similar to 1987's Suffer and 1989's No Control; two of their most prized pieces of work. The first single off of True North, "Fuck You," does have quite the old school Bad Religion sound to it, as expected. All punk fans should be pumped for this one. However with this excitement comes the high probability that this is, in fact, Bad Religion's last piece of work. Happy 32 years, boys.
Artist: Atoms for Peace
Album: Amok
Release Date: February 25
Flea and Thom Yorke. Need I say more? Okay, here it goes... These two cats got together back in 2009 with three other dudes (who are all, in one way or another, connected to either the Red Hot Chili Peppers or Radiohead) and began playing live shows together. Most of the music was originally written, but with the mega-status of both the Chili Peppers and Radiohead, no one expected anything other than just a couple of live shows and maybe some small time touring. Atoms for Peace played a Coachella show and since then have not done much; well, at least not to my knowledge. All that is about to change, though, with their February 25 release of Amok. I guess there is quite a bit of experimental wackiness going on here (go figure) and also a hefty dose of Yorke's electronica talent. In any event, I cannot wait for what this album could potentially do to the alternative/indie scene. How many bass solos are going to be laid over an electronic computer? How many times is Thom Yorke going to sing about shit I don't understand? Should be fun.
Artist: Pusha-T
Album: My Name is My Name
Release Date: TBA
Signing to Kanye's G.O.O.D. Music record label, collaborations with Tyler, the Creator, and already a couple beefs with Lil Wayne, Pusha-T is a solo artist in the game to be reckoned with. Woo! This is hands down the album I am most looking forward to this year. His first official mixtape, Fear of God, was produced with such high quality and was lyrically so genius that P came right back with his extended play, Fear of God II: Let Us Pray...another solo masterpiece. Pusha will not hesitate to remind you of the love he has for his brother and co-Clipse member, Malice, but he is on a one man mission for right now and that does not end until his debut album, My Name is My Name, is released. I saw this guy back in November of 2011 with Stoye and Pusha was already promoting it. Expect all new production, all new lyrics, same old Push. His mixtapes have had some okay features on them, but I expect this album to be one of the best hip-hop has to offer this year. Rick Flair, na mean? Also, as a quick aside, don't be surprised if we see a new Clipse single drop around the time Pusha-T's album is released, he enjoys shocking us.
Monday, January 14, 2013
CK7: Old School with New Moves (Sorry, Mr. Sargent)
To put it simply, I am an old soul. I am bad with technology, so I limit the resources I use on a daily basis. I never have enjoyed the sound of an mp3, so I prefer to buy vinyl in record stores. I like the feeling of a newspaper in my hand, so online journalism will forever be lost in my mind. And when it comes to sports, I am most comfortable following the schemes and plays the old legends drew up on chalk boards. In basketball, I prefer man to man over any zone defense; in baseball, I respect Triple Crown winners more than saber metric statistic; and in football, most importantly, the low risk offense structure of a traditional quarterback who is simply afraid to turn it over and let's the defense do the rest puts me in a peaceful state of zen. Do not make mistakes and capitalize on what the other team does wrong. Simple, but now up for so much questioning.
The reason I site football as the "most important" is not because it is my favorite sport to watch (I love all equally, except hockey), but because my old soul/old school way of thinking was interrogated publicly on Saturday night at Candlestick Park. Oh, and just to continue with the old soul way of thinking, I do not want to leave Candlestick either, Niners fans. Anyway, as I was saying, Saturday night when the San Francisco 49ers man-handled the Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay Packers right out of the NFC Playoff picture, my beliefs were questioned to their core. Colin Kaepernick, the new school, high risk, high reward quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, put on a performance for the ages. He battled back from a game opening pick-six, when I deemed the moment was "too big for this guy," and threw for over 250 yards and 2 TDs. Ah, I almost forgot, he also ran for another 180 and another 2 TDs.... All while running the triple option offense.
So here is where I am wrong. Colin Kaepernick, or CK7 to the new schoolers, takes a lot of risks. That pick-6 could have forced the 49ers into a game of catch-up for the next 4 quarters. It didn't. One wild run without taking care of the ball could have led to fumbles and national embarrassment. They didn't happen. #7's taunting penalty could have been met with a ferocious "we're the Packers and you're a youngster" attitude from BJ Raji and Clay Matthews. That didn't happen, either. No, none of the new school maneuvers CK7 put on display came back to bite him in the ass once. Why? Because Colin Kaepernick is old school. CK7 runs the triple option which is a new variation of one of the most old school schemes in football: the option. He approaches each mistake with amnesic mentality, giving him the ability to brush off doubt and execute the very next chance he gets. His new school persona? The Milwaukee Brewers hat in the ESPN interview the day before a game against a team from Wisconsin, the swagger he brings with each big play, and new style of play are all new school elements of a guy who at the end of the day does just two things: competes and wins. That, ladies and gentlemen, is as old school and as old soul as they come.
As a quick aside: I am not going to lie, watching Alex Smith lose his job over injury went against one of the most old school ideals - loyalty. However, that was not on Colin. Harbaugh, along with his astute coaching staff, made that decision. So I think the resentment I felt toward Colin initially came out of sympathy for #11. After all, Alex took us to the same place CK7 has gotten us, so I felt allegiance to a guy we all ragged on for the first six years of his career. Plain and simple, I did not think Harbaugh's decision was the right one or the fair one. This is the No Fair League, though, and since Jim Harbaugh watches this team 100 hours a week and we only watch for 3 1/2 hours a day, I figured he knew what he was doing. We should have all let that go by now. I am going to miss Alex.
So, where is this blog going other than a quick statistical recap from Saturday's beat down and admitting a new found trust in our quarterback? Well, this is going to be the tough part. This blog post is actually, at it's core, an apology to my friend, Craig Sargent. For the latter part of my young adulthood, I have spent countless encounters arguing with Craig about every sports topic known to man. Hall of Fame admittance. Warriors basketball. The legitimacy of Arizona State as an actual academic institution. All of these things were fun, sometimes booze-infused banter. I made some points, he made some points, but for the most part we came to see eye to eye on particular topics. Then, all of a sudden, Alex Smith was concussed, Kaepernick tied the Rams, later lost to them, had some great moments, and Craig and I were knee deep in debate.
I could not stand Kaepernick. For all reasons I mentioned above, I did not know what everyone saw in the guy. I thought some of his decisions were senseless, his attitude overblown, and, to be perfectly honest, I did not think he was the guy for the job. As I am sure you could guess, Craig felt completely different. This was his guy from the draft. "Not everyone's going to have a great game every time " said Craig, in reference to the Rams loss. Craig had no problem quickly changing his profile picture to Colin Kaepernick right after Harbaugh announced that #7 would be the full-time starter. What does this dude see, I would ask myself. His stats were almost the same as Smith's, ratio-wise. Was he to be the the quarterback of the 49ers future? I thought no, hell no, in fact. But old Craigy Sargent thought different. Sunday night came and that fuckin' Sun Devil was right. Kaepernick can flat ball. Not only can he ball, he seemed to only get better after the pick-6. He ran, he threw, he taunted, he won. The point total (45) was the third most in San Francisco 49ers history. Wow. I was wrong.
So Craig, here is my apology to you. I cannot apologize to anyone else this blatantly because to be honest, no one has been riding Kaepernick's jock as hard as you have. And the funny part is, that is actually a compliment. While I can still say with great certainty that Alex Smith was robbed of a starting job, I can be a true man and admit when I was wrong. Kaepernick was, and is, the answer for the San Francisco 49ers. Sorry it took such a legendary playoff performance to finally see it. But hey, CK7 is my Facebook profile picture now, so I guess that makes up for something?
Don't get too ahead of yourself, the Warriors still suck.
The reason I site football as the "most important" is not because it is my favorite sport to watch (I love all equally, except hockey), but because my old soul/old school way of thinking was interrogated publicly on Saturday night at Candlestick Park. Oh, and just to continue with the old soul way of thinking, I do not want to leave Candlestick either, Niners fans. Anyway, as I was saying, Saturday night when the San Francisco 49ers man-handled the Aaron Rodgers led Green Bay Packers right out of the NFC Playoff picture, my beliefs were questioned to their core. Colin Kaepernick, the new school, high risk, high reward quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, put on a performance for the ages. He battled back from a game opening pick-six, when I deemed the moment was "too big for this guy," and threw for over 250 yards and 2 TDs. Ah, I almost forgot, he also ran for another 180 and another 2 TDs.... All while running the triple option offense.
So here is where I am wrong. Colin Kaepernick, or CK7 to the new schoolers, takes a lot of risks. That pick-6 could have forced the 49ers into a game of catch-up for the next 4 quarters. It didn't. One wild run without taking care of the ball could have led to fumbles and national embarrassment. They didn't happen. #7's taunting penalty could have been met with a ferocious "we're the Packers and you're a youngster" attitude from BJ Raji and Clay Matthews. That didn't happen, either. No, none of the new school maneuvers CK7 put on display came back to bite him in the ass once. Why? Because Colin Kaepernick is old school. CK7 runs the triple option which is a new variation of one of the most old school schemes in football: the option. He approaches each mistake with amnesic mentality, giving him the ability to brush off doubt and execute the very next chance he gets. His new school persona? The Milwaukee Brewers hat in the ESPN interview the day before a game against a team from Wisconsin, the swagger he brings with each big play, and new style of play are all new school elements of a guy who at the end of the day does just two things: competes and wins. That, ladies and gentlemen, is as old school and as old soul as they come.
As a quick aside: I am not going to lie, watching Alex Smith lose his job over injury went against one of the most old school ideals - loyalty. However, that was not on Colin. Harbaugh, along with his astute coaching staff, made that decision. So I think the resentment I felt toward Colin initially came out of sympathy for #11. After all, Alex took us to the same place CK7 has gotten us, so I felt allegiance to a guy we all ragged on for the first six years of his career. Plain and simple, I did not think Harbaugh's decision was the right one or the fair one. This is the No Fair League, though, and since Jim Harbaugh watches this team 100 hours a week and we only watch for 3 1/2 hours a day, I figured he knew what he was doing. We should have all let that go by now. I am going to miss Alex.
So, where is this blog going other than a quick statistical recap from Saturday's beat down and admitting a new found trust in our quarterback? Well, this is going to be the tough part. This blog post is actually, at it's core, an apology to my friend, Craig Sargent. For the latter part of my young adulthood, I have spent countless encounters arguing with Craig about every sports topic known to man. Hall of Fame admittance. Warriors basketball. The legitimacy of Arizona State as an actual academic institution. All of these things were fun, sometimes booze-infused banter. I made some points, he made some points, but for the most part we came to see eye to eye on particular topics. Then, all of a sudden, Alex Smith was concussed, Kaepernick tied the Rams, later lost to them, had some great moments, and Craig and I were knee deep in debate.
I could not stand Kaepernick. For all reasons I mentioned above, I did not know what everyone saw in the guy. I thought some of his decisions were senseless, his attitude overblown, and, to be perfectly honest, I did not think he was the guy for the job. As I am sure you could guess, Craig felt completely different. This was his guy from the draft. "Not everyone's going to have a great game every time " said Craig, in reference to the Rams loss. Craig had no problem quickly changing his profile picture to Colin Kaepernick right after Harbaugh announced that #7 would be the full-time starter. What does this dude see, I would ask myself. His stats were almost the same as Smith's, ratio-wise. Was he to be the the quarterback of the 49ers future? I thought no, hell no, in fact. But old Craigy Sargent thought different. Sunday night came and that fuckin' Sun Devil was right. Kaepernick can flat ball. Not only can he ball, he seemed to only get better after the pick-6. He ran, he threw, he taunted, he won. The point total (45) was the third most in San Francisco 49ers history. Wow. I was wrong.
So Craig, here is my apology to you. I cannot apologize to anyone else this blatantly because to be honest, no one has been riding Kaepernick's jock as hard as you have. And the funny part is, that is actually a compliment. While I can still say with great certainty that Alex Smith was robbed of a starting job, I can be a true man and admit when I was wrong. Kaepernick was, and is, the answer for the San Francisco 49ers. Sorry it took such a legendary playoff performance to finally see it. But hey, CK7 is my Facebook profile picture now, so I guess that makes up for something?
Don't get too ahead of yourself, the Warriors still suck.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The Steroid Era: If You Ain't Cheatin', You Ain't Tryin'
I have gotten into this argument with almost every one who brings it up. Friends, family members, former players, current players, coaches, and even the television. It is one in which emotional support is closely tied and decisions are based off of different case studies, as it were. It is: The Steroid Era and how it effects Hall of Fame Voting, most particularly in the case of Barry Bonds. Today, January 9, 2013, players such as Barry Bonds, Craig Biggio, Sammy Sosa, Curt Schilling, and Roger Clemens sit on their first ever Hall of Fame Ballot. All played in The Steroid Era, some labeled as cheaters, some slipped into the baseball ether. Point is, Craig Beggio is going to be the only person on that ballot to reach the Hall (or, at least we thought). You know it, I know it, deal with it. "This person did that, so this guy here is okay" is basically the argument, though. There is something very, very wrong with that. One person's wrong does not make another person's wrong, right; right? Well guess what, I will try to make as much sense of this as possible, but no one I have talked to agrees with me anyway, so here goes nothing.
Here in the Bay Area, we pride ourselves on being sports fans with great allegiance. Every year the fog rolls into Candlestick, or another red-laced Major League Official baseball is tossed, Bay Area locals can be heard up into the wineries of Napa and down in the tech-labs of Silicon Valley. Personally, I am one of the many who, at times, become too intoxicated with San Francisco sports pride. I believe the 2010 San Francisco Giants team was the best in baseball history, I firmly think the fact Raiders fans believe they have a place in the Bay Area is flawed and inappropriate, and I, at a cellular level, will take the side of any Bay Area sports star. Face it, we love our teams. In fact, we love our teams so much we are willing to let a lot of what we believe in slide in order to see success. That, my friends, is wrong.
We all have our personal opinions towards the topic of The Steroid Era in professional baseball. However, before we get into opinions - which are the only thing people stand by anymore - let's look at some statistical information of "The Era." In the early part of the 2000s, after the United States Congress' penalties for steroid possession became too severe, the MLB and then-commissioner Fay Vincent sent a memo to each organization that steroids would be added to the long list of "substances banned" by the league. Around that time, the LA Times released an article where one journalist termed steroids as "the secret we're not supposed to talk about" and Tony Gwynn estimated 30% of professional players were using. Oh, by the way, Jason Giambi denies using at all and praises Mark McGuire as a man who plays the right way. That last part is actually true.
Fast forward to 2004. This is when the MLB actually began testing individual players at "random" for steroid use. In doing so, the league issued five levels of penalties that coincided with illegal usage: 15 games for first offense, 30 for second, 60 for third, an entire season for fourth, and a lifetime league ban for fifth and final offenses. Seems like quite a few slaps on the wrist before an ass gets spanked, yes? I digress, though, let's get back to the story... So, as we moved throughout the year of 2004, not too much happened. Steroids were found on lesser known players, Ken Caminiti became the first star player to admit to using Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs), dating back to 1996, and for the most part, the MLB felt they had a stronghold - at least in the eyes of the public - over steroid usage and it's involvement with the game.
As 2004 turned to '05 and as 2006 stared us right in the face, a lot happened in baseball's fight against steroids. There is no sense "boring" you with the facts, since none of you use them for the basis of your argument, but basically some guy named Kurt Randomski admitted twice to the IRS that he provided steroids to a number of players, mostly current, and that crazy bastard Jose Canseco began bomb-dropping on former teammates Rafael Palmero, Mark McGuire, Jason Giambi, and even Alex Rodriguez. Those names should all shock you... naaat. Yet here in the Bay Area, we were doing just fine. No rumors, no names. We were just some laid back dope smoking hippies, allegedly (I say allegedly for legal purposes). The Giants finally made it back to a World Series in 2002, Barry Bonds was winning the MVP as if it was going out of style, and no one in a Giants uniform, other than Bobby Estalella (who?), had been caught with or had admitted to using steroids.
Let's make one thing crystal clear, though. When Bonds hit 73 and Palmero was in front of the Grand Jury blatantly lying, if you were not feeling lucky it was not Bonds in that chair, you're lying just as boldly as Palmero was. Bonds' body had completely transformed. He had turned into a fucking terminator. There is no other way to put it, kids: he took steroids. Barry was great, he was a legend, but it does not make what he did right...even if he is a Serra Man. This is not a religion class or a morality lecture. Frankly, everyone lies and cheats, but for us to not see what it will do to people's integrity - that is wrong. People always fall back on, "well Barry never got caught... everybody's doing it... If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin.'"
Just when we thought Barry was out of the wreckage, had gotten past the dark cloud that Major League Baseball had let into the skies, two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, no less, break the story on what is now known simply as BALCO. For those who were too young to spell steroid at the time or are too stupid to respect it's legitimacy now, the BALCO case took dropped bombs on the following: Jason Giambi, who finally admitted, Jeremy Giambi (not just a fictional character in Moneyball), Benito Santiago, and many others. However, the most notable victim, Barry Bonds. In this report, brought to the Grand Jury, Bonds had been receiving steroid injections from his old childhood friend and current weight trainer, Greg Anderson. Bonds had already testified, claiming he did not take steroids, but now was under the apathetic point of view that "I took them, but I did not knowingly take them." What?
It has been reported that during the official years of MLB's Steroid Era, which we can now timeline from 2001-2007, that almost 50% of players were doping, using PEDs, cheating. It was a sad part of baseball. The ramifications of that Era have had serious effects on how the athletic youth view steroids, enhancers, and cheating in general. Now, with most of the key players involved with The Steroid Era out of baseball, their time to be judged has come. However, what do we do as a sports society? Pass it off as commonplace. Claim that cheating has been happening in baseball since the very first pitch. Fail to acknowledge how drastically warped and how statistically skewed baseball has forever become because of The Steroid Era. It is simple-minded to relate steroids and PEDs to "greenies," amphetamines, or even the racial segregation that scared this country for so many years, but I cannot win that argument because it is all cheating. Although I find PEDs to be in completely different category of cheating, all of it is wrong and the game has been tainted for many years. From it's inception, actually. That I do agree with.
So, forget the whole cheating thing. As a society, we have come to understand accepting the idea of cheating is okay, always have, and we always will. In life, I have not always been the most faithful man, so who am I to cast harm on a cheater? And you're right, it's part of the game. We have to acknowledge that. I do not want to be the one who hides from it... The real problem here is the fan. Fans have the ability to build someone up so high, to point of no feasible return, and when that person lets the fans down, there are two ways we handle it. First, there is The Tiger Way. The Tiger Way is our most natural instinct: we have loved an athlete for so long that when news of his wrong-doings come out they are so sick, so disgusting, so evil, that everyone wants to root against him. I, myself, have hated Tiger for awhile, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy a classic fist pump from time to time. The second way, is The Barry Bonds Way. This reaction is much more difficult, because he is not completely at fault, kind of. You see, Barry connects with so many people. He is a high school friend, a local celebrity, a man who brought never-ending glory to San Francisco Giants baseball. Barry has done so much for this Area of the country. Yes, he has done so much well that we cannot accept what he has done wrong.
As fans, we need to see the big picture. We cannot let a childhood dream get in the way of recognizing the truth of a situation. Here is what I propose, place the scandal next to the records for those who you wish to see in the Hall of Fame. You want Sosa? You'll get the corked bat. You want Palmero? You get his "lying to a grand jury" tape played on repeat. You want Clemens? You get a picture of Brian McNamee. You want Bonds? You get a BALCO needle.
Here are the facts:
Barry Bonds is one of the best baseball players to ever play the game. He is the all-time home run champion with 762. He is a member of the 500/500 club. He is a 7x MVP. He is an 8x Gold-Glover. He is a 14x All-Star. Many of his records will never be touched.
He knowingly took steroids. He took steroids with the help of his childhood friend, Greg Anderson (who is in federal prison). He lied to the United States Government. He was indicted on 3 charges of perjury. He knows what really happened, but is not man enough to sit down and tell all.
We have to take the good with the bad. If we are going to let Barry Bonds, or any other Hall of Fame Candidate in, we must post the records with the cheating that went along with them. All of it must be on display. Would you still want Clemens, Bonds, and Palmero in the Hall of every piece of their scandals were printed next to their shining moments? I am not one to judge what you want.
You don't want to believe it's terrible, so you concoct a story that helps you sleep. Wake up, this is the worst it will ever be.
Here in the Bay Area, we pride ourselves on being sports fans with great allegiance. Every year the fog rolls into Candlestick, or another red-laced Major League Official baseball is tossed, Bay Area locals can be heard up into the wineries of Napa and down in the tech-labs of Silicon Valley. Personally, I am one of the many who, at times, become too intoxicated with San Francisco sports pride. I believe the 2010 San Francisco Giants team was the best in baseball history, I firmly think the fact Raiders fans believe they have a place in the Bay Area is flawed and inappropriate, and I, at a cellular level, will take the side of any Bay Area sports star. Face it, we love our teams. In fact, we love our teams so much we are willing to let a lot of what we believe in slide in order to see success. That, my friends, is wrong.
We all have our personal opinions towards the topic of The Steroid Era in professional baseball. However, before we get into opinions - which are the only thing people stand by anymore - let's look at some statistical information of "The Era." In the early part of the 2000s, after the United States Congress' penalties for steroid possession became too severe, the MLB and then-commissioner Fay Vincent sent a memo to each organization that steroids would be added to the long list of "substances banned" by the league. Around that time, the LA Times released an article where one journalist termed steroids as "the secret we're not supposed to talk about" and Tony Gwynn estimated 30% of professional players were using. Oh, by the way, Jason Giambi denies using at all and praises Mark McGuire as a man who plays the right way. That last part is actually true.
Fast forward to 2004. This is when the MLB actually began testing individual players at "random" for steroid use. In doing so, the league issued five levels of penalties that coincided with illegal usage: 15 games for first offense, 30 for second, 60 for third, an entire season for fourth, and a lifetime league ban for fifth and final offenses. Seems like quite a few slaps on the wrist before an ass gets spanked, yes? I digress, though, let's get back to the story... So, as we moved throughout the year of 2004, not too much happened. Steroids were found on lesser known players, Ken Caminiti became the first star player to admit to using Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs), dating back to 1996, and for the most part, the MLB felt they had a stronghold - at least in the eyes of the public - over steroid usage and it's involvement with the game.
As 2004 turned to '05 and as 2006 stared us right in the face, a lot happened in baseball's fight against steroids. There is no sense "boring" you with the facts, since none of you use them for the basis of your argument, but basically some guy named Kurt Randomski admitted twice to the IRS that he provided steroids to a number of players, mostly current, and that crazy bastard Jose Canseco began bomb-dropping on former teammates Rafael Palmero, Mark McGuire, Jason Giambi, and even Alex Rodriguez. Those names should all shock you... naaat. Yet here in the Bay Area, we were doing just fine. No rumors, no names. We were just some laid back dope smoking hippies, allegedly (I say allegedly for legal purposes). The Giants finally made it back to a World Series in 2002, Barry Bonds was winning the MVP as if it was going out of style, and no one in a Giants uniform, other than Bobby Estalella (who?), had been caught with or had admitted to using steroids.
Let's make one thing crystal clear, though. When Bonds hit 73 and Palmero was in front of the Grand Jury blatantly lying, if you were not feeling lucky it was not Bonds in that chair, you're lying just as boldly as Palmero was. Bonds' body had completely transformed. He had turned into a fucking terminator. There is no other way to put it, kids: he took steroids. Barry was great, he was a legend, but it does not make what he did right...even if he is a Serra Man. This is not a religion class or a morality lecture. Frankly, everyone lies and cheats, but for us to not see what it will do to people's integrity - that is wrong. People always fall back on, "well Barry never got caught... everybody's doing it... If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin.'"
Just when we thought Barry was out of the wreckage, had gotten past the dark cloud that Major League Baseball had let into the skies, two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, no less, break the story on what is now known simply as BALCO. For those who were too young to spell steroid at the time or are too stupid to respect it's legitimacy now, the BALCO case took dropped bombs on the following: Jason Giambi, who finally admitted, Jeremy Giambi (not just a fictional character in Moneyball), Benito Santiago, and many others. However, the most notable victim, Barry Bonds. In this report, brought to the Grand Jury, Bonds had been receiving steroid injections from his old childhood friend and current weight trainer, Greg Anderson. Bonds had already testified, claiming he did not take steroids, but now was under the apathetic point of view that "I took them, but I did not knowingly take them." What?
It has been reported that during the official years of MLB's Steroid Era, which we can now timeline from 2001-2007, that almost 50% of players were doping, using PEDs, cheating. It was a sad part of baseball. The ramifications of that Era have had serious effects on how the athletic youth view steroids, enhancers, and cheating in general. Now, with most of the key players involved with The Steroid Era out of baseball, their time to be judged has come. However, what do we do as a sports society? Pass it off as commonplace. Claim that cheating has been happening in baseball since the very first pitch. Fail to acknowledge how drastically warped and how statistically skewed baseball has forever become because of The Steroid Era. It is simple-minded to relate steroids and PEDs to "greenies," amphetamines, or even the racial segregation that scared this country for so many years, but I cannot win that argument because it is all cheating. Although I find PEDs to be in completely different category of cheating, all of it is wrong and the game has been tainted for many years. From it's inception, actually. That I do agree with.
So, forget the whole cheating thing. As a society, we have come to understand accepting the idea of cheating is okay, always have, and we always will. In life, I have not always been the most faithful man, so who am I to cast harm on a cheater? And you're right, it's part of the game. We have to acknowledge that. I do not want to be the one who hides from it... The real problem here is the fan. Fans have the ability to build someone up so high, to point of no feasible return, and when that person lets the fans down, there are two ways we handle it. First, there is The Tiger Way. The Tiger Way is our most natural instinct: we have loved an athlete for so long that when news of his wrong-doings come out they are so sick, so disgusting, so evil, that everyone wants to root against him. I, myself, have hated Tiger for awhile, but I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy a classic fist pump from time to time. The second way, is The Barry Bonds Way. This reaction is much more difficult, because he is not completely at fault, kind of. You see, Barry connects with so many people. He is a high school friend, a local celebrity, a man who brought never-ending glory to San Francisco Giants baseball. Barry has done so much for this Area of the country. Yes, he has done so much well that we cannot accept what he has done wrong.
As fans, we need to see the big picture. We cannot let a childhood dream get in the way of recognizing the truth of a situation. Here is what I propose, place the scandal next to the records for those who you wish to see in the Hall of Fame. You want Sosa? You'll get the corked bat. You want Palmero? You get his "lying to a grand jury" tape played on repeat. You want Clemens? You get a picture of Brian McNamee. You want Bonds? You get a BALCO needle.
Here are the facts:
Barry Bonds is one of the best baseball players to ever play the game. He is the all-time home run champion with 762. He is a member of the 500/500 club. He is a 7x MVP. He is an 8x Gold-Glover. He is a 14x All-Star. Many of his records will never be touched.
He knowingly took steroids. He took steroids with the help of his childhood friend, Greg Anderson (who is in federal prison). He lied to the United States Government. He was indicted on 3 charges of perjury. He knows what really happened, but is not man enough to sit down and tell all.
We have to take the good with the bad. If we are going to let Barry Bonds, or any other Hall of Fame Candidate in, we must post the records with the cheating that went along with them. All of it must be on display. Would you still want Clemens, Bonds, and Palmero in the Hall of every piece of their scandals were printed next to their shining moments? I am not one to judge what you want.
You don't want to believe it's terrible, so you concoct a story that helps you sleep. Wake up, this is the worst it will ever be.
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