Didn't Andy Pettitte's father buy HGH and share it with his son? I have no idea whether Gio Gonzalez is telling the truth or not, but the his father's admission makes me think about Pettitte's case.

Well, if you're old enough, you may recall that Gio was tossed off his high school team because the coach had finally had enough of Gio's mother. So, I'd say that the bona fides of his helicopter parents have been well-established

You would think after Riding on Gio's back all through HS to get playing time, it would be max that would take the fall for him. The dad comes off as a hen-pecked schlep in that article.

Didn't work for Roger Clemens.

Or Palmeiro.

Totally understand that. That's why I led off with "No, no, he shouldn't. Because if there is any real evidence to the contrary, or someone (without a dog in the fight, or otherwise clean/uninvolved) comes forward to contradict him, he will be seen as a liar who made self-serving statements to further his own self-interest." He'll be "convicted" in the court of public opinion. See: Braun, Ryan; Clemens, Roger; Bonds, Barry.

I get you, T.J. (Can we get TJ to change his handle?) Still, I don't believe Ryan Braun -- again, assuming he believed himself to be 100% innocent -- made a mistanke by angrily responding to the failed drug test. When you're already being tried in the court of opinion, dead silence isn't going to be your salvation.

The "court of public opinion" only keeps a player out of the HoF.

I know Gio from our time together in the French Foreign Legion. I just exchanged semaphores with him, and have no further comment on the matter.

How's the pension from the FFL?

i watch it on occasion, and will probably watch some or all of the superbowl, but its like a bad habit i can't shake. i really dislike the NFL. if it got banned tomorrow, i'd have no problem with that whatsoever.

I had kicked college football entirely, until UGA played Florida this year. Then I was back on that brownstone as well as the NFL habit. Luckily I won't have any need to watch the Superbowl this year, so I can start over again. This time I'm going to try to kick football entirely.

Whether this is true or not, the league does have a PED policy and does issue suspensions for violations.

He'd have to have failed a test for the substance he supposedly took. But the NFL doesn't test for it.

we provide PEDs and HGH

Code for "we provide actual PEDs as well as overpriced placebos for our dumber clients".

When is HGH coming off the PEDs list, hasn't A-Rod's recent track record put the final stake in the heart of it's claim to "enhance" players?

I know Gio from our time together in the French Foreign Legion. I just exchanged semaphores with him, and have no further comment on the matter.

That's funny, I served with him on the USS Enterprise and just exhanged messages with him via subspace. I also have no further comment, unless it is Q ####### with me again, in which case I will have some comments.

#10

I take Flintsonte vitamins)

What are these Flinsonte vitamins? Can I get some? Will they make me look younger? Lose weight? Add inches to my fastball?

1 - thank you criminal defense attorneys for once more reminding us that what we should say to police when questioned by police is - i would like an attorney please.

question: do you say that when they, say, want to ask you questions about something you might could have witnessed?

do they really have the right to keep you imprisoned for 48 hours if you don't answer any questions? can they actually charge you with obstructing an investigation (like they do on TV)

2 - i am not getting all the outrage over older people like gio's father using hormone therapy to look/feel better. they have to pay for it themselves, it doesn't raise insurance prices and if it makes them stay healthier, it's better for them and us. so the problem is????

"Add inches to my fastball?"


The kids are calling it a 'fastball' nowadays, are they?

The kids are calling it a 'fastball' nowadays, are they?

They are, with an eye toward putting it low & inside.

Gio Gonzalez great warrior brave from my Apache tribe. Me just exchange smoke signals with him from many miles away. May the mountain spirits cut out my tongue before I speak further comment.

I had kicked college football entirely, until UGA played Florida this year. Then I was back on that brownstone as well as the NFL habit. Luckily I won't have any need to watch the Superbowl this year, so I can start over again. This time I'm going to try to kick football entirely.

I kicked college football pretty much entirely this year. It helps that I'm far away from my alma mater. I don't think I could kick the NFL unless it got really heinous. I haven't kicked college basketball entirely (I detest the NCAA's exploitation of athletes at this point) but I've found myself way less interested than I ever have before.

Baseball could make it a rule to murder puppies before each at bat and I would probably still watch.

The notebook entries concerning Gonzalez may not even relate to banned substances:

Gonzalez, third in National League Cy Young voting in 2012, was not directly connected to HGH and testosterone. The report linked him to three substances listed as zinc, MIC and Aminorip. It was not immediately clear what MIC and Aminorip are, or if they appear on MLB’s list of banned substances.

The article also quotes "experts" who suggest these items might have some weight management uses, which could dovetail with the statement by Gio's Dad.

I kicked college football pretty much entirely this year. It helps that I'm far away from my alma mater. I don't think I could kick the NFL unless it got really heinous. I haven't kicked college basketball entirely (I detest the NCAA's exploitation of athletes at this point) but I've found myself way less interested than I ever have before.

I don't watch any other collegiate sport. I gave up college basketball when Danny Ferry was a recent graduate.

Baseball could make it a rule to murder puppies before each at bat and I would probably still watch.

Don't give players like Chris Truby & Albert Belle any ideas.

Kevin Mitchell, either.

rickey, i don't know what your tastes in reading are, but i'm re-reading (for about the 20th time) 'the horse's mouth' by joyce carey. best novel ever written about being a painter -- though actually i can't think of how many have actually been written on the subject.

i can't think of how many have actually been written on the subject.

307.

:-)

Vargas Llosa's "The Way to Paradise" is about Gaugin (and a parallel story about his ... mother, grandmother)

Vonnegut's Bluebeard ... which I recall as not very good until the last chapter where he describes a painter's master work.

Rushdie's the Moor's Last Sigh also has a key character that's a painter and does some neat descriptions. That book always seemed under-rated to me but then it was my first Rushdie.

Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word which is basically just a screed against abstract art (as is Bluebeard).