Bakersfield Christmas

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The Mitchell Report out Today

The Mitchell Report comes out today. I will attempt to have some analysis of the report as soon as I can get a copy and read it. Some initial thoughts that I may use to guide my evaluation:

1)What is the burden of proof for including a player's name? Is it just a "he said, she said" type of thing or is there actual proof of steriods. Example: I read a report today (from Buster Olney, ESPN.com) about an unnamed player who was summoned to meet with Mitchell because a clubhouse attendant said he gave the player steroids and produced evidence of a large dollar amount check that he said was payment for steroids.
The first thing you have to understand is that players write large checks to clubhouse attendants all the time. These attendants are like errand boys for the players and are always ordering food for the clubhouse, picking up players dry cleaning, etc. It turns out, the player told the Mitchell investigation exactly what the check was for (not drugs), they called the attendant, and he said, "oops, yeah, I forgot about that, maybe I didn't give this guy steroids after all."
This case shows how important it is that there is direct evidence to support any claims that a guy used. I hope that all of the reportedly +80 people who's lives are about to be ruined are clearly shown to have done it beyond any doubt.

2) The Red Sox Nation: George Mitchell is on the board of directors of the Red Sox, and a huge fan. Clearly that raises some conflict of interest red flags. And not without evidence... Earlier in the year, when most players would have run the other direction if they saw George Mitchell in the street, He was in the Red Sox dugout with his grandson getting autographs from players. All I can say it WOW! Also, as the Red Sox were in the middle of a heated LCS campaign against the Indians a few months back, it was "leaked" that one of the Indians' star relievers was being investigated for HGH. And, now, hours before the report is released, more "leaks" involving Yankee greats. Things that make you go, Hmmm.. I wonder?. It will be interesting to see if an apperent bias hurts the credibility of the report.

3) Who really did it? This is a report, not a list. The truth is in the details. I'm sure that the minute the report is released, there will be lists of names all over the internet, but the truth of this report is actually in the details. Don't just read the list of names in the report and assume they were all juiced, all the time. Some names may be mentioned, for whom there is little or no evidence of wrongdoing, only suspicion. The Truth is in the details of who did what, when.

Christmas insanity

If you are reading this post right now, you are lucky. I am living this post, and it hurts. Every year my wife arbitrarily decides when Christmas time starts, and then proceeds to immediately lose her mind. She shrugs off all of her responsibilities so that she can be completely dedicated to only doing Christmas related activities. Needless to say, I was worried when I realized that Thanksgiving was on the earliest possibly date this year, leaving open the possibility of the longest Christmas insanity ever. Thankfully, she waited until this week to begin the holiday season, but she is quickly making up for lost time. On monday night she made me get a tree and decorate it in the same night! Finally, about 10 pm I gave up and went to bed; I have no idea how late she was up decorating.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

I am sitting here in total silence contemplating how sad it is that Fresno seems much nicer from the inside of a hospital room. Of course, the Fresno Surgery Hospital makes the Ritz look like Motel 6, so thats not too much of a insult. My mom just had total hip replacement surgery, so I'm here and Julie's at home taking care of all the animals... oh, yeah, and working a little too. I keep thinking to myself, wasn't I here a year ago. A little over a year ago I was in Fresno when my brother was hospitalized and my mom's husband left within the same few days. I thought we had finally gotten through everything, and now my mom has a hip replacement and my grandfather has lung cancer.
I have to admit that my thoughts often go back to that day a little over a year ago when I wrote this post. Some good contemplation there on my part, and encouraging to think about. Here is my happy thought that gets me through the day: Kota, my dog. The best dog in the world!

Scooter Bonds??

Does the White House really have nothing better to do than make statements about how disappointed they are in Barry Bonds? I'm actually very surprised. I thought lying to grand juries was par for the course at the White House. In fact, I assume that if Bonds is convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, President Bush will commute his sentence. Right Scooter?

Ok, ladies, Cosmo gives really bad advice. Here's how to destroy your relationship (Cosmo-style). Worst advice ever!

Could this be true?

I'm too lazy to sit down for 5 minutes to post on my blog, but these people rescued a penguin, nursed it back to health, and trained it to go to the store for them. I don't know if I can believe it. But it was on TV so it must be true!