Written by: Patrick Galvin 
Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were among the 104 major league players listed as having tested positive for performance-enhancing substances in 2003, lawyers with knowledge of the results told The New York Times.
The two were key members of the Boston Red Sox World Series championship teams in 2004 and 2007.
It’s over. As a Boston sports fan I can’t begin to elucidate how shitty this is. Think about what it was like when the Red Sox won back in 2004. Boston was the city of the underdog. The Patriots were yet to be outed for their creative use of a videocamera, and the most famed and notorious championship-drought, tethered to the ghosts of dead baseball players past and years of agonizingly close encounters with greatness, had finally been brought to an end with the ALCS comeback against the Yankees and the World Series win against the Cardinals. The whole country was rooting for Boston. Call it a bandwagon, but it was better than a bandwagon. It was authentic. America always has loved underdogs, and the Red Sox were the quintessential underdog for the better part of a century. There was something ephemerally satisfying about seeing them finally come out on top, even for sports fans from different areas. But it wasn’t just the underdog status that attracted non-residents to the Sox. It was the way they won. It was their “idiots” mentality, they personified a group of people playing the game the right way, for the right reasons. Ortiz and his infectiously happy demeanor was one of the faces of this organization’s newfound bonhomie. Until now.
Don’t let anyone tell you differently. New England sports fans deserve the shit they’ll eventually get from the rest of the U.S. First we gloated about the Patriots. Much like the Red Sox, they were a free-spirited bunch with team spirit and a little extra brains and an unusually cleft-chinned quarterback on their side. We rubbed it in hard. Three championships in four years and we made sure you knew it. Then the videotaping scandal occured, and the Patriots still went 18-0 with no unfair help, and we fans said “Ha! They won because they’re great, not because they cheated!” We exuded headstrong confidence, only to see the Pats produce what is now the “EPIC FAIL” moment of the NFL this decade. They choked hard. And you, the rest of the U.S, reveled in it the way you reveled in Sadaam Hussein’s hanging. But the Sox were still clean, and they were the loveable underdogs. Until the signs started coming…
1) When the Mitchell report first came out, it was for one reason or another swept under the rug that Mitchell himself had ties to the Red Sox. He was a director for the Red Sox at one time, and has regained that title since. But a few names from the Red Sox showed up on the list, so people weren’t too upset. None of them famous, though. Mo Vaughn 10 years after his prime? Jason Giambi’s brother Jeremy? Yawn. I ignored this. Ortiz and Varitek were supposed to be on that list, but if they weren’t, they weren’t. After all, Mitchell was a senator. When it comes to the truth, senators are always an absolute entity.
2) Then came speculation regarding Ortiz’s home-run surge. When he was in Minnesota, he never reached reached 30 homers. Then he came to Boston and was a HR/RBI machine. Boston fans like myself rationalized it accordingly: Boston had better hitting coaches. Ortiz was a natural pull-hitter, and Minnesota tried to make him a contact hitter. Boston let his true form reign. It had nothing to do with his ballooned physique.
3) I still ignored the signs. We all did. But then the last one came, the precipitous fall in power numbers. We’ve seen it in the steroid-era players all the time. Normally a player’s numbers should drop off at a much more gradual pace, as their body slowly deteriorates. Instead Ortiz’s numbers dropped in almost immediate conjunction with increased scrutiny over steroid use: Here are the HR and RBI numbers over the last decade (Minnesota numbers added for emphasis)…
2000 (MIN) – 10/63
2001 (MIN) – 18/48
2002 (MIN)- 20/75
2003 (BOS) – 31/101
2004 (BOS) – 41/139
2005 (BOS) – 47/148
2006 (BOS) – 54/137
2007 (BOS) – 35/117
2008 (BOS) – 23/89
And now in 2009 it’s taken him 93 games to crack 13 HR and 55 RBI. We all knew what was coming. Then additional evidence poured in anyway, just for good measure.
4) Amidst comments from Lou Merloni, it was rumored Red Sox doctors tacitly approved steroid-use by trying to educate their players on how not to abuse them. Sox fans started shivering in their sleep.
5) Ortiz’s friend Manny Ramirez was linked to steroid use and suspended 50 games. At this point we were all practically sobbing, forlornly playing “Sweet Caroline” on our speakers alone in the dark while reminiscing of the naive and innocent past. We knew it was coming.
Finally, it did. Ortiz, our beloved and always-smiling hero, was a steroid-user. All the clutch homeruns, all the chest bumps, the shots of Jack with his fellow “idiots” before games, all of it had become hollowed out. The Yankees were supposed to be the “Evil Empire,” but the Red Sox were no better. They just hid it slightly better.
The only team I really have left right now is the Celtics. So help me God, I think they might be a team that without sneaky videotaping or HGH or steroids, might have actually bonded together and won a real championship the right way. I swear, if it turns up Kevin Garnett was on performance – enhancers I’m giving up following all sports except golf and billiards for the rest of my blonde days.
R.I.P. Boston-mania. R.I.P. Red Sox Nation. R.I.P. all of the excitement and Stephen King books and “I can die happy now” plastered on the grandfathers’ graves. R.I.P. to being “idiots,” the rare whiskey-drinking, fun-loving cavaliers who remembered that sports were supposed to be fun. R.I.P… Boston’s heroes.
Written by: Mike I am dedicated to our readers an as such am filing this blog from high above the united states of America. Found out at the airport bar David ortiz and manny were using steroids in 2003. That kind sucks but I can’t say I’m suprised. That’s the state of baseball I guess. I can only hope they clean it up so my boy can watch Americas past time the way it was meant to be played.
Other big news is the gentleman 3 rows up looks like he’s about to fall out of his seat. Sorning lounder than one of those exagerated fake ones you do to prove a point. It’s that bad. I was also just asked by the flight attendant to put away my cd player. Luckaly Im using my iPhone.
If you’ve read this far I applaud you, listening to the random thoughts of someone stuck on a small regional aircraft is not only cool, I’ve veen told it’s life afirming. Good day everyone, they have figured out this is a phone.
Written by: Patrick Galvin 
President Obama has upset many around the country, especially police in Massachussets regarding his remarks that police in Cambridge “acted stupidly,” in the wake of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s arrest, which only occured when police arrived at his house thinking it was being broken into and he refused to cooperate afterwards. Not to be outdone by the police department’s anger, or anyone’s anger for that matter, FOX commentator Glenn Beck went as far as to say that Obama is a racist. You may remember Beck as the man who usurped Hillary Clinton as the best fake-public-cryer during this tyrade. If only he’d done it when it counts, during the primaries.
Anyways, I digress. Obama has admitted he was wrong to use such harsh words, and has decided to have both Sgt. Crowley, the officer who arrested Gates, and Gates himself speak with him personally over a beer.
When Barack Obama meets Thursday with the black professor and white policeman at the center of a national uproar over race relations, he is aiming for a show that will get positive news coverage and then go away.
“There’s no formal agenda other than cold beer,” press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday.
But admitting your error and having a beer with two other grown adults is never that simple, not when you’re President of the United States.
The emphasis on the beer-drinking part of the deal hasn’t thrilled drug prevention advocates, but there has been no outcry about it either.
Of course it hasn’t thrilled them. Obama doing anything upsets somebody (hence this section of the blog). And watching the President have a beer will lead people to think it’s okay to enjoy alcohol moderately while reconciling differences, as though alcohol can actually be enjoyed in a positive way, and isn’t pushed by corporate demigods looking to kill us all in simultaneous alcohol-induced forty-car-pileups.
This is what you signed up for, Mr. President. Enjoy your beer the best you can, I’ll be enjoying plenty more on your behalf.
Written by: Mike 
Ever get the feeling in baseball that the same teams are always in the conversation for post season play? Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers… it hasn’t changed all that much in the past 10 years or so. I’m not even old enough to remember when the Pirates were good, and barely remember Toronto when they were good in the late 80′s. Point is, this wild spending in baseball needs to be corralled. Look at the following chart – Five out of Six division leaders are also the team that has the highest payroll in that division.
With only a week luxury tax to prohibit rampant spending, teams in large markets able to generate able to generate revenue from non-profit sharing avenues are able to negate this cost quite easily. Further, any team not in contentino by the trade deadline trades away talented players for prospects so they can ‘rebuild for the future’. How well is that working out for the Nationals, Pirates, and Royals?
What we need is a fresh look at a legitimate salary cap, but with one major exception which would give advantage to the best run scouting and general management in the league, not the teams with the biggest pocketbook.
Institute a soft cap similar to the NBA where the cap is a percentage based on league revenue. This would encourage teams to do as much as they can to make money, something that shouldn’t need to be done, but its still a great incentive. Other exceptions built in are very advantageous to the teams which know how to use them well. Its mind boggling so just visit the wikipedia link to learn more.
The big idea I have is to reward teams with a keen eye for scouting and player development. Any kid a team signs to a minor league deal from the draft, or as a free agent, does not count against the salary cap in any capacity so long as the prospect remains with the club. What this does is place a bigger emphasis on player development and makes your young guys more valuable. A practical example of this is Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox.
Old people tell great stories
They signed im out of Arizona St and brought him up through the minors. An AL Rookie of the year, followed by an AL MVP award show the Sox were both wise and committed to this player. The league should reward them by not counting his contract under the Sox salary cap.
There are flaws to this idea, and we could get into a whole debate about how effective this would be (would teams sign their home grown players to absurd contracts to keep them away from the big fish? how would free agency and trades in general be effected?) Bottom line is that in the current system the rich get richer and the poor need to rely on miracle seasons to compete.
Written by: Mike The Goods is a classic movie designed to feed off the momentum of a particular actor in another role. Don Ready is as close to Ari Gold as you will find outside of Entourage. The supporting cast is solid which really drives this movie home. The only complaint is the lack of believability in some cases (he convinces a flight attendant to let him smoke on a commercial airline because in 1969 we put a man on the moon)
The plot itself is simple, but surprisingly well told. A down on his luck car lot owner calls Don Ready and asks him to help him sell cars. Don and his small team of go-getters are worried at first, due to the extraordinary amount of traveling they have been doing (presumably selling other consumer products) but they eventually warm up to this idea.
Hijinx and drama ensue at the dealership once the promotion is underway, so I won’t spoil that part of the movie for you guys. Just know that by the end Don is quite taken aback with all he has accomplished. The consummate salesman, he finds himself at the peak of his talent; even going so far to let a bright young Asian man be his understudy.
If you are an Entourage fan, or enjoyed Old School, this movie is for you. Otherwise, you will find the random humor, simple plot, and typecast actors to be an insult to your superior taste in movies. This is not a movie that will win any Oscars, but it is a movie you can see with your buddies and have some good laughs.
Read my review of Bruno based only on the trailer
Written by: Patrick Galvin 
First it was Brock Lesnar’s meltodown after his UFC100 fight with Frank Mir. Then it was Lebron James storming off the court after his Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Orlando Magic. And now Tiger Woods is the lastest celebrity athlete to be admonished by sportswriters for his poor etiquette when he is losing, this time by Rick Reilly.
Tiger Woods has outgrown those Urkel glasses he had as a kid. Outgrown the crazy hair. Outgrown a body that was mostly neck.
When will he outgrow his temper?
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He’d hit a bad shot, turn and bury his club into the ground in a fit. It was two days of Tiger Tantrums — slamming his club, throwing his club and cursing his club. In front of a worldwide audience.
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Put it this way: Will Tiger let his own two kids carry on in public like that?
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If my kids grew up to be the absolute best in the world at their profession, while simultaneously maintaining a high level of class with media and fans and building a comprehensive body of charity work that included a recent AT&T golf tournament for the troops, I’d actually let my kids carry on in public however the fuck they wanted.
I remember Tiger’s dad, Earl, telling a story. One day, when Tiger was just a kid, he was throwing his clubs around in a fuming fit when his dad said something like “Tiger, golf is supposed to be fun.” And Tiger said, “Daddy, I want to win. That’s how I have fun.”
Well, it’s not fun to watch.
Are you kidding me? It’s not fun to watch people who want to win so bad it alters their psyche in clutch moments? That transition from golfer to “killer” or Michael Jordan the basketball player to Michael Jordan the “assassin (in my best Marv Albert voice)” isn’t fun to watch?
To be fair Rick Reilly is not the first sportswriter to throw a fit over other people’s throwing a fit. He was the tipping point that drew my most concentrated ire. But it is articles like these that are great examples of why people are reading Bill Simmons instead of Reilly. When I think of Rick Reilly anymore, I think of him as a sports fan the same way rap fans think of Bill Cosby. He’s that old guy who keeps complaining about how things used to be, and how they should be, and how there’s just not enough manners and pudding pops going around.
People, just like everything else in the world, are a miasma of trade-offs internally. The CEO of a Fortune 500 company may not be getting as much time with the family as people think they should. People with a talent for critiquing things on their obscure website may also be functional alcoholics. And people with an unusual passion for winning will at times have a hard time battling their heat-of-the-moment temper. It comes down to realizing these things about yourself and finding the best balance you can. And when it comes to Tiger Woods’ balance, I think it’s just fine where it is.
Written by: Patrick Galvin 
As has been publicized lately, Sarah Palin is juggling another ethics investigation regarding her public defense fund she started, the Alaska Fund Trust set up by some of her ardent supporters. For those who are unfamiliar with the situation, or who think Palin is “that lady from SNL,” the rub is this: Palin thus far has incurred 19 ethics investigations in the state of Alaska, most of them coming after she announced her vice presidential candidacy last year, and most of them being dismissed as frivolous. Current trends dictate there are more to come.
Besides its geographic isolation and proximity to Russia, Alaska is a cute little anamoly for another reason, its ethics laws. They currently sport some of the toughest disclosure laws nationwide. They also don’t require ethics complaints to be kept confidential when they are filed against a member of the executive branch (such as Sarah Palin). Normally cases are required to be confidential until they are deemed substantial (such as for the legislative branch members). This means people can theoretically, and in recent days quite practically, use ethics complaints to publicly assail an unpopular governor at any time. The governor of Alaska isn’t reimbursed for their legal defense, and as a result Palin started the fund.
So Palin raised money to deal with ethics complaints and their ensuing legal fees, only to have the fund derailed by another ethics complaint, stating she shouldn’t be able to raise the funds. A vicious cycle, indeed. I’m not a big fan of Palin, and the “Troopergate” scandal was well worth investigating. Even the financial details of this fund are worth investigating, since there is a lot of money moving hands. But the complaint about wearing a jacket with an Arctic Cat logo? Or the complaint about her press release that mentioned John McCain? Get the fuck out of here.
Alaska’s ethics complaint laws need to be changed. Governors should be reimbursed for legal fees that are proven to be unnecessary. Complaints should also be kept anonymous until proven legit. Palin needed this fund largely due to the fact she doesn’t have a ton of money yet. She was one of the rare “every-day” people who found themselves in politics, and while the personal side of her folksiness was more haunting than it was endearing during John McCain’s presidential run, the financial side of that folksiness is now clearly being leveraged against her in unjust fashion.
Imagine if you could accuse someone of being a murderer, at virtually no legal cost. Sure, the case would be thrown out, but you could publically say they were a murderer and tarnish their reputation. You could accuse them of anything: rape, laundering, drug-trafficking, buying a Taylor Swift album, ANYTHING. Then the case would go to court, you’d back off and say “just kidding,” and the accusation and ambient headlines would stick to your victim. Normally this is called libel. In Alaska, it’s called politics. You can hate Palin all you want, and things such as mobilized large sums of cash and officers being fired are worth investigating. But if it’s worth doing, its worth doing right, with the same due legal protections.
