Weekly Sporties

-As baseball careens towards the mid-point of its season, the rumbles that MLB is getting ready to hand down major suspensions for player involvement with steroid dealer Biogenesis are getting louder. According to various reports the league doesn't want to disrupt the All-Star break but once the game is over they are going to hand out 100 game suspensions for all the players involved. I talked about this before, but I find the fact baseball is going to try to impose 100-game bans (which is supposed to be the second-offense penalty) on guys like Ryan Braun, who never technically failed a test, is both absurd and a bit heavy-handed. Also, baseball is going to have a hell of a time proving anything with only one side of the story because while Biogenesis owner Tony Bosch appears only too happy to tell his side, guys like Braun and Alex Rodriguez are  reportedly refusing to talk to MLB and there isn't a damn thing the league can do about it. Baseball may like to think they are this all-powerful entity, but they don't have subpoena power and they certainly can't force anyone to admit something to them. (I have this very funny image of Bud Selig calling players in to his office where things are lit to make it look like the interrogation room in a 1950s detective movie and Bud starts demanding they talk, only when the players refuse to cooperate Bud gets a pouty look on his face and says, "C'mon, really? Please, confess?") All in all it fall perfectly in line with how poorly baseball has handled this whole issue, from paying a former Biogenesis employee to get a copy of their records to suing Tony Bosch with a frivolous lawsuit just to pressure him into cutting a deal with them. What I find amazing is if any other Commissioner had handled a major scandal this poorly for this long he would have been relieved of his duties years ago and yet every time baseball owners talk about Bud Selig they mention how they never want him to retire. Sure, he has done some good things for the game like expand the playoffs but in my mind things like refusing to expand replay for far too long and turning a blind eye on steroids until baseball's credibility was in the tank means he should allowed to retire whenever the mood strikes and I hope he's in the retiring mood soon.

-I didn't have time to get into this in the last paragraph, but I also think it is crazy to hold off on these suspensions until after the All-Star game. If you've made the decision to suspend players just do it and get it over with because the report is out there and will be hovering over the game anyway. Also let's not forget that the All-Star game is meaningless and the larger issue of the health of the sport should take precedent. But Bud Selig is hardly the one one who is ignoring a larger issue so as to not soil the memories a meaningless exhibition everyone will forget as soon as the final out is recorded. The game is being played at the Mets' Citi Field this year and the team appear to be taking their hosting duties very seriously. Last month came word that a member of the organization had reached out to a cougar-themed dating website to try and make sure Mets' third baseman David Wright had enough votes to be a starter. Then this week the team scratched rookie phenom Matt Harvey for what the team called 'blister issues.' Had this taken place in September when his inning count was higher no one would have noticed, but the timing conveniently allows Harvey to have the most rest and be in line to start the All-Star game. Admittedly, Harvey's 7-2 record is one of the few bright spots of the Mets' season and he can make a very solid case as to why he should start the game. Plus I vividly remember Pedro Martinez's start at the '99 All-Star game as one of the most memorable moments in the history of Fenway Park, so I can see why the Mets would want to try and create that memory for their fans. But you know what was a better Pedro Martinez memory? When they won the World Series a few years later and I'm not saying that like it's a close race. The Mets are 9 games under .500 and fading fast - they can't afford to be sacrificing any of this guys starts in the name of an exhibition game that most of their fans can't afford tickets to anyway. They should be trying to get Harvey as many starts as possible in games which count. I know this All-Star game could very well be the highlight of the 2013 Mets' season, but the team really should be aiming higher.

-Still, at least the Mets can hold their heads held high compared to how the Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves are conducting themselves regarding this year's All-Star game roster. Both the Jays and the Braves had players up for the final roster spot on their respective league teams, which is voted in by the fans. You pick one player from each League and Toronto was trying to get pitcher Steve Delabar in, while the Braves were hoping to get first baseman Freddie Freeman to the game. On merit alone both could make strong cases for why they should go, but Freeman was facing a very tough race because the other guy in the NL voting was Dodgers' phenom Yasiel Puig, who has gotten a lot of attention in the last few weeks and has the weight of large Los Angeles fanbase behind him. That is why somewhere along the lines the two teams decided to combine forces and agreed to tell their fans that while they when they were going to vote for their team's player they should vote for the other team's player on the other side of the ballot. Basically, they were vote trading. What really surprised me was that this was not just a few hundred fans getting together - the teams condoned this and encouraged their fans to stuff the ballots. True, on the surface there is nothing wrong with this. It is not like this is a Presidential election and the results have no impact outside of this one night. However, I would contend that is kind of the point. It is one thing to act like an asshole when there is a real prize on the line because at least then you can say you only did it because you really needed to win, but what we are talking about is going through all this effort to get to get the 35th player into the All-Star Game who may get one at-bat, if they get into the game at all. It is beyond cheesy and if I were Freeman or Delabar I would be rather embarrassed about the whole thing. Even worse is that it worked, which is only going to encourage other teams to form these kind of alliances next year as well. I had kind of hoped that when people saw what was going on it would create a backlash and people would vote against those players on principle alone, but that never happened. It was probably because people couldn't work up enough anger to vote out of spite. Considering the internet exists to cast votes for things out of spite the fact that movement couldn't gain any steam should really tell you all you need to know about how important this is. So, the Blue Jays and Braves may have won, but they end up looking like losers in the end.

-I think sometimes as America sports fans we forget that not everyone on the planet dreams of being a sports star in this country. Even though we call our teams 'World Champions' and we have most of the great players, we overlook the fact that there are plenty of other leagues around the world playing at extremely high levels. That is why so many people had such a hard time comprehending why New Jersey Devil's star Ilya Kovalchuk announced his retirement this week at the age of 30 and walked away from a contract which still has 9 years and $77 million remaining on it, none of which he will get now. The thing is that Kovalchuk is not retiring from hockey, just the NHL as he plans to go back to his native Russia and play in the KHL, where he will undoubtedly make enough money to have a very satisfying career and his family will be more comfortable. Plus, the KHL is one of the more competitive leagues in the world (it was the go-to place to sign for NHL players when they were locked out last summer) so Kovalchuk will continue to play at a very high level. At first glace this deal only hurts the Devils, who lost a great player and while they have plenty of money to spend, most of the big-name free agents already found new teams to sign with. However, I do wonder if the NHL should see this as a warning shot. Unlike the NFL, NBA or MLB, the NHL does not have the world-wide reputation as the league with the best talent. Even without the KHL there are plenty of people who would contend countries across Europe are capable of holding their talent up against any player the NHL would want to throw at them. So the fear for the NHL is that this is the start of a trend. After all, once you pass a certain dollar amount it becomes more about quality of life than adding another zero to the paycheck and I'm sure the majority of players who come to America seeking their fortune would much rather stay home where they speak the language and know the customs if they could make comparable money. The last thing the NHL needs is a drop in talent. Kovalchuk may be the latest player to decide home is where the heart is, but I doubt he will be the last.

-While we're on the subject of Russians walking away from lots of money, late in the week the New Jersey Nets signed Andrei Kirilenko to a 2-year deal for the veterans minimum of $3 million. Under most circumstances this deal wouldn't have even been a blip on the radar because while Kirilenko was a star in the league a few years ago a series of injuries derailed his career and he has been a shell of himself the last few seasons (I would have needed a couple minutes to remember he was in Minnesota last season). On top of that the Nets are clearly making a push to win a title in the next couple of seasons so the idea of a veteran who has made lots of money in his career taking less money than he could have made playing for a bad team to try and capture a ring happens almost every season in the NBA. Still, Kirilenko opted out of a deal which would have paid him $10 million a season from the Timberwolves, which is more than most players leave on the table, so a lot of NBA executives seem to think it is shady. On top of that Kirilenko has a previous working relationship with Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, so many are saying there may have been some under-the-table promises made to get around the salary cap. (It probably doesn't help that no one knows how Prokhorov made his fortune, just that he acquired the rights to a lot of nickle mines and Russia apparently operates like the mafia when it comes to that stuff.) I'm kind of torn because I have to agree that it sounds like some strange dealing went on, but at the same time the only one getting hurt is Kirilenko. I also don't think there is any way the league could look into this signing unless they wanted to start looking into every shady signing which, trust me, the rest of the NBA owners do not want. (There have always been rumors about exactly when Bosh, Wade and LeBron decided to join forces in Miami.). Really, if you can afford an NBA team you probably had to make a few shady deals to acquire your fortune, so who really expected that to stop just because there is a salary cap in place? Show me an owner who never bent a couple of rules and I'll show you a guy who only owns his fantasy team.

-A few days ago Patriots cornerback Alfonzo Dennard was arrested for DUI. This is the last thing the Patriots wanted to deal with in the wake of the Aaron Hernandez scandal, especially since Dennard already has a checkered past and is on probation, but so far the team has not decided whether Dennard will be released or not. Personally I think the two issues should be treated separately, but I can also understand why some people are saying the Patriots are experiencing an image problem and need to get this guy out of the news. All I know is this - I think the league office is really hoping the Patriots make a decision about Dennard so they don't have to because any move they make is bound to be compared to their inaction regarding the two Denver Broncos executives who were also arrested for DUI in the last month. In two different incidents, the Broncos' director of player personnel and their director of team personnel were both busted for DUI and not only did it take a month for one of them to become public, so far neither the team nor the league has said if any further punishment is coming. I have so say I am kind of enjoying the karma of this because how many times have we heard a team executive talk about how players these days are out of control and the only way to get them to snap back into line is to be tough but firm? Commissioner Roger Goodell has made player conduct his personal mission but has received some push back for allowing team executives to get away with things he would suspend players for without a second thought. Well, this is his time to step up and do something about that perception. Now, I'm not calling for these guys to lose their jobs because while I don't want to downplay the severity of drunk driving I don't know all the facts of the case. However, that has never stopped Goodell in the past and if he ever wants to repair his reputation among the players he needs to hit these executives with the same swift hammer of justice. And even though I know the NFL doesn't care if the players think there is a double-standard, once the fans start to wonder if executives are out of control as well then the league really has an image problem.

-I admit that I am not the biggest fan of golfer Bubba Watson. I don't have anything against the man personally, I just think he seems desperate to make the world like him and I find that one of the most irritating things a person can do. You're never going to make 100% of people like you, so you may as well make yourself happy and let the people that want to be on your side come naturally. Instead of doing that Bubba is always releasing quirky YouTube videos, all of which should have the same headline, "I'm trying way too hard." For example, a couple months ago he release a video in which he drove a hovercraft around the golf course instead of a typical cart. His point was that because the craft produces such a small amount of downforce you could drive it through sand traps and over the green without causing any damage to either surface. I'm pretty sure the video was meant to be a joke, but a course in Ohio was inspired, so much so that they went out and bought a few. So, starting this fall you'll be able to rent a hovercraft to take out onto the course instead of the usual cart. As you would expect it is not cheap, $230 bucks a round instead of the typical $40 it would cost you to play with a standard cart, but I like that price because it should prevent any drunk idiots from taking it out and causing havoc with it. Plus, I assume at that price if you were only doing it for the experience you could just go rent a hovercraft for cheaper. Still, while I appreciate the clubs effort to try something new to make golf appear young and hip (although not cheaper, which is my biggest idea of how to get more people to play the game), let's agree that this is going to end nowhere near well. Making the transition to a golf cart from a car is a fairly simple jump, much easier than going from a car to a hovercraft would be and yet you still see people flipping golf carts of driving them into ponds with regularity. Therefore, in my mind it is only a matter of time before someone seriously hurts themselves while golfing with a hovercraft and that ends the experiment. They'd just better hope no one gets it on tape, or else it will get numbers on YouTube that Bubba Watson could only dream about.