ROSE STILL BANNED

Pete Rose is a fool.  The fool of all fools  is the best way I can think to describe him. 

"Charlie Hustle" as he was often called in his heyday just doesn't get it. The all-time MLB hits leader has managed to screw up what could have been his last chance, or atleast last chance while still alive , to be inducted into MLB's prestigious Hall of Fame.  There are many who will argue that the man should be given a break, that his exploits off the field should be pardoned at the expense of the "integrity" of the game.  I'm not one of them.

Yes, the all important integrity of the game.  Those who would scoff at that apparently are sorely lacking in basic morals and values. By agreeing to a lifetime ban in 1989, you would have thought Rose would have gotten the message loud and clear that he needed to clean up his act totally and completely to stand a chance of his reinstatement application to MLB being approved by new commissioner Rob Manfred. By continuing to bet on baseball all these years later, legally(Vegas) or otherwise, Rose has further sullied his already shady off-field reputation to the point of total untrustworthiness.

Rose can't be this stupid, ignorant, whatever. It's as if he's saying, rules be damned, apparently with some crazy self-serving inner belief that he's somehow bigger than the game itself. Well, he's  dead wrong and sadly mistaken ! Commissioner Manfred correctly ruled to deny the hit king reinstatement to the game he so dearly loves. In a society so infested with rule breakers who cry when they are caught and punished, it desperately needs the likes of the so-called heroes of the world like Pete Rose to set a positive example. A positive and proud one, not a negative and tarnished one.

DAVE BURKEY
daveywriter@yahoo.com

DEFLATEGATE ?

Does anyone out there really think a couple of pounds of air pressure in a football is going to make that much of a difference or give an NFL team any significant advantage in a game ? Or, that at Heinz field in Pittsburgh as just an example, the ball boy doesn't do the same thing, filling that football to the liking of Big Ben ? I mean come on people, wake up already.

In major league baseball, them boys attempt to steal signs among other things on a regular basis. Is it cheating ? Of course !

But, in the case of Tom Brady and supposedly underinflated balls, I think way too many people are quite jealous of the fact he, Belichick and the rest of  the Patriots have dominated the league for many years now and quite simply, have produced an ongoing dynasty. I will have more to say on this topic in the near future as the NFL is appealing the court ruling allowing Brady to play football !

DAVE BURKEY
daveywriter@yahoo.com

NBA REF SUSPENDED

In an AP story out of New York, one of the NBA's top referees, Joey Crawford was slapped with an indefinite suspension by commissioner David Stern after Crawford apparently challenged San Antonio Spurs star Tim Duncan to a fight.

Crawford called a second technical foul on Duncan while the Spurs star center was sitting on the bench, thereby automatically ejecting him from the game.

Crawford's suspension will last at least through the NBA finals. Stern, in a statement, criticized Crawford's lack of professionalism as well as game management.
It seems this is not the first time Crawford's actions on the court have come under question.

DAVE BURKEY
daveywriter@yahoo.com

NFL ADDS MORE TESTING

The NFL and the NFLPA have come to an agreement to have their players more thoroughly tested for performance-enhancing drugs. In addition, they have added EPO, a blood-boosting substance to the NFL's list of banned substances.

Even more significantly however, players suspended for using steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs will forfeit a prorated portion of their signing bonuses.

The new policy makes the NFL the only North American sports league to regularly test for EPO. In 2005, major league baseball did a round of testing for EPO but no violators were detected.

One provision of the agreement increases the unpredictability of random testing during the season and offseason, making it harder for players using performance-enhancing substances to regulate their usage because they won't know when they might be tested.

Dave Burkey

LABOR PEACE FOR MLB

The players union and major league baseball have reached accord on a new deal that will run through 2011.

The deal includes adjusted formulas for revenue sharing, a higher threshold for the competitive balance tax, a revamped draft for amateur players, changes in draft pick compensation for free agents and the elimination of long-standing deadline dates for free agents which gives teams additional flexibility in re-signing their players.

Let's hope that the timing of the new deal is a good omen and indicates that there will be labor peace for major league baseball for years to come.

Dave Burkey

HOCKEY CLUB FILES SUIT

The Metallurg Magnitogorsk, a Russian hockey club has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the Pittsburgh Penguins and the NHL, according to a recent AP report out of New York.

The Russian club maintains rookie Evgeni Malkin should not be allowed to play in the NHL at this time because he is still under contract for $3.45 million to the club in his native country for one year.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, demanded unspecified damages from the Penguins and the NHL.

The 20-year-old Malkin, who left the Russian Super League team during August's training camp in Helsinki, Finland, cites a Russian labor law that permits an employee to leave a job by giving two weeks notice.

The lawsuit, however, was filed after a ruling by a Russian arbitration panel that Malkin remains under contract to his native club. It maintains that the NHL as well as the Penguins violated antitrust laws by conspiring in a group boycott and by refusing to deal with Russian hockey clubs pertaining to player transfers.

Dave Burkey

TERRORISM AND SPORTS

There is an AP report out of Sydney, Australia that terrorists plotted to kill the English and Australian cricket teams by pumping poisonous gas into their dressing rooms at an Ashes test last year.

I don't know what an "Ashes test" is, but I know what terrorism is, and this is definitely yet another case of it, only this time affecting the sports world.

It seems the only reason the plot didn't go forward is because one of the two attackers happened to be a cricket fan and apparently had a change of heart.

Nevertheless, security personnel at stadiums and sports arena's all over the world should take notice. It's only a matter of time before these wacko suicide attackers and terrorists decide to brew up another plan sometime somewhere.

Dave Burkey