The Mitchell Report

The Mitchell Report. The Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball came out yesterday, and already we have polls out of Hall of Fame voters and whether they'll vote for anyone named. Of course the biggest questions swirl around Barry Bonds, baseball's greatest hitter, and Roger Clemens, its greatest pitcher. And what I don't understand is, WHY?! For the love of all that's holy, give it a rest already! Steroids or not, these guys deserve to be in the Hall. What's the case against them? They cheated? Assuming for a minute that that's true (the report rests on personal testimony, not the most reliable form of evidence), SO WHAT?! THIS IS BASEBALL! EVERYBODY CHEATS! Pitchers threw juiced balls with their juiced arms to juiced hitters with juiced bats, and the game still got played. In fact, in the court of public opinion, I'd say fans voted with their wallets in attending more games than ever over the past decade, and the verdict is--WE LOVE STEROIDS! We love 100 mph fastballs and monster home-runs, and we don't give a squirt of Yoo-Hoo whether players juice or not. In fact, since baseball pays bigger money to better players, and steroids clearly make players better (if not, then we need to all shut the heck up and pretend not to be so stupidly fixated on this thing), the argument can be made that we the fans actually want players to juice up. Heck, if steroids will guarantee greater viewing pleasure for my favorite players, then of course I want them to juice! And if steroids will give my favorite team a better chance to win, then of course I want their team trainers all have pharmacology degrees!

Listen, am I advocating steroids in sports? Actually no. I'd love nothing more than a pure game with pure athletes. But the reality is that every pro in every sport is looking for every edge he or she can get. Punishing them after their playing careers are over is ridiculous. If they've broken the law, let the government mete out just punishment after a fair trial. If they are caught by the governing bodies of their respective sports, let them be banned form playing. But let's not pretend the games weren't played, the records weren't set, the results weren't recorded in history. I mean, c'mon. Let's say Clemons did juice. Are YOU going to be the one to take the World Series away from the Yankees for cheating? I didn't think so. SO, if by some miracle you happen to be reading this and you happen to be a HOF voter, sit down, shut up, and vote YES. Keeping guys like McGwire, Clemens, Palmiero and Bonds out of the Hall isn't just, but it is stupid. This isn't the first time I've written about 'roids in baseball, I hope it is the last. As a fan, I'm tired of hearing about it, but I have the common sense to know that the best players, regardless of how they got to be the best players, deserve their place among the game's greats.

10 Things I enjoy about living in Joplin, MO

Yeah, didn't want the home crowd to feel left out here, so here's the Joplin list:

1. Friends
2. Our ministry at the BSU
3. Forest Park Baptist Church
4. Being close to family
5. Closer to Oregon than Bloomington
6. "Opa's" (Mythos: authentic reek cuisine. The kids call it 'Opa's' because that's what you yell when they light the cheese appetizer on fire at your table.)
7. Mark Dinwiddie, and not just because he pays for lunch on Mondays.
8. Well, I'm not sure I can go any deeper, but I will say that we have seen God do amazing things in the 2.5 years we've been here, and that makes up for A LOT.

NCAA football: a sport without a champion II

So the BCS pairings came out today, and as expected, chaos and nonsense ruled the day. BCS. I think the 'B' stands for Bad, and the 'C' stands for Call, but I'm not sure what the 'S' is for. I can think of several vulgarities that might fit, but nothing I'd care for my children to read. 11-2 LSU in the title game? Over 10-2 USC? 11-2 Oklahoma? 11-2 Virginia Tech? 10-2 West Virginia? 12-0 Hawaii? (All five of whom won their conferences.) What about 11-1 Kansas? Is it a bad call to have LSU in the title game? Maybe. Maybe not. The point is we don't know!!! At least five teams have a legitimate beef for not being included. Wouldn't it be nice if NCAA Bowl Series football conformed to the rules that regulate every single other NCAA sport, wherein participating athletes know who the champion is because they play for a title within an NCAA sanctioned playoff format? I hope Hawaii kicks the pooh out of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, thus ending their unblemished seasoned with a real nice trophy and a legitimate argument that they are the 'real' champions. I mean, who can argue? They would be 13-0 with a win over a top five BCS team in a major bowl.

And while I'm ranting, kudos to the Associated Press for having the wherewithal to stay above the BCS joke, er, system by not allowing their own poll to be used in it. BTW, six different teams received No. 1 consideration in the AP poll this week. Ha!

Peace out.

10 Things I Miss About Eugene, Oregon

This really isn't meant as a condemnation of Joplin, but there are certain aspects of any community that are special and unique. Having lived most of my life in Eugene, Oregon, I grew especially fond of the culture there in several respects. And, okay, so the list is actually eleven things, not ten. Hey, it could've been thirty!

• The geography, especially the mountains (Oregon is more geographically diverse than most of the country combined.)


• The climate (mild summers, mild winters, lots of rain and if you want cold, climb a mountain!)


• Friends


• Family


• Fishing (Oregon has everything the Midwest has, plus the ocean, trout, salmon, steelhead, etc.)


• The University of Oregon ( Yes, it's a bastion of immorality, anarchy, liberalism and neo-pagan crap, but I will bleed green and yellow 'til I die. GO DUCKS!)


• Track Town Pizza (Bloomington had a better culinary scene, but Track Town is awesome.)


• Seeing world class athletes jogging around town. (Eugene isn't "Track Town" for nothing.)


• The performing arts community (truly special)


• Public lands (camping, fishing, hunting, hiking, canoeing, skiing, etc., are all much easier to access and in prettier areas than Midwest states offer.)


• Flora and Fauna (biodiversity is not something you see in the Midwest, comparatively speaking. Just compare landscaping if you don't believe me.)
• Bike lanes