C'mon people, that's enough already.

This week's picks: 9-5-1
Overall: 17-10-3

Bold Week 2 Prediction: The Pats will finally ruin the '72 Dolphins' party.

The Patriots showed up this week, plain and simple. Not only did they show up to play some pure, unadulterated dominant football against one of the top 3 teams in the NFL, but they shoved it in the faces of everyone calling them "cheaters."

While watching this game, I came to the realization that we could be in the midst of the greatest football team of all time (and trust me, I am one of the last people to claim recent accomplishments are "the best ever" or eclipse other historic moments). Tom Brady has put on a clinic for future QB's everywhere, putting up the following mind-boggling stats over 2 weeks: 79.7% pass accuracy, 576 yards, 6 TDs, 1 INT. Even more, he didn't put this up against patsies...one game came against probably a league-average team in the Jets, and the other came against, as mentioned before, one of the best teams in football. Oh, and by the way, they put up the bigger game against the Chargers, whilst the NFL devoted every resource to making sure they weren't cheating. In essence, as they kept scoring TDs late in the game as many a Madden fan would do, they gave a big middle finger to the sporting world that is getting ready to write off their accomplishments over the past decade.

Are we so sure that the Patriots wouldn't have won their recent Super Bowls without their cameras? First, let's remember that this is the same league where most every coach hides his mouth with his play sheet--they realize the risks involved and surely take every precaution possible. Second, say the Pats did steal signs and knew exactly what the defense was running--then explain how it is that in each Super Bowl they came out strong and just barely held out to win the game? Normally you'd do better as the game went on if you knew their signals, right?

This goes deeper than just the Patriots taping a few games and the slight advantage they may have gained. This is a reflection of the problem most of the sporting world has succumbed to, and that is a desire to see great people or teams fall, whilst throwing logic to the wind at times. This is most evident in the steroid scandal in baseball. Let's use everyone's favorite punching bag, Barry Bonds, as an example. Amidst all the unknown, there are a few facts: (1) There is no proof that he did steroids, (2) He admitted to using a "cream-like substance", and (3) he is constantly booed everywhere but SF, despite any substantial evidence supporting steroid usage. All this crap about him getting bigger and better with age can be applied in the exact same way to Roger Clemens, and even to MJ (well, minus the getting better part). Even assuming he did use steroids tells us nothing, for we have much evidence that using steroids in and of itself does not make you a better baseball player (see: Neifi Perez, Alex Sanchez, Jeremy Giambi), and HGH has credible studies that show it does not help a baseball player improve his play. And the whole double-standard he is held to because he broke the most hallowed record is ridiculous...Ankiel was proven to have received HGH and no one's even talking about it anymore, less than a month after the story broke. Glaus, one of the more prolific AL hitters, has been linked to HGH as much as Bonds, but you have to search real hard to find any kind of media coverage about that. Just because you aren't going after a record doesn't make it any less cheatful.

Apologies for going off on the Bonds tangent, but he's just a very good example of how people are becoming less and less likely to sit back and enjoy something historically great when it is right in front of them. Are people so naive to believe the great teams of the past did not cheat or use everything at their disposition to win, even if it was borderline legal? Heck, NFL players get shots of cortisone before each game--how is that not "performance enhancing"? And don't give me the moral angle of "oh, but cortisone is legal!" Well, so was whatever Bonds allegedly took when he took it.

So, please, enough of tarnishing today's great players. Don't listen to the onslaught of media telling you "facts" about how certain people or teams cheated and the "proof" they say they have. Think before you form an opinion, and logically decide if your denouncement of a certain player or team is warranted. While you do that, I am going to enjoy watching some of the greatest sporting moments we'll ever live to see.

Barry the All-Star

It's that time of year again, when all the half-hearted baseball fans vote on their favorite baseball players, or for most, the guys they've heard of.

As we prepare ourselves for the annual "Who was Snubbed from the All-Star Game" articles and television specials, I want to call out a disturbing early trend. First, we may be seeing way too much of that evil blue color in San Francisco on the weekend of July 10. Secondly, and more important, it looks like Barry Lamar may be out of luck when the All-Star festivities finally come to his hometown in what is likely the most significant year of his career.

Now, I'm a pretty fair guy. I can accept that a Bum or two can be allowed on the All-Star team. I voted for Bengie Molina because he's on my favorite team and because he has been the only catalyst to runs scored on a team that can't seem to find any. However, Russell Martin (.298/.366/.470) actually has slightly better overall stats than Molina (.309/.336/.466). And yeah, Kent is putting up decent stats for a position that is quite lacking in the NL. I can handle a couple of them.

Bonds' falling to 4th is what disturbs me. You may argue that it's justified by Bonds' recent "slump". I can agree that he has slumped recently, but does it justify a 4th-place ballot? Most definitely not. Here's the stats thus far for the top-4 NL OFs. You can make the call yourself.

Beltran: 9 HR, 36 RBI, .283/.369/.482
Griffey Jr: 15 HR, 36 RBI, .284/.385/.552
Soriano: 10 HR, 22 RBI, .311/.360/.542
Bonds: 13 HR, 30 RBI, .277/.484/.568

2nd most HR, 3rd most RBI, 1st in OBP and SLG all at the age of 42 and they can't even throw him a bone when the game is in his hometown? No way this happens to a Yankee or Red Sox in the same situation. With Jason "I'm Sorry" Giambi even 3rd in voting at AL 1B, it's enough to show you that a big name in a big town can get you places you don't deserve. That is, unless you're Barry Bonds.

It's pretty obvious to me that the reason for all this stems from the media. I can really see Barry's side of the argument when he says the media is out to get him. Yeah, he says some pretty wild things, but since this steroids thing has come up, has he been a jerk or been rude to interviewers? If he has, I haven't seen it, and I'm sure if they had tape of it we would never see the end of it. He has said some things he shouldn't have said, and it looks like he thinks a lot of himself, but really, what has he done to deserve all the hatred that's pointed his way? It hasn't been proven that he did anything illegal in the game of baseball, which is all people really care about since most people don't really care that he cheated on his taxes and supposedly cheated on his wife (if so, where's the hate for Derek Lowe?). The only reason I can see why people hate him so much is because of the way he is portrayed in the media, as we get a constant barrage of reporters implying he took steroids and is some sort of super-villain. Add to this that he is about to pass one of the most hallowed records in all of baseball, and you get a nice steaming pot of unsubstantiated loathing.

So, when voting time comes and the half-hearted fans vote for their NL OFs, they will remember Barry as a despicable person and will vote for an unworthy alternative, without looking at any stats or considering the players' levels of play. Because of this, Bay Area and all other Giants fans will be unable to cheer on the greatest hitter of all time on probably the only date that the All-Star game will come to our hometown in our lifetime.