But the bottom line is still that Bonds and Clemens cheated, because they reached a level of playing that wouldn't have been fully achievable without their PEDs throughout basically their entire careers. PEDs are a much worse problem than those other things you mentioned, at least in my opinion and that of the Voters. They genetically modified their bodies to achieve statistics that otherwise would have been unattainable. They did it to put themselves at the level (or beyond that) of past Hall of Famers, and lied about it. That's just not cool to commend Bonds and Clemens for cheating in that way. They wouldn't be the greatest hitter and pitcher ever if it wasn't for their PED usage. How can you commend them for that?
Not really sure why PEDs are so much worse than amphetamines, other than the fact that people outside of baseball decided to be angry about their use. Amphetamines can give a huge performance boost to baseball players. Who's to say players like Willie Mays and Micky Mantle would be all time greats without amphetamines? It is unequal treatment, and as said before that is due to baseball being raked over the coals due to the PED scandal and the writers wanting to ignore the whole era, even though the big home run years are what brought baseball back from the brink following the strike.
Rurouni Kenshin: Tsuiokuhen- Great animation and action scenes with an involving storyline. A nice lead-in to the series, although it does trump everything that comes after it.
Macross Plus- Bit of a nostalgic pick, but it still has top notch visuals and music. Story is better than it has to be and IMO its still the best of the Macross franchise.
Read or Die- Amazing action sequences, plot is paper thin due to the length, but still an enjoyable romp that is a joy to watch.
Aura Battler Dunbine- The most Tomino anime out there, he spent a huge amount of amount of time personally developing the setting and story, and it certainly pays off. The setting and mecha are one of a kind and the story is very well done if a bit slow to get going. It does have very dated animation.
Paranoia Agent- I love all of Satoshi Kon's films and this is basically him putting his unused ideas into a series. Great thriller that follows the themes of Kon's earlier films.
Also my top five anime films
Wings of Honneamise
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
Millennium Actress
Sword of the Stranger
Jin-Roh
I think it's dumb how rumors about PEDs affect their voting. Obviously Sosa and Clemens and Bonds juiced whether they want to lie about it or not, but I don't think Bagwell did. But rumors of him doing it will probably kill his chances.
Do you want Sosa, Clemens, and Bonds in the Hall of Fame? I was at the Hall of Fame in July and I really don't remember there being any cheaters in the Hall.
I think Clemens and Bonds should be since they are among the best players ever, Sosa is a bit of a toss-up as he had an extremely impressive peak but was not very impressive outside of that and its likely that he would've been nowhere near the player he was w/o PEDs (Bonds and Clemens were already clear Hall of Famers, but used PEDs to extend their careers). As for the "cheaters" several pitchers in the HoF doctored balls or threw spitballs after they were banned (Gaylord Perry and Joe Niekro being among the most well known). For several decades amphetamines ("greenies") were found throughout major league clubhouses much like PEDs would be years later and they provided significant performance advantages. Not to mention stealing signs like the 51 Giants and bat corking. If the PED scandal had slipped by like greenies did, there is no doubt all of these guys would be in easily, but since PEDs got baseball a huge amount of negative press, the writers feel that it is their right to punish them even though those said writers often helped to cover up the PED use in the first place.
I can't believe no one got elected. I really hate the HOF voting process -- it's ridiculous. I thought for sure Biggio would have gotten in today, if no one else. It is so ridiculously hard to get into the Baseball HOF compared to other sports. Ugh.
Hopefully they revamp it, apparently there were several guys who voted for no one and in general the voters are out of touch old school writers who have really strange and varying standards considering who's already in the hall. A bunch of them are taking the moral high ground, ignoring that steroids were not illegal or even banned by baseball when most of these guys were doing them, as well as not voting for guys when even a rumor of them using PEDs springs up, and of course ignoring the fact that the Hall of Fame is full of cheaters and PED users already. And I agree with Biggio, he has no connection to PEDs at all, but since these writers are so far up their own asses they cannot elect a surefire guy who has no controversy around him.
I wasn't surprised at all that Notre Dame got crushed by Alabama, especially since they had several very close calls against pretty weak teams. Their best win was against a weaker than usual Oklahoma team and had no one in their schedule close to the level of the SEC powerhouses. There's a decent chance that Texas A&M was the best team in football at the end of the season not to mention Oregon, Georgia, and Florida. The playoff system can't come soon enough, but even that would have the problem of having Notre Dame waste one of four spots.
Brooks doesn't seem all that great to me either. But at this point, I really don't know who else they're supposed to get. Phil Jackson? Nah.
There are several solid coaches available (SVG, Flip Saunders, Nate McMillan and Sloan:tongue: to name a few), but they won't fire him unless OKC goes into a prolonged losing streak. In the long term if they keep losing in the playoffs due in large part to him being badly outcoached, they may make a change. I'm not an OKC fan but it is still frustrating to see a team that good repeatedly undone by a crappy coach.
OKC would be so much better off if they had a good coach, Brooks is really bad in every aspect of coaching other than maybe motivation. He keeps playing that awful starting lineup, has terrible plays for the last shot (Basically end up with Durant taking a heavily contested long jumper every time), and heavily limited Ibaka's minutes last year (Though I've heard that was to get him on a more team friendly contract). Really a testament to how talented they are since they are so badly hamstrung by Brooks.
On the flip side, they are blessed if you think about it. Because if you're going to have a piss poor offensive line, then Big Ben is arguably the best Quarterback you can have. That dude can have a guy clinging to each of his legs and still throw the ball down field. I guess he's like a tougher, more accurate version of Jay Cutler.
I'd prefer Brees or Peyton with a bad oline simply because they get rid of the ball really quickly. Brees in particular has made a so-so line look really good due to how little time he takes to throw the ball. Roethlisberger takes a tremendous number of sacks year after year, though you could lay some of that on mediocre line play and the vertical offense the Steelers run, I really doubt Brees or Manning would take nearly as many sacks in the same situation. He does avoid several sacks a season due to his strength and bulk though.
Wow AK-47 got way more than I thought, 2 years 20 million, from the T-Wolves. He did have a tremendous season in Euroleague and he's one of the few guys who has a decent chance at a 5x5 game, as well as being top end defender. I guess that leaves Carl Landry as the top FA left:-/.
Wow, I missed the Pirates trading for Wandy Rodriguez! Loving the trade season finally heating up.
Yup, now theres HanRam to Dodgers. Should really help them, their offense has been beyond dreadful this year and even in a down year HanRam is a major upgrade. Also Phillies signed Hamels to a big deal, not sure I like spending 85 million for 4 players like they will next season (Lee, Halladay, and Howard).
Frox, looks like your wish is coming true - the Celtics are acquiring Courtney Lee in a sign-and-trade with the Rockets that will send JaJuan Johnson packing.
Looks like it might run into a bit of trouble, so not a certainty yet. Wonder if the new Howard-Bynum trade will work, seems like the main stumbling block is Bynum agreeing to sign an extension with the Cavs.
This stinks of Carmello Anthony throwing a tantrum because he wasn't the fan favorite any more.
Of all modern day stars, Anthony is the most disappointing. Plays no defense, isn't good about getting everyone involved, doesn't play defense.
Anthony wants to be 'the man'. BUt how can he be 'the man' when he really only does one thing well?
I think the bigger reason is that it would kill the Knicks' salary wise in a couple years, they'd end up paying around $46 million in luxury taxes with just 7 players. Kinda funny how the Knicks luck into a team changing player but due to their prior dumb decisions (Max deal to Amare being the big one) aren't able to hold on to him.
At this point Darko is a fringe rotation player at best, he's a disaster offensively and a poor rebounder for a center. He is a top notch shot blocker and can play great defense but is still very inconsistent due to lapses in effort. However I think if he ends up with a good coaching staff he could be a very solid rotation big if they can get him to limit his offensive touches and focus his attention on the defensive end and the boards.
I think the Rockets are willing to give up way too much for Dwight. They should try for Bynum, I think they'd give up less that way.
Seriously, moving 4 veterans and 3 rookies and lots of draft picks (on top of amnestying Scola) for Dwight and some garbage is dumb.
Thing is Houston has really dug a hole for themselves if they don't do a big trade. Their current team has a huge number of wings and combo forwards who have similar skill sets and have backup type players at point and center (It looks like they won't get either Asik or Lin right now). If they can't trade for a superstar type player, Morey is most likely a goner so theres a lot of pressure on him to make a trade. The best endgame might be getting in on a Bynum-Howard trade, where they take Bynum and still have a decent team left around him. Also Bynum will take an extension anywhere, while Howard may bail after next season. However, Howard is a top 5 player and has shown previously that he can take a team full of role players deep into the playoffs and at least gives his team a chance to be a contender which is more than Rockets or Hawks can say right now.
Not really sure why PEDs are so much worse than amphetamines, other than the fact that people outside of baseball decided to be angry about their use. Amphetamines can give a huge performance boost to baseball players. Who's to say players like Willie Mays and Micky Mantle would be all time greats without amphetamines? It is unequal treatment, and as said before that is due to baseball being raked over the coals due to the PED scandal and the writers wanting to ignore the whole era, even though the big home run years are what brought baseball back from the brink following the strike.
Macross Plus- Bit of a nostalgic pick, but it still has top notch visuals and music. Story is better than it has to be and IMO its still the best of the Macross franchise.
Read or Die- Amazing action sequences, plot is paper thin due to the length, but still an enjoyable romp that is a joy to watch.
Aura Battler Dunbine- The most Tomino anime out there, he spent a huge amount of amount of time personally developing the setting and story, and it certainly pays off. The setting and mecha are one of a kind and the story is very well done if a bit slow to get going. It does have very dated animation.
Paranoia Agent- I love all of Satoshi Kon's films and this is basically him putting his unused ideas into a series. Great thriller that follows the themes of Kon's earlier films.
Also my top five anime films
Wings of Honneamise
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
Millennium Actress
Sword of the Stranger
Jin-Roh
I think Clemens and Bonds should be since they are among the best players ever, Sosa is a bit of a toss-up as he had an extremely impressive peak but was not very impressive outside of that and its likely that he would've been nowhere near the player he was w/o PEDs (Bonds and Clemens were already clear Hall of Famers, but used PEDs to extend their careers). As for the "cheaters" several pitchers in the HoF doctored balls or threw spitballs after they were banned (Gaylord Perry and Joe Niekro being among the most well known). For several decades amphetamines ("greenies") were found throughout major league clubhouses much like PEDs would be years later and they provided significant performance advantages. Not to mention stealing signs like the 51 Giants and bat corking. If the PED scandal had slipped by like greenies did, there is no doubt all of these guys would be in easily, but since PEDs got baseball a huge amount of negative press, the writers feel that it is their right to punish them even though those said writers often helped to cover up the PED use in the first place.
Hopefully they revamp it, apparently there were several guys who voted for no one and in general the voters are out of touch old school writers who have really strange and varying standards considering who's already in the hall. A bunch of them are taking the moral high ground, ignoring that steroids were not illegal or even banned by baseball when most of these guys were doing them, as well as not voting for guys when even a rumor of them using PEDs springs up, and of course ignoring the fact that the Hall of Fame is full of cheaters and PED users already. And I agree with Biggio, he has no connection to PEDs at all, but since these writers are so far up their own asses they cannot elect a surefire guy who has no controversy around him.
There are several solid coaches available (SVG, Flip Saunders, Nate McMillan and Sloan:tongue: to name a few), but they won't fire him unless OKC goes into a prolonged losing streak. In the long term if they keep losing in the playoffs due in large part to him being badly outcoached, they may make a change. I'm not an OKC fan but it is still frustrating to see a team that good repeatedly undone by a crappy coach.
I'd prefer Brees or Peyton with a bad oline simply because they get rid of the ball really quickly. Brees in particular has made a so-so line look really good due to how little time he takes to throw the ball. Roethlisberger takes a tremendous number of sacks year after year, though you could lay some of that on mediocre line play and the vertical offense the Steelers run, I really doubt Brees or Manning would take nearly as many sacks in the same situation. He does avoid several sacks a season due to his strength and bulk though.
Yup, now theres HanRam to Dodgers. Should really help them, their offense has been beyond dreadful this year and even in a down year HanRam is a major upgrade. Also Phillies signed Hamels to a big deal, not sure I like spending 85 million for 4 players like they will next season (Lee, Halladay, and Howard).
Looks like it might run into a bit of trouble, so not a certainty yet. Wonder if the new Howard-Bynum trade will work, seems like the main stumbling block is Bynum agreeing to sign an extension with the Cavs.
I think the bigger reason is that it would kill the Knicks' salary wise in a couple years, they'd end up paying around $46 million in luxury taxes with just 7 players. Kinda funny how the Knicks luck into a team changing player but due to their prior dumb decisions (Max deal to Amare being the big one) aren't able to hold on to him.
Thing is Houston has really dug a hole for themselves if they don't do a big trade. Their current team has a huge number of wings and combo forwards who have similar skill sets and have backup type players at point and center (It looks like they won't get either Asik or Lin right now). If they can't trade for a superstar type player, Morey is most likely a goner so theres a lot of pressure on him to make a trade. The best endgame might be getting in on a Bynum-Howard trade, where they take Bynum and still have a decent team left around him. Also Bynum will take an extension anywhere, while Howard may bail after next season. However, Howard is a top 5 player and has shown previously that he can take a team full of role players deep into the playoffs and at least gives his team a chance to be a contender which is more than Rockets or Hawks can say right now.