I’ve always kind of knocked the NBA. I was always more of a college fan ever since Mike left. The Lakers were so good for so long it didn’t seem worth watching. Well, the NBA is back, maybe for good.

The NBA is currently undergoing a major renaissance in America and internationally. The game is as popular as its ever been and is surging in success while the rest of the world toils in economic recession. Why? The Olympic exposure was great for the return of American basketball. The game has officially gone global and I think can be easily considered the #2 sport in the world besides soccer. Reason 2: There are 10, or maybe 15, legitimately incredible players in the league right now. There has never been so much top-level talent in the NBA. Ever. Third reason, the NBA is drawing basketball fans back from the college ranks because college basketball has gotten worse and worse in the last few years.

Last week I watched the then #1 in the country Connecticut get owned by #4 Pittsburgh. Just owned in every facet of the game. UCONN big-man, Thabeet, is being projected as a Top 5 pick in the NBA and he was physically manhandled by a Pittsburgh player that was much shorter. He is supposed to be a Top 5 NBA type of player?

Let’s look at what many consider to be the best two players in the country Stephon Curry and Tyler Hansborough. Is either a Top 10 pick? Probably not. And since I don’t think Thabeet is good enough to play in the NBA (right now), that would mean neither of these two will find much success either. Who have been the best college players the past few years? JJ Redick? Adam Morrison? Are they getting theirs in the NBA? Nope.

Great players will always get theirs in basketball. Carmelo Anthony? Man in a boys game. Kevin Durant? Man’s game. We can see the players in college that are going to be great pros.

We’re done seeing great four-year college players going on to succeed in the NBA. It is just over. There isn’t going to be a dominant Larry Bird college player having MVP pro seasons. Forget it.

You’re 19 – You have NBA skills – You’re watching the NBA All-Star festivities last week. You see Lebron James sitting courtside in a $6,000 suit laughing his ass off. Monday you have to go back to Jim Calhoun ripping you a new ass at practice as you run suicides. Are you going to stay in college? Forget it.

But that is what is killing the college game – talent lost. Players are going pro before they’re ready. Donte Greene, how much does Syracuse miss him right now? In the NBA, picking up 3 mins per game.

And the old argument that college ball is better because the ‘fundamentals’ are better and the desire to win is higher. Listen, the fundamentals argument is off. Great college defense is what fans want to see? False, fans want to see offense and points. Pros don’t play defense right? Well maybe its because they are so good offensively they’re just unstoppable. You want to see Lebron play against Purdue? He would put up 90 points. Every time out. Quadruple covered. Great defense doesn’t stop great offense in basketball. The best always get theirs.

But Dan! NBA players don’t want to win. All they care about is money!

I agree partially. College players put more into victory. But right now in the NBA, there is such a renaissance of competition that gap is shrinking. The players in it for the cash are being phased out. Kobe wants to win. Lebron wants to win. The Spurs, Celtics – want to win. Badly. There is a renewed sense of pride in victory in the past tow years. D-Wade isn’t happy about losing.

But Dan! I can’t root for a league full of ‘thugs’.

Don’t look now but when is the last time you heard a prominent NBA player tied to illegal activities? And when is the last time you heard about an NFL player in trouble? Exactly. Latrell Spreewell isn’t even in the NBA anymore. Allen Iverson sucks and isn’t a top-tier player anymore. When have you heard of Kevin Garnett heading out to a club strapped? There are real character guys running the show now.

And finally the NBA is back because of Kobe-Lebron.

They are so good. So amazing to watch. IMHO, they are two of the most talented players to ever play the game. Kobe, Lebron, MJ, throw your pick of Russell or Kareem in there and duke out the 5th player. They’re that good at the game. And it is captivating. Kobe drops 60 in MSG one night. Two nights later Lebron puts up 50 with a triple-double in the same building. They feed off each others energy. The rivalry makes them better and it makes the game better.

And neither of them played in college. Why? The best always get theirs.

I am really getting tired of the last ditch negative spin that the extreme-right is putting out there right now. Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Matt Drudge have called Obama’s presidency a failure mere weeks into his administration. Their assumption is that America is becoming ‘Socialist’, stemming from McCain’s political tactics that failed in the November election.

This week, Drudge had a headline that America was now more ‘Socialist’ than Sweden. FYI, most European nations utilize progressive ‘social’ tactics to benefit the commonwealth of their nations. But why is Sweden denying Saab a bailout? If they are so socialist, shouldn’t they save their companies?

Americans are just selectively blind apparently. When we passed the bank bailout and auto bailout- where were those socialist detractors? Was it just inconvenient to acknowledge those actions as socialism? What about social security? Medicaid? Socialist?

Well, all modern societies with any economic power are a mix. The words just mean different things now. Americans are afraid of the word socialism because they equate it with various forms of totalitarian communism. Really, it just means mandatory contribution to the common good. It’s pretty obvious to anyone who understands game theory or have discussed the Selfish Gene that individuals maximize prosperity when the right foundational things are “socialized”, like basic health, safety, and infrastructure. Even all-inclusive resorts understand the efficiency and benefit of “socializing” core needs. The empirical stability of such systems isn’t the least bit surprising to the same people. Some people just can’t get past the name or look outside their own ideologies.

And you know what? These right spinners tell their minions exactly what to think and they are the silly ones who don’t think for themselves. So how about this idea-

Since these righties so stereotypically love NASCAR, let’s get our politicians to wear suits with their sponsors on them according to campaign contributions. Seriously, let’s do it. People need the visuals apparently because they aren’t going to check for themselves. How about every time they make a speech or introduce a bill, it begin with “On behalf of the [insert corrupt lobbying firm or industry], I propose that….”

Both sides are guilty, I’m not denying that, but I just wish the GOP’s rightest would give our President a fair shot, and quit using the ‘socialism’ word to spread fear among ignorant Americans. When we were led by FDR out of the Depression, guess what many historians would categorize the successful governmental actions of the time as? You guessed it, the ‘S’ word.

I am not particularly interested in the private affairs of celebrities. I don’t refresh TMZ for Rihanna updates, watch E!, or read scandal driven gossip magazines so pushed into my face by the Wegman family. I don’t pay attention to them because if I were in their position, I wouldn’t want people following me. Do unto others, the Golden Rule, and all that jazz – it all holds true.

But now I am intrigued – I am fascinated – and I am downright perplexed. In case you don’t have interwebs or friends, actor turned hip hop musician Joaquin Phoenix was on Letterman this week in a most bizarre appearance- mumbling words, using the f-bomb, answering with one word retorts, and acting in a general fashion that would lead many to assume Mr. Phoenix (not his real name) was on some, or many, mind-altering substances. Allow yourself to catch up if you have yet to see it.

Now I have a hard time believing this is all true. Juaquin is way too good of an actor, and way too smart, to let this kind of alledged free fall happen without purpose. True genius borders insanity, I’m all about that argument, but the rational aware can suppress, or accept, that insanity of the modern world to continue around them without falling into this type of crisis…if that makes sense.

This seems like some sort of elaborate plan to try something new. Think of it like this- Sacha Baron Cohen has taken on the ‘fake’ characters of Ali G, Borat, and Bruno. What if Phoenix is taking on the role of Phoenix? Altering his image, language, look, and career path for a role as an actor? Pretty far fetched right? But isn’t that what would make it awesome? Oscar worthy?

The whole thing  just doesn’t seem serious. If you check IMDB there is a link for a Phoenix ‘mockumentary’ covering his career change from acting to rap music, so the theory has legs.

MTV also is reporting the meltdown hoax by claiming there is indeed a movie being made by his brother-in-law Casey Affleck.

But then again, there are others who believe that this is no hoax.

Quits the acting. Grows the beard. Puts demo rap music on MySpace. Falls off a stage performing. “Starts the drugs”. Has the national TV meltdown. All too stereotypical. Just far too cliche to be real in my opinion.

But down the line what’s the catch? I mean is he trying to prove something about our culture? Is there some sort of documentary going on? He’s such a talented actor, there has to be something more. I love that so many people are believing it, and I kind of hate to bust everyone’s bubble. But this project has the possibility of being something truly remarkable.

So as for my interest in celebrities, I can admit that I’m now intensely interested in at least one of them.

The Asterisk Era, in my opinion, will be defined as 1994 to 2003 in Major League Baseball. A period in which, unfortunately, every player that played in the bigs will be heavily scrutinized, not just for the question if they were juiced, but how their numbers were altered by those on the stuff, the influx of new ballparks, and the zero-transparency between MLB and the MLBPA.

Baseball has been hit very hard by steroids, almost unfairly IMHO. Football seems to get a free pass on the PED discussion for some inexplicable reason. These sophisticated drugs make people faster and stronger, they don’t necessarily help you catch up to a 95mph fastball. In fact, many believe steroids don’t do anything for a baseball player, and some believe it does everything for a player. I believe it helps, but who knows how much? 25 extra feet on a fly ball?

If we look at this timeline I’ve outlined, 1994-2003, we will now have the man who broke Roger Maris’ single season home run record, the man who holds the record for most 60 HR seasons, the man who broke the single season record and the all-time HR record, maybe the best right handed pitcher of all-time, and the man who was supposed to be the white knight in restoring baseball’s HR record to be pure again – all directly tied to steroid use.

If we look at the majority of these men, most started late in their careers as a means of continuing their playing career at a high level. Except for McGwire, who by some accounts was juicing as a rookie. All put on a ton of muscle and relied on pure power for the strong suit of their respective position.

A-Rod is a little different. He lledgedly used roids in the middle of his career. He knew he was taking something illegal, but what did it really do for him?  He didn’t put on much weight and said he probably didn’t need them. And as I’ve said, he’s an insecure, stupid guy who doesn’t think much, so just kind of went with the flow. So what were the results?

This is going to sound like an A-Rod defense, and it is in ways, but I still believe nothing excuses illegal behavior, plain and simple. But here’s some perspective from the numbers and aside from ethical codes.

Alex told Peter Gammons he used steroids from 2001 to spring training 2003. In 2001 he hit 52 home runs and in 2002 he hit 57 home runs. his third-highest and highest single-season totals, in a career spanning 13 full seasons. So does that suggest that A-Rod got a big power boost from steroids? Not necessarily.

During those seasons, he played every game — perhaps another benefit of the drugs he took — and set career highs in at bats. And he took those at bats in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas, which is well known as a homer-friendly park. A-Rod also turned 26 and 27 in those seasons, which are typically prime years in a hitter’s career. Also, in those seasons home runs throughout the majors were more plentiful than earlier and later in A-Rod’s career. That may reflect a peak in steroids use, but it could also reflect a lower quality of pitching, the characteristics of the balls used and the stadiums.

Baseball Reference has a handy tool to control for these variables. Click on “neutralize stats” for A-Rod’s career and his home-run totals in those seasons decline slightly, to 51 and 55, respectively. Per at bat, his power output in those seasons looks even less impressive, relative to the rest of his career. J.C. Bradbury, author of “The Baseball Economist,” wrote on his blog that, after adjusting A-Rod’s neutralized stats for a typical career trajectory, the best estimate is that he hit 2.37 home runs more than expected over those two seasons.

Bradbury wrote:

“It’s probably best to say that there was no observed effect. It is possible that the steroids did give Rodriguez a boost, and this may have helped him through an injury or some other factor that my estimate does not account for. It’s also likely that he hit more home runs than expected through random chance. Given the general swings in the play of the game, it is very difficult to separate true performance changes from random swings in performance. The deviation here isn’t large enough to say much.”

As as another respected writer, Tom Tango wrote in his blog, “If you want to pick out 2001-2003 seasons from the rest of his career as anything out of the ordinary, good luck.”

Unlike Barry Bonds, A-Rod’s stats are consistent year in and year out. For instance A-Rod, in 1996, his first full major league season he hit 36 HR, 123 RBI, with a .358 BA. Last season he had 35 HR, 103 RBI, and .302 BA. He also weighed 210 as a rookie and now hovers around 225, making him only about one pound heavier for each year he’s been in the league, and I don’t think anyone would deny that is from his workout regimen.

And this is going to sound so biased, but let’s get one thing straight, Alex Rodriguez is still the greatest baseball player that many of us have ever seen. I say that as a baseball fan, not a Yankee fan. Anyone who thinks all of A-Rod’s success is only because he took steroids in 2003 is either a Yankee-hater or delusional. Those people would have to say he has been using the juice his whole career.

Of course, this analysis takes Rodriguez at his word about the duration of his steroid use, which is questionable at best, since he has lied about it before.

The best part about this information coming out now is that he is still in his prime—which means with the tougher steroid penalties and testing we should know for a fact that he, and all MLB players, are now clean and exuding only natural ability.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that despite frustration in baseball’s steroid problem, we need to accept this period for what it was and try not to dwell on it. The past is irreversible. People in life that focus on the past aren’t successful. We take past mistakes and learn from them, and that is what baseball, and A-Rod are doing.

Now if we could only get the NFL to address their problem and this A-Rod leak to not halt all MLB/MLBPA good faith going forward…both may be tall orders.

I’ve never really liked Alex Rodriguez the man. He frosts his tips, goes tanning, listens to his piss poor agent’s piss poor advice, flip flopped on his allegiance in the WBC, skips Home Run Derby’s, cheated on his beautiful wife, divorced her, trolls around with a 50 year old bag of bones, and has reportedly bought into the delusion of Kaballah. Alex has never struck me as an intelligent man. He listens to others advice too much and doesn’t think for himself. Stupid people make stupid decisions, especially in their personal and professional lives. And A-Rod is a stupid person.

But god damn it is a beautiful thing to watch him hit a baseball.

This news, and confession, that A-Rod tested positive for two banned substances in 2003 doesn’t shock me. It is 2009, and if you’re any fan of baseball, steriod revelations are all but expected.

But this is a sad day for everyone. It is a sad day for baseball, the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez, other players, the players who came before, and the fans. I can’t really see anyone cheering this information, and if they are, they really aren’t much a fan of baseball.

I’m not a baseball purist, as they say. I am an above-average fan who follows daily Yankees information, likes the DH rule, and thinks Pete Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Alex Rodriguez owes me nothing. I don’t know him, I don’t write his checks (directly), and I’m not a teammate of his. His decisisons are his and his alone.

It is being said that when Alex went to Texas with the monster-record contract of 10 years at $252 million, he felt a big pressure to have a huge season and help Texas win. Fair enough. It is no secret that other players in that Texas locker room have been directly linked to steroids- Juan Gonzalez, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, and Rafael Palmeiro- A-Rod just asked, “Is it working?” and “Can I have some?” I’d bet that is exactly how it went down.

It is really easy to bash decisions made in the past. This was an era where performance enhancing drugs in baseball were the norm, the common, the accepted, and almost, the encouraged. He probably really felt like he wasn’t doing anything out of the professionally accepted at that point.

Apparently he tweaked a muscle in 2003 and realized the steroids were going to hurt the longevity of his career. It didn’t matter anyway, since more than 5% of those 2003 random samples (I think there were about 1200) came back positive, steroid testing became mandatory and random, so he couldn’t do them anyway.

And for those that want the entire 2003 list of the 104 players who tested positive to become public, think again. Learning that A-Rod tested positive is bad enough for the game and the steroid scandal that just won’t go away…Do you really want to see names like Manny? Ortiz? Maddux? Glavine? Smoltz? Chipper? Nomar? Prior? Wood? Thome? We are better off not knowing, as no good will come from it.

I am disapointed in the revelation, but I’m not an eight year old kid who belives in superheros or infallable human beings. We all screw up and we all make mistakes. The digital age is going to make our lives much more transparent than past generations and everyone needs to stop thinking they can hide their skeletons, beccause they will come out of that closet, and when they do, they usually come crashing out.

From 2001 to 2003 Alex Rodriguez took performance enhancing drugs, he admits it. I really have no reason to believe he didn’t continue to take them when he joined the Yankees, but for some reason I really do believe he stopped, I trust my instincts on that regard. In those years he hit 156 home runs while using performance enhancers, or 28% of his career total.

His first ballot Hall of Fame status is now gone, and his eligibility will be a long pondered questions over the, probably, decades to come. But ballplayers don’t really care about the Hall anymore. It’s about the cash and the rings. That’s the cake. When ballplayers were making $38,000 grand a year, the Hall of Fame was the cake. Now in a year when A-Rod will be making over $30M in one season, that’s the cake. Championship rings and the Hall of Fame are just the icing. Is he a Hall of Famer? Who knows? Take away those years and yeah he’s a lock. But take away Pete Rose’s gambling and he’s a lock. So who knows if he’ll ever get in.

It sucks as a sports fan and it really sucks as a Yankee fan. I will have to hear about this story almost everyday on the YES Network and that is a real disservice to this rebuilt team and year one in the new Yankee Stadium. I am disapointed but I get it. And I am thankful that he did the right thing in getting in touch with Mr. Peter Gammons and settling this thing before there is too much blood in the water. He has done a very admirable thing in this quick admittance (Which could have never been proved by court ordered seals on this information) and acknowledging direct blame and shame. Baseball fans have forgave the likes of Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi for admitting to PED use with shame. Fans haven’t forgave, and actually despise, those who still deny it. Bonds, Clemens, Sosa, Palmeiro, Tejada, etc.

It really is a sad day for baseball. Nothing else to really say.

Juicy Campus, the pathetic and vile website that invites students to post anonymous (and often-times libelous) messages about their peers, is now officially defunct. In a blog post, founder Matt Ivester wrote:

Unfortunately, even with great traffic and strong user loyalty, a business can’t survive and grow without a steady stream of revenue to support it. In these historically difficult economic times, online ad revenue has plummeted and venture capital funding has dissolved. JuicyCampus’ exponential growth outpaced our ability to muster the resources needed to survive this economic downturn, and as a result, we are closing down the site as of Feb. 5, 2009.

I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the site’s advertising issues stemmed from the fact that it often featured incredibly hateful and mean-spirited content that advertisers were hesitant to be associated with. What was founded on the idea that discussion would be innocent ‘juicy’ gossip, most conversations turned to be outright and outrageous lies; and with top discussions such as “Biggest Whore at Tulane”, “Who has herpes at NYU?”, and “Which frats date-rape girls?”, it was hardly a place for lighthearted fun. Many schools in fact took action to remove their school from the Juicy Campus website.

This is a good day for the internet and our generation. Juicy Campus will go down as one of the cancers of internet infancy.

Olympic great Michael Phelps acknowledged “regrettable” behavior and “bad judgment” after a photo in a British newspaper showed him inhaling from a marijuana pipe.

In a statement released Sunday, the swimmer who won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Games did not dispute the authenticity of the exclusive picture published Saturday by the tabloid News of the World. “I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” Phelps said in the statement released by one of his agents. “I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”

News of the World said the picture was taken during a November house party while Phelps was visiting the University of South Carolina. During that trip, he attended one of the school’s football games and received a big ovation when introduced to the crowd.

The party occurred nearly three months after the Olympics while Phelps was taking a long break from training, and his actions should have no impact on the eight golds he won at Beijing. He has never tested positive for banned substances. The case is unlikely to fall under any doping rules.

This guy is an American hero, plain and simple. Watching him this past summer will always be something I remember going forward. So Phelps smoking some pot? I really don’t care. Hell, I like him a bit more for not being the squeaky clean role model so many want him to be. I love me some chaos and disorder.

But Dan, I thought smoking pot made you lazy and stupid? Does this bust the weed ‘loser’ myth? 14 Gold Medals!

I mean, does this actually surprise anyone? An unemployed 23 year old smoking weed at a party?

I’d rather him not apologize and just say, “Yeah, so what?” But of course his endorsements are his lifeblood and anyone in his situation would apologize in a second. So no fault there.

I’m not advocating marijuana use, decriminalization, or legalization – but we need to start having a serious discussion on the subject. Why is marijuana still illegal? Beside the obvious, there isn’t one true reason to allow alcohol and not marijuana, in the simplest argument.

The whole country is responding the same way: “So what, it’s just pot.”

So why is it still illegal? I smell a blog coming.

On a lighter note, no wonder he was eating 5,000 calories a day! Heyoooooooooo!