mmmm, Gumbo.

Good morning, ladies and gents! Hope your week has gone well.

I have a bunch of thoughts floating around in my head and wanted to put them down on the greatest site in all of the land...Here we go.

MLB
Bud Selig can suck it. That jack was asleep at the wheel during the home run era, and allowed the moon shot increase to be blamed on the mythological "live ball" instead of cracking down on PEDs. Now, we know everybody and their moms in the league was juicing (except about 10% of the players)...and he's throwing A-Rod under the bus.

It is true though, A-Rod admitting he had cheated is very un-baseball like. Why didn't he like repeatedly like the rest of the schleps who have been fingered by various investigators?

I say hats off to A-Rod...and I've already forgiven him. Clemens, Bonds and the rest of you un-repentant liars can suck it.

But Alex, no one will ever forgive you for dating Madonna.

Meggy Tejada- hats off to you for pleading guilty, and begging for forgiveness from the fans. Granted, you shouldn't lie under oath, but he's just protecting the ole boys network of the MLB.

Valuable lessons above- Don't cheat. Don't lie...or bad things happen to you. But if you do, act like a man and admit your mistakes.
EsPN
The Entertainment Programming Network recently suspended Scott Van Pelt for stating his opinion about Bud Selig stealing MLB's money...and he got suspended for a week. Supposedly, Seligs feewings were hurt. It does hurt when you're nailed as a fraud...and you know you're one.

And speaking of frauds, EsPN needs to drop the word Sports from their title for once and for all. Sports Center is filled with more human interest stories than highlights these days...and the only reason they keep their ratings is because there's no serious competition.

Maybe if Van Pelt would handle himself like a professional, a la Chris "stupid pun here" Berman, he'd get somewhere. In my opinion, Van Pelt ranks up there with Dan Patrick, Craigers and Mayne as the best SC anchers of all time. If the Network wants to push entertainment, use Kenny Mayne more!

Much like Patrick, Van Pelt will probably wisely move on soon...I hope he does.

Nike
Some of you know, I am in my profession because I grew up a huge fan of Nike basketball shoes. But, I fell out of love with the footwear and equipment giant back in college. So, my opinion isn't too surprising.

But Nike is a shadow of its former self. Granted, they still have a giant portion of the market share in footwear and apparel, but their focus has clearly changed. On many of their products, a woven label reads:

"Engineered to the exact specifications of championship athletes"

Well, like so many things in the world, that's become marketing drivel. As you heard earlier in the week, Nike bailed on their meetings with Purdue players last summer for no apparent reasons. The meetings were set-up so Purdue captain, Chris Kramer could give his input to Nike prior to their changing of Purdue's uniforms. Instead, Nike will do whatever the hell they feel like...and Kramer and Co. will like it!

As a product designer, the philosophy of designing at the end user instead of for them pisses me off. And the fact that marketing decides Nike's direction instead R&D teams along with athletes is a far cry from Phil Knight's original vision of the company that he no longer runs. No matter, it's time for Nike, like EsPN, to simply stop pushing a pack of lies upon the consumer, and state what they are- a fashion sporty brand. 14 year old girls love their stuff though...so that's positive.

It's Been 17 Hours Since First Pitch

Bud Selig has a rulebook, so you know he means business. Seriously, this guy is such a complete doofus -- can we please get someone less embarrassing to run MLB? What a clown. And what was with all the dramatic pauses and frowns during the press conference? It rained, Bud. Big freaking deal. You don't get to be all pensive about it when you signed your deal with Fox and other media outlets to let them designate when games begin and how many off-days there are, etc. If each team hosted just one doubleheader a month during the season, you'd pick up a week on the calendar right there and you could be playing these games earlier than the end of October in Philly. I have zero sympathy for clowns like Selig and MLB -- you want to play World Series games damn near November? This is what you get. Oh, and you want to play them in the dead of night? Again, this is what you get.

With something like this, though, I always think about the weird little logistical things that might be going on. Like....

What about the fan who, like I would, let their ticket get soaked in their pocket during the rain last night and now needs that same ticket to get back in tonight? Ruh-roh!

Will the parking lots and garages in the area charge full price for tonight? (Of course they will.)

Will they cut off beer sales in the 7th inning tonight, even though that's one inning into this evening and could occur at 8:30 PM?

Do we re-sing the national anthem? And does that mean they have to exhume John Oates again:


GAHHH!!

(Sorry about that.)

Are people really going to "stretch" after one inning is played (bottom 6 and top 7)?

Will there be a first pitch ceremony?

Will Tim McCarver get confused?

And as far as game strategy....

Since it's the World Series and could be the clincher, do you consider keeping Cole Hamels in the game if you're Philly? He's technically still in the game right now and if he says he can get loose, do you take that chance? I think if you're leading say 3-1 in the game, you MIGHT consider it. But since it's tied, they probably don't. Becuase now, if tonight winds up washed out, too, then there will be enough time to rest Hamels for three days and bring him back for Game 7.

If you're the Rays, and you obviously need to win this game... and it's a new evening... do you bring a starter into the game? I mean, why not? I know Maddon said he's saving Sheilds for Game 6 and Garza I think would pitch Game 7... but is this something to think about?

Anyway, we're back at it -- or trying to -- at 8:00 Eastern tonight, though they're calling for more rain, 40 MPH wind gusts and a wind chill around 31 degrees. A lovely night for baseball!