A-Rod, and Brett Favre too

Please tell me I'm not the only one who is sick and tired of seeing these two clowns' names plastered all over the news. There are few things that irritate more than stupid athletes doing stupid things and making stupid headlines regarding those stupid actions.

So A-Rod finally decided that he had no other option than to come clean and admit he used PEDs (aka performance-enhancing drugs... by the way, when did this become the official abbreviation? I must have missed this). In an exclusive interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons on Monday, he spilled the beans. For a nearly 3-year period between 2001-03, he claims that he used banned substances. Prior to the 2001 season, A-Rod signed his record-breaking 10-year $252 million contract. His excuse for taking the drugs? He felt an enormous amount of pressure. Seriously? I can safely say that he brought that on himself by demanding $25 million per year over the next 10 years. He felt he needed to perform at a high level every day. He claims he doesn't know exactly what substances he took or where they came from, saying it was a "loosey-goosey era". The interview came just over two years after an interview with Katie Couric, in which he stated that he has never taken any illegal substances.

My question is: does anyone really care what this guy says anymore? Does he really have any credibility left? The only thing he had going for him before this interview was that he was the "clean one". He was the one who would eventually break the all-time home run record, and he would do it without taking steroids. Well all that's gone now. He hit 159 home runs during his time in Texas and whether or not the substances influenced that will never be known. He was the White Knight, the Harvey Dent of Major League Baseball. This guy has been the center of so much controversy, from his contract opt-out debacle in Texas, to his "alleged" affair with Madonna that eventually led to the divorce from his wife, to this latest incident. Can anybody believe anything that comes out of this guy's mouth? I personally have never liked him and now I just find him downright despicable.

Future All-time home run leader*

Now, on to Brett Favre. He announced yesterday that he was retiring. Again. Does anyone really care? He had a sub-par season in 2008, a very un-Favre-like campaign. In his last five games with the Jets, he threw 8 interceptions and just 2 touchdowns. The low point of the season came in the final week when Chad Pennington, the QB the Jets dropped to get Favre, led Miami to a victory and a playoff berth, effectively knocking Brett's Jets out of the postseason picture. Favre's season totals came to 22 TDs, 22 INTs. I guess that's fitting for the guy who holds the NFL's all-time records for both touchdown passes and interceptions in a career. Brett, get over yourself. You're 39 years old which, in football years, is about 70. You're a senior citizen. You're almost eligible for your AARP card. And the worst part is, despite how much he loves the game, he just can't cut it anymore. The game has passed him by and the 2008 season was something that never should have happened for him.

And if I have to see another tear-filled press conference where he openly bawls like a little girl over retiring or one more article about how "the league is never going to be the same", I'm going to lose it. That press conference last year was a joke. It was not sad or emotional. It was a complete joke. If he felt that passionately about continuing to play football, he should have just marched right up to the Packers' front office and demanded a trade. No, instead, he mulled it over for months and in the process almost ruined the Packers off-season moves by burdening them with unnecessary salary cap considerations. At the same time, he alienated himself from the rest of the team and the upper management of the Packers, while putting additional, unneeded pressure on the new starter Aaron Rodgers. He thoroughly insulted the Packers front office in an interview and left a sour taste in just about everyone's mouth over the situation. After pouting for a couple weeks, the Packers obliged and traded him to Jets, where he maintained the same selfish, crybaby attitude. That's right, I said it. He is selfish. One of the more selfish athletes in sports, actually. When the Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers, what seems like about 10 years ago now, Favre was quoted as saying that he wasn't interested in mentoring Rodgers. What a great guy. What veteran quarterback wouldn't want to take a rookie under his wing and show him the ropes? A selfish, conceited one like Favre, who only cared about his own interests (and, apparently, Michael Strahan's). The reason he stayed for a 17th season was to break the touchdown record. The reason he came back for an 18th was to try to prove he could hack it somewhere else. And as for all these sports writers penning article after article about how he changed the game and how the game will never be the same without him, spare me. You already wrote these articles, a year ago. It's recycled material. We all know how great he was and how he changed the game because you already told us. I'm sick of this even being a news story.

Cry me a river Brett. Just please don't do it in public this time.

So you know what? I'm glad he fell on his face in New York. He was never cut out for the Jets and his heart was never in it. He alienated himself from the rest of the Jets team all of last season and some of their star players (ahem, Thomas Jones) were calling for him to not come back in 2009. And I'm glad he isn't coming back. To me, this retirement is at least a year overdue and I say good riddance to him. I won't deny he is one of the best quarterbacks of all time, because he is. He is, without a doubt, a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I just wish his attitude during his years in the league (especially toward the end) was a little better. But maybe the worst part about this retirement is that we will all probably be subjected to watching him on some network's pre-game and/or post-game coverage eventually. Good thing I usually don't watch that crap.


* On steroids for roughly 159 of those home runs

Live Models

My fiancee and I decided to go to the mall on Saturday to walk around and get some delicious Chick Fil-A. We walked in and went in to the pet store (which, incidentally, is closing -- sad story) and then headed up to the food court for lunch. When we were finished we walked around the mall for a while. As we walked, we were shocked--appalled--at this new phenomenon of live models in store windows. Has anyone else seen this? I have heard about some stores in high-end shopping areas doing this, but I have to say that I hadn't seen it in action until this past weekend. My younger brother told me once that while he was shopping he was asked to be a window model at a Hollister store. He respectfully declined the offer. I didn't realize how alarming this was until I actually saw it first person.

The thing that was alarming wasn't even the fact that there were live models in the windows. It was the number of stores that were all of a sudden doing it. We counted at least 4 stores that featured live models in the store windows, including Bandolino and Express. It was not only creepy and disturbing, but a little sad. The first store we walked past that featured them, we were just commenting on how real the models looked when one of them moved. This evoked a "Holy shit" reaction from both of us. Then we passed another store with them. We looked across to the other side of the concourse and saw yet another storefront that featured the live models. We didn't really know what to think. I felt bad for the girls (they were all girls, btw) but at the same time, they didn't look unhappy. Of course, they were trying not to move, although some of them couldn't keep a straight face to save their lives.

The other question that I thought of was: how were these girls selected for the stores? When we walked into the mall initially, it looked like there was some kind of fashion show going on. Did these girls model for the stores, who then selected, kickball-style, which girls they wanted to model in their windows? And is this a permanent thing? I hope not, because it's downright creepy and I feel bad for anyone that has to subject themselves to standing in a window front displaying their body (whether fully clothed or not--thank God there weren't any Victoria Secret window models; now that would have been uncomfortable) for other people to try to sell a company's clothing. It just seems wrong doesn't it? Has anyone else experienced this and if so, what is your opinion on the matter?

Pittsburgh won the big game, ho hum

If you know me, you know that I'm an Eagles (and sometimes Niners) fan. If you know me, you also know that I loath the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, I'll try to put that hatred aside for this post.

So Pittsburgh won the Super Bowl. So what? Maybe it's just this area of the country that lacked excitement over the big game this year, but it didn't really mean anything to me. A big part of this was the way the Eagles exited the playoffs this season. The Eagles looked like they could be one of the better teams in the league early in the year, before stumbling mid-season, and making a miraculous comeback to join the party as the NFC's 6th seed. The low point obviously was their 36-7 loss to the Ravens, in which Donovan McNabb got benched for the first time in his career. That game motivated the team down the stretch, though, and they finished the season 4-1, capped off by a brilliant performance against the hated Cowboys. They somehow got all the help they needed from other teams and slipped into the playoffs. But they weren't finished. They ran through the Vikings in the first round and then demoralized the defending champion Giants in the divisional round. Next up was a rematch with the Arizona Cardinals, the team whom they put 48 points against on Thanksgiving, the first game after their humiliating loss to the Ravens.

The feeling around Philly in the week leading up to the game was that the Eagles would easily win. I wasn't so sure. I watched bits of the Cardinals first two playoff games and I knew that they were a different team than the one that showed up on Thanksgiving. One of my co-workers overheard someone saying that Arizona is good and actually said "no they're not." The confidence level was sky high for the fans going into the game. And maybe it was for the team too, as they gave up 3 Larry Fitzgerald touchdowns in the first half and didn't have enough left to seal the win after going up by a point late in the 4th quarter.

It was the worst Eagles loss I have ever watched. I have now watched them lose 4 NFC championship games in the last 7 years and this is definitely the worst. The way the team fought back after all the criticism and stood up for their coach and quarterback made me proud of them. When they came back late in the game to take a 1-point lead, I thought they were a team of destiny. Also, it seemed like this had to be the year. The rumors swirled all year about McNabb leaving Philly and Reid getting fired. The coaching staff has already gone through some big changes with three assistants leaving and Jim Johnson revealing that he has skin cancer. Unfortunately, the only destiny that waited for this team was to fall just short, like so many other times, and to once again break the hearts of their loyal fans. I think the sentiment was shared amongst most Eagles fans that this was the worst loss ever. It made Philly fans simply not care about the Super Bowl, even though another Pennsylvania team was in it. From what I have seen regarding Eagles fans, though, most hate the Steelers.

The Steelers are (arguably) America's team. They have now won a record 6 Super Bowls. They have an impressive cast of characters in the Hall of Fame. They were the team involved in the Immaculate Reception, they are the Steel Curtain. Everyone loves the Rooneys. Bill Cowher became a hero after finally winning the big game with the Steelers in 2005. So it's understandable for the Eagles to despise them, being that the Eagles are the franchise that is known mostly for its futility over the years. The Eagles have won zero, count 'em, zero Super Bowls in their history. They haven't won an NFL championship since before the Super Bowl existed. The Eagles are known as the team that has the choking quarterback that threw up during a key drive late in the Super Bowl in 2004. Philly as a city just won its first major sports title in 25 years when the Phillies won the World Series. As a sports city, we just haven't been that good.

So when the Eagles lost, most fans around this area stopped caring. Sure, I watched the Super Bowl. It was a great game. It gave me some consolation knowing that the Cardinals put up a good fight and almost won the game. It made me feel like the Eagles were still one of the best teams in the league and didn't just get hot at the right time. However, in a city filled with hate and criticism for its sports teams, both players and coaches, that's just not good enough anymore. So when the Steelers won, I really didn't care. I hate to say it, but I watched the game because of the commercials and the game ended up being better than the commercials. Sure, the Steelers got a bunch of calls that went their way, as always. Did it change the outcome of the game? Probably not. Should that last play have been reviewed? Sure. Would it have made a difference in the end? Probably not. But that's just it. I'm so down from the Eagles losing, that I don't even have the energy to argue about it. Instead, I'll just leave you with this: Was he in or was he out? You decide.


Not like it matters anyway.