Baseball doping

It's disturbing how what is released in the media an what actually is happening behind the scenes are often two vastly different things. I of course remember the two Blue Jays World Series victories, but I also remember the very next World Series was cancelled because of a strike/lock-out. The stoppage turned me off baseball for a few years, like many other baseball fans, and also like many other baseball fans, I eventually returned to the sport.

Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in the 1961 season, a mark that lasted until 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa both broke that record with 70 and 66 home runs respectively. Since then that mark of 61 home runs has been broken four more times, most recently in 2001 when Barry Bonds hit 73 (the current record). The drive the point home a bit further, before 1961 the record was 60 home runs. Babe Ruth achieved that mark in 1927. Only once in 70 years with a player hit over 60 home runs, since the World Series was cancelled in 1994 it's happened six times.

It wasn't the home runs that brought me back to the game. For one it's the pitching that interests me most. I just eventually missed the game, but how many of us consider the increase in home runs to be a calculated move by the owners and MLB to bring fans back to the game?

We all know there is doping in baseball, Bonds and Roger Clemens head the list of scapegoats, but what people don't know is that there are many more people to blame, people that somehow skirt responsibility. When people began to take note of steroid use in baseball, Bud Selig claimed that he knew nothing about it and then proceeded to try and stop it. This of course cam after fans had returned to the game. In 2005 he said "I never heard about it."

What people don't know is that when Selig owned the the Milwaukee Brewers, he did know about it. Brent Starr, a former Cleveland Indians trainer, said that he was at a meeting in 1988 between the owner's group and the Players' Association in which team physicians told the owners that there was a doping problem that needed to be addresses. Selig was there too, but 17 years later he claimed to be hearing about the problem for the first time.

So what happened? The only thing that makes sense to me is that the owners always knew about doping, and once they saw attendance fall, they encouraged it, or turned an even blinder eye, although I don't see how that could be possible. Once fans were back in the seats, they condemned doping. If it wasn't already public knowledge that doping existed, they probably wouldn't ever have done anything about it.

I'm not saying the players aren't at fault, but if you ask an average fan who the culprits are, they would probably respond with Clemons, Bonds, or maybe they'll say some trainers were at fault. All of those people are at fault, but so are the owners who are capatalizing on the players using steroids, but few fans point any of the blame at them.

The "Mitchell Report" is a farce, aimed at putting all the blame on players that aren't able to make them money anymore.

George Mitchell wrote the report when he was  on the board of the Boston Red Sox. It makes sense that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were both not included in the Mitchell Report. The Red Sox needed them to win the 2004 World Series, so of course Mitchell excluded them.

I would also note that while the Mitchell Report ruined the careers of many players, it was all based on hearsay, and none of that hearsay affected Bud Selig or any of the league's owners.

Owners need to be brought into the spotlight. They need to be questioned by grand juries about how much they knew about doping, but I doubt that will ever happen, and that is a crying shame.

Leafs out of playoffs again

The one thing I noticed about Toronto sports writers is that other than the odd word against the coach and the team in general, most of them only say negative things about the fans. As if we have anything to do with the team's futility. These "journalists" seem to have a hate on for fans. I would like to remind them that for the most part the people booing former players at the ACC are not fans, they are corporate slugs that need the Leafs to win to look good in front of clients. Let's remember that the average Leaf fan can't afford to go to the games. Why don't they talk about the huge ticket prices for a team that hasn't made the playoffs in six years? Why don't they talk about the huge profit the team makes? Instead they blame the fans for giving the team all that money. Again, it's not the fans giving them money, it's the corporate slugs. The only guy I know with season tickets has admitted to hating the Leafs since he was a kid, but it's a good way to show potential investors a good time.

Anyway, enough of all that. I live in Montreal anyway so I don't even have the option of going to the ACC, and really the prices in Montreal, while cheaper, are also quite expensive. I did manage to see Halak's 55 save performance against the Washington Capitals in last year's first round, and how did I get those tickets? Through Kate's work of course.

The Maple Leafs again finished the season strongly after a terrible start, but it wasn't enough to squeeze into the playoffs. In other years, these strong finishes have done much to encourage the fan base for the following year, and this year is no different.

High Hopes

Next year may end up being another wasted year, but there are more positives than usual, and one glaring question that must be answered before the Leafs can do anything close to winning a playoff game.

The Leafs' strong finish was longer than usual, giving the impression that it might carry over till next season.

The team had four 20 goal scorers, two 30 goal scores (Kessel and Kulemin) and Graboski just missed 30, finishing with 29. Macarthur had 21.That's not bad if these four can reproduce those numbers, and the Leafs can add another scorer with their 20+ million in cap space.

The biggest question, actually there are two, is goaltending. Will Reimer be able to reproduce his season? If so I think the Leafs will be a good bet to make the playoffs, if not they'll be hoping to win the lottery (at least they have the first round pick in 2012.

Goaltending is going to make or break next year unless the Leafs can drastically improve on special teams, especially the penalty kill. If you trust your penalty killers, players can play more aggressively without worrying that a penalty will result in a goal against. Since Burke wants to build a rough-and-tumble team, the penalty kill must be among the best in the league if the team has any hope of success.

I'm looking forward to the off-season  moves Burke make. I wouldn't expect Richards to be a Leaf, but Burke may be able to pull off a blockbuster nonetheless.

As far as the teams that are in the playoffs, here are my predictions. Yes, I know five games have already been played, but one game does not a series make.

Eastern Conference
(1) Washington over (8) New York in four
(2) Philadelphia over (7) Buffalo in seven
(3) Boston over (4) Montreal in six
(4) Pittsburgh over (5) Tampa Bay in six

Western Conference
(8) Chicago over (1) Vancouver in seven
(2) San Jose over (7) Los Angeles in six
(3) Detroit over (6) Phoenix in five
(4) Anaheim over (5) Nashville in six