Hall of Fame voting
So the most intriguing MLB Hall of Fame class announcement of my lifetime will be this evening at 6.
Some caveats: I believe the Hall of Fame is watered down. I believe the voting system needs to be examined. I believe that children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.
Show them all the beauty they possess inside.
I also believe in high fiber, good scotch and the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap.
Where was I? Ah, yes, Cooperstown.
The magnitude of tonight's announcement centers on the two best players of the last 40 years: Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.
I believe both should be in the Hall. I believe, eventually, both will be in the Hall.
Just not tonight. I think they will fall short on their 10th and final time on the ballot for the writers who vote on enshrinement. I think both will get there from whatever the Veterans' Committee is called these days in a few years.
(For Peter Gammons' sake if Harold Baines and Alan Trammel are HoFers, then I don't care if Bonds was doing horse DNA in front of Rob Manfred as Pete Rose was betting on whether he used his left or right hand to inject. Buckets of ballots people, a baseball Hall of Fame with Baines - who may or may not have owned a glove for the last half of his DH career - and Ted Simmons but no Bonds or Clemens is lunacy.)
But tonight's storyline does not end there. Like I said, I would vote for both of them.
But I understand the view of not voting for them because of what seems relatively clear to everyone with two working eyes and a vague understanding of the difference between steroids and asteroids. They cheated. I feel sure of it.
Which leads me to what makes tonight so interesting. Because if you are holding Bonds and Clemens out - two guys who have denied using performance-enhancing drugs and never reportedly failed a test despite widely asserted allegations and failing every eye test ever - you better not vote for A-Rod or Big Papi.
Remember A-Rod admitted to using - that awful interview and the confession about his cousin and what not - and David Ortiz was in the Mitchell Report.
And yes, the validity of the Mitchell Report has been questioned, but it's stronger actual evidence against Ortiz than ever was presented against Bonds or Clemens, right?
So bring on the results. And then let's examine the ballots, because if A-Rod and Ortiz get in - or really even get more votes than Bonds and Clemens - then the hypocrisy of the electorate needs to be the next thing on the ballot.
Biden's live mic
So Joe Biden called a Fox News White House correspondent a "stupid" son of a female dog on a live mic.
(Personally, I think 'hot mic' gives it more of the espionage feel. Thoughts?)
Anywell, I don't know this Peter Doocy fellow, of whom President Biden is certainly not a fan. He may be an awful human but I can't speak to the S-O-B tag because I don't know Peter's mother either.
(Side note: In the range of insults, S-O-B is up there, right? I mean call me whatever you like - it's not like I haven't heard it before and you're going to need to be pretty creative to till new soil in the insulting the fat-faced columnist category. But insulting my momma is fighting words. Thoughts?)
Hey, the political divide is clear, and we know the current president is more likely to give the CNN correspondent warm hugs rather than hot mic curses. And all the networks - especially the ones aligned on the opposite side of the aisle of whoever is being interviewed - are sending sound bite snipers to these news events in an effort to garner attention. It's the mass media market in which we live.
Still, it's a bad look for Biden if for no other reason than one of his strongest assets - especially in the view of someone like me who does not see eye to eye with many of his political inclinations - is that by almost every measure, he's a good guy, especially compared to his predecessor.
But this feels very much like something that would have happened two years ago rather than two days.
And at the very least, it's assuredly not presidential.
Working overtime
Alas, we gotta complain about something in everything, right?
Seriously, the best full weekend of NFL football I can ever recall has become a diatribe about how unfair the OT rules are and how the Bills got jobbed.
Hey, the rules are there. And if you want the ball in overtime, get a stop.
Period. Move along.
It also begs the question that the pursuit of fairness is a facade when it comes to sports.
Are we going to regulate how many carries Derrick Henry can get because his speed/size combination is certainly not fair for those DBs who are trying to bring him down 25-plus times a game?
Are we going to limit the number of five stars Kirby and Lord Saban get to make Saturdays fairer from a talent point of view?
Of course not. And yes, those are extreme examples but the fallacy of fair is an illusion perpetrated by the puppet masters of the sport to make every fan base think they have a chance.
Because if they are going to change the OT rules - and in truth, the grand masters running the NFL know these debates fuel the offseason and stoke the fires of devotion we have for their game - let's really change this puppy.
Each team picks one player who starts at the 35. The ref puts the ball on the 50.
You want the ball. Go get the ball.
You want everyone to get a turn, play a board game.
This and that
- Did you know that the Aussie Open is almost through the quarterfinals? Man, other than Joker's visa hubbub, this has been the quietest major in tennis history, no?
- Washington golfer RJ Manke was 12 under after 17 holes over the weekend at the Broadmoor Golf Club. Fred Couples holds the course record with an 11-under 59 on the par 70 facility. Make - who had 11 birdies, an eagle and a bogey in his 17 holes - could not complete the round and finished with a 54 because the par-4 10th was closed for repairs. "I should have yelled two."
- Speaking of baseball, welp, Alex Anthopoulos has earned a wide gray area of leeway. Feels like every move AA has made over the last couple of years has turned out roses. But this report - that the Braves were discussing a trade with the A's for first baseman Matt Olson - could potentially redefine that wide area into a razor's edge. If AA is looking to acquire Olson with the belief that a) the entire MLB will have the DH whenever the lockout ends and b) Marcel Ozuna's time in the ATL is done, fine. If AA is floating those rumors - or even circulating them himself - to play a little salary hardball in some since-stalled negotiations, fine. But if the plan is to move on from Freddie Freeman, well, AA would be spending a ton of the goodwill the title bought.
- Gang, you know the rules. When TFP college hoops hero Mark Wiedmer shares his views on college basketball, well, we read and link Weeds' wisdom on college basketball. Here he covers a topic of which I am vaguely familiar as he pens his prose on Auburn's rise to the top of the AP hoops poll for the first time in school history.
- More rules. Here's TFP sports editor and preps All-Pro Stephen Hargis on another area football coach - and good dude - stepping down.
- Prayers up for Dickie V, who announced Monday evening that his strained vocal cords will not allow him to return to his college hoops broadcasting gig this season.
Today's questions
True or false, it's Tuesday. Stay warm, Ern.
True or false, Bonds and Clemens fall short in tonight's voting.
True or false, A-Rod or David Ortiz get in the Hall tonight.
True or false, they should change the OT rule.
True or false, they will change the OT rule.
You know the drill. Answer some T or Fs, leave some T or Fs.
As for today, Jan. 25, let's review.
Condrege Holloway is 68 today.
Does he make the Rushmore of Black quarterbacks in the SEC? Go.