JimH5

Sure, but a significant part of the damage done to him is based on what the general public thinks of him. I can't believe that his attorneys and union would settle for anything that leaves this hazy reputation on him.

So he's completely innocent, but he's got to foot the bill for his defense team? And he's on the hook for any losses he has to future income, endorsements, appearance & signing fees related to his undeserved dirty reputation? And he thinks it would look bad to try to recoup that money from multi-billion dollar ESPN and multi-billion dollar MLB? And the union of Marvin Miller and Donald Fehr has nothing to say on the unfairness of how an innocent player can sustain these damages? I don't think I'm flexible enough to bend in a way that let's me believe all that is true.

No doubt there have been mishandlings by the media and MLB as it relates to the Braun case. But if it turns out the he was/is a PED user, and if he is outed and punished, then they got the most important thing right. I think that an innocent man would do more to defend his good name. He has suffered real damages, being linked to PEDs. Where is the lawsuit back at MLB or ESPN to recover those damages?

In today's JS Sports section, they have a pretty substantial amount of space devoted to baseball. But in the Rookies to watch section, they're listing Travis D'Arnaud on the Blue Jays and Trevor Bauer on the D-Backs. Both were involved in pretty high profile trades this winter. I expect some untimely info in the baseball preview magazines, with early publication deadlines. But with a daily paper, they should be getting it right.

I was under the impression that if you didn't have enough deducted throughout the year, that you would face a penalty when you filed the following April. Not sure if that's actually the case.

That seems understandable to me. The instrument is going to require you to make modifications to the way the song is played.

Absolutely agree. How many adults own and proudly wear Braun-themed gear to the games? And now how many of them are now somewhat sheepish about it? How many hours have been spent in lines and how much money has been spent on Braun autographs? How many thousands of people went to the On Deck event recently, to see these guys just hanging around, posing for pictures, signing stuff, etc? Stories like this really take away the fun of fandom, where you're forever looking at them through doubtful eyes. Plus it gives every Cubs fan reason to be gleeful about our own schadenfreude. I want to be the one taking the high ground, not some doofus in a "C" hat.

It really is on Braun's team to convince us that he isn't a PED user and that his story about consulting fees are legit. I'm under no obligation to believe him without paper evidence. I'd much rather be guilty of rush-to-judge skepticism than to be a hero worshiping rube, led along by a drug cheat. If Braun wants me to hold him in high esteem, it's on him to do more than tell stories, as plausible as they may be.

With something sordid like PEDs, it would be worth paying a much higher price if you had certainty that there was no way it could be connected back to you. Obviously, that part didn't happen here, but with guys making $10MM+ a year, there is very little difference between paying $500 for something and $20,000 for it. $500 for the product and $19,500 for the secrecy..

To me, when an artist makes modifications to the traditional anthem, they're doing so to bring attention to themselves. The song is to honor the flag and country, and the performers seem more interested in using the platform to show off their vocal range. The meaning of the song is set aside so the artist can hog the spotlight. I think it's a lot like when traditional church hymns are given a modern interpretation. Cherubim and Seraphim and a distorted guitar riff. It's ridiculous.

My exact thoughts.

A-Rod seems so narcissistic and lacking in self-awareness, that I can't see him leaving any money on the table. That said, the NY fans and media would torch him--and that might get him to run for cover. Either way, I hope it lasts several months before there is a resolution.

Heyman also tweeted that there are rumored to be more names associated with this case, but that the newspaper didn't have enough evidence to name them. So, good for Braun (and everyone else in the world who wasn't named), but that may just be temporary until more info comes out.

Heyman tweeted a reminder that there doesn't need to be a positive drug test to trigger a suspension. If these reports are confirmed (not sure how that process goes), then they could be disciplined. 50 games without Gio would be pretty harsh for the Nats. I would actually prefer for A-Rod to not get suspended, just so the Yanks are on the hook for all the money.

I'm not a big fan of the metallic gold thread. Otherwise I like the hat. And I really like the patch.

The past couple of years I have gotten into oddball Brewers stuff from the vintage years. JD McCarthy postcards, Sunoco pinbacks, Kellogg's 3-D cards, Media Guides, Schedules, Yearbooks, Game Programs, Press Photos. . .nothing really valuable, just stuff that I think is cool. T206s are great, really all those old cards are. I'm partial to the Goudey Heads Up cards, but only as an admirer from afar. I haven't dipped my toes in the water. The boys at net54baseball.com have a great forum for the ancient cards. And it's interesting to see all the various pieces that come up at the big auction houses.

Was that the first year of the new videoboard? Didn't they do some other improvements to the stadium? Might they have paid down some debt? Attendance was down from 2011, and there was no postseason, so I can see how revenue would have been down. Not sure about revenue sharing or what they did on the expense side. I would more trusting in the info if the source had been named, or if they had an explanation, but even without that, it seems plausible.

I wouldn't worry too much about not being able to complete a set of bobbles. As long as the collection is satisfying to you, that's all that matters. They're probably going to keep issuing them long after hardcore collectors have moved on to other things. I have an assortment of things that I have collected with the intention of completing a set (Old Topps cards, early Brewer publications, vintage pennants), but I also have collected things that don't need to be complete. They can stand on their own.

I'm disappointed that they lost money last year. I don't know how much more they can get from fans. Ticket prices, parking, merchandise, concessions. . .there isn't a lot of missed opportunity there. I would think the key is in the local tv & radio money, and I just don't know where that can go, unless they plan to do their own network. So if the max they will be able to spend in the future is up around $90MM, that doesn't bode well as the Cubs & Cardinals have more room, and neither of them seem to be spending foolishly.

Be careful man, you get one, and suddenly you have 100 of them! You're right about the collecting bug. But I just don't have the shelf space to go crazy. And I think I would just limit my interest to players in the Barrelman era.

Lager. They're lager, baby. That Randy Wolf pic looks lagerish, but that artist rendering with Player 5 seems to me to be more like wood putty. That may just be my old-man failing vision. I like the Green and Gold colors of the 1970s Swingin A's teams. We'll see if this new one rubs off on me. I really would like them to wear home whites more often. . .but they seem to do well in merchandise sales with all the alternates.

I think I've had my fill of the commercial where the kid fools his dad into taking the family to Golden Corral. But I can't get enough of the Directv one where the tortoise bites the guy's finger. ----- Continued from: viewtopic.php?p=826772#p826772 Original Lead: viewtopic.php?f=67&t=8540

Love the Boomer. I don't collect bobbles, but I might pick up that one.

They can call them gold if they want, but my eyes see something like the color of Guldens Spicy Brown Mustard.

Football players are making a choice. They know the risks involved. Just like deep-sea fishermen know the risks of falling into the water, roofers know the risk of falling off a roof, and soldiers know the risk of being killed in battle. Should we outlaw all of those things as well? There are risks in everything and most of these people are voluntarily taking these risks. I'm not calling for the outlaw of anything. I'm saying that football doesn't do it for me anymore, now that I have seen what it has done to many of its players. Some of it takes the form of brain damage, and other damage is just a lifetime of crippling pain. It takes the finest athletes and often turns them into disabled people. That's why I call it a meat grinder. As for fishermen, they're providing food. Roofers are providing shelter. Soldiers are providing safety. Football players are providing entertainment. That's the difference. Also Jim, your articles could just as easily be about any other sport. There are old broken men in every sport. It's just a part of getting older. There are also men who's bodies are still holding up. Players have been paralyzed in other sports too, not just football and not just contact sports. Christopher Reeve fell off a horse so should equestrian events be outlawed too? And there are also drug abusers in every sport as well. There are nearly 4000 former NFLers suing the league for the long term damage they have suffered. Even if half of them are invalid claims, that's still almost 2000 guys. How many former MLBers are in Jim McMahon's condition, at his age, as a result of playing the game? You're right, accidents and injuries can happen everywhere, but did you read the Lebatard column on Jason Taylor and the things he did to keep playing? Some people see his actions as heroic. I see them as self-abuse not to be celebrated. As for your first article, it even says that it doesn't definitively prove that the head injuries were causing the CTE and they couldn't figure out why other athletes in the same conditions didn't develop CTE. It probably has something to do with the fact that everybody's body is different and will react differently. Like TheCrew said, it's not so much the initial impact and injuries that are the problem, it's how they are being treated. And that comes from trainers, doctors, etc. which don't really have anything to do with the sport itself. It doesn't necessarily matter how the brain trauma occurred but rather how it was treated. I think it says that CTE is caused by total head trauma. I don't know how that is measured. Some trauma can be from incidental contact, and some from concussions of varying degrees. The football culture is a warrior brotherhood culture, where players feel an obligation to hide brain injuries from their coaches and to rush back, lest someone else take their jobs. And the problem with football is that damage isn't limited to brains. Spinal fusion, hip replacement, knee replacement. . .guys smashing into guys will do that. Like I said, if you don't like football, fine. But to use concussions as a reason to dislike football, when concussions are prevalent in almost every sport, is a poor excuse. I think it's just become a bigger deal in football because the hits that cause the concussions look much more violent than say hitting a soccer ball with your head or slipping on a basketball court. I'm using more than concussions, but I get your point about the dangers of soccer and hockey and other dangerous sports. I don't care about either of them, for other reasons. I just never liked the games to begin with. Dropping football was a conscious decision for me. I used to like it, but now it feels dirty. When they say someone has left it all out there on the field, it's not just a cliche. They live shorter lives. I feel bad knowing they're hurting themselves all in the name of entertainment. Here's another piece to consider from Malcolm Gladwell: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell