LadyCrimson

@Calax - time for a frame? Today I did nothing very worldy interesting, just like yesterday, and am about to get my daily dose of Red Sox.

That's partly what makes so many fans so mad/annoyed - not only that a popular player cheated rules but that most of the time, they probably didn't need to. A terrible batter is likely to still be a crappy or minor-league quality batter even on steroids...but a good batter would still be a good batter, likely w/lots of RBI's and a high OBP and so on - but the HR is the "money shot" and apparently 15-20 HR's isn't enough to get the 50-200 million contracts.

Steroids don't help a batter actually be able to hit the ball, either (so the text I bolded in your quote) Sounds like false logic to me. Now, with more power behind a hit when they do get a hit, I can see/believe that more power=more propelling force, which would help a ball to fly that extra several feet out of a ballpark - but that's if the ball is hit in such a way that a HR would even be likely, in the first place. There's a lot more to getting hits/HR's than just how much power is behind a swing. Some of the best HR hitters in history were around before steroids, and some were even really skinny. I don't see how one can conclude that a possible enhanced ability to jump higher, run faster, turn/swivel/dodge faster, etc. absolutely cannot affect jump shots or the ability to handle a hokey stick vs. (claiming it can do so with) a baseball bat. If you can jump higher/swivel faster you're better on the court and could maybe dodge/skate your way around better than if you weren't on steroids.

They're much safer to sit on than exploding barrels.

That kinda goes along with getting more publicity. Baseball hasn't had as much time for PED stuff to go "underground"...not to mention the possibility, like you said, that at least some of the NFL thing is more image than reality. I also object to the idea that PED's won't help players outside of baseball as much. Anything that means you can train harder/more often with better results and build more muscle mass etc. etc. helps any athlete. But most aren't going to really notice or pick apart a linebackers ability to block/defend with more stamina/effect/agility (or whatever), while a batter suddenly hitting 50HR when last year they only had 15HR is going to be noticed by every fan in the stands.

... Bok, you killed me with that one. Win7 looks pretty ... but as mkreku said "I want from an OS is something that's as direct a path between my own applications and my hardware as possible. No BS, no resource hogging extra fluff, no draconian security systems." Pretty isn't enough, nor are "new features" I have no need for. More info required.

The most important question about any potential game-forum gathering is, of course: Will there be crates?

Some of those are really funny ... but mostly only if you've seen the movie in question. Like: DELIVERANCE: Tourists experience local hospitality. I'm not this-type-of-creative enough to come up with any on my own, tho.

Hahahahah. If you want to believe that, that's cool. Obviously, I don't. My opinion is that baseball gets more publicity, as well as the game itself being more focused on individual "stars" then football/hockey. I like this article about why baseball has the steroid spotlight vs. football. While it's mostly a "here's some facts + here's my opinion" piece, imo, it probably has some validity. http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/weblogs/...ls-steroid-era/

So you think other sports don't have a lot of chemicals? Somehow I kinda doubt that.

Would help if you knew what general period it was from.

Not enough blood for you, eh?

ply you with booze, do thing to/with you... uh, huh, i see how it is. taks I walked right into that one.

ST is getting really good reviews. I have the impression it will please casual ST fans and non-fans because of plenty of winky nods to the ST:OS and being, largely, a fast-paced action CGI flick akin to the comic movies, except w/spaceships. I also think that I'll like the movie quite a lot for it's own merits, but that it won't feel like Star Trek to me, just a great sci-fi flick. I'm too old-guard...but hopefully I'll be wrong on that. I thought he was awesomely sexy in LoTR and in general, but the stills from ST have him looking plastic-greasepaint faced. Is that a false impression?

I remember the pics you've posted. The one way to get me to talk a lot, fast, in initial social conversations is to ply me with booze. Which isn't easy to do since I generally don't like booze. One on one suits me a lot more than large gatherings, which I usually avoid like the plague. But for the OB forumites I'd try to get over that.

No, in the context you're bringing this up, I don't agree. Enoch said: He is, I assume, talking about rules, not morals. Whether a rule is stupid or not is subjective/moralistic and could be debated forever...the point tho is that if there's an official game rule and you're caught breaking it, you have to play by those rules and take the heat.

I haven't seen anything that actually confirms the male enhancement rumor. Only that "sources" claim that's what the prescription Rameriz was getting was for. I don't consider unclaimed "sources" to be a reliable source of facts. Others say that he's not contesting the 50 game suspension equals he's afraid of an in-depth background probe etc. Take your pick on rumors. But it a good reminder that at this point it's too early to say how guilty Rameriz may be. No one can tell for sure who is/isn't just because of they way they look or perform. Drug tests become better/more subtle refined and ways to avoid/pass them become better. Yes there's a lot of stuff that can cause positive tests on someone who's likely not a regular/serious user of the "bad ones" but I think juicing is a lot more prevalent than people want to believe, and has been for years.

What I've read some people worrying about in terms of 'credibility' is what such players do to stats/records. ie, you can no longer trust them. You could expunge personal records like "most bases stolen" but you can't expunge "World Series Win" ... ie, people begin to doubt a team would've won. I'm not sure how valid that might be ... I tend to think most of the time, not so much, but maybe once in a while.

It only "ruins" it because it's not part of the rules ... ie, not everyone uses it, therefore the 'contest' isn't an equal playing field. Maybe they could have steroid-leagues for those who want to compete w/others who like to chemically enhance all they can be.

Yeah, I've met a few as well, and agree. Or at least, they are always different than what you first envisioned (edit: not always a bad thing, either). I like to think that in general my net personality is pretty much the same as my RL one - but text doesn't reveal things like ... hyperactive leg bouncing, my childish bored-habits like tossing wadded up pieces of paper at my spouse, my combo of very laid back yet fairly reserved demeanor, or the fact 23 hours a day, I'm extremely non-entertaining.

Seriously? LOL Maybe that's why he was always causing a ruckus. Now maybe all the BoSox fans who still holler that we shouldn't have let Manny go will shut up about we "need" him. I'm still laughing.* *I don't personally think performance drugs in pro-sports are cool/should be used, unless perhaps everyone used them(and the same ones), if y'know what I mean - but I still find this hilarious.

An Obsidian Forum BBQ would be one of two internet-meeting type things I would actually make an effort to go to. I don't know what the results of such would be, but at the least I bet it'd be memorable. And ... uh ... seemed like I was going to type something else about "my day" or something, but now I've forgotten what it was. Um ... I had a really good pastrami sandwich, tho.

If you don't/never watch AI, this probably won't seem funny, but I just about busted a gut laughing. One of the "Top4" tried to sing "Dream On" (never a good one to do on AI) last night and that last famous note was awful. So someone made an "extended version" of his performance, looping the note several times. I love the internet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGw8gjCwzEE

Never found him funny, but as always, still sad to lose pop culture icons. It won't be long before I won't recognize anyone in a movie or on the music stage anymore.

Exactly. If you're never going to be more than a day or two's hike from your car, in a fairly popular recreation park, and if it psychologically makes one feel better to have a cellphone at all times, that's cool. It's probably even helpful in those cases. But in deep remote areas ... well, if you're that concerned you should fork over the cash for a good PLB, or, um...not go tromping around such areas in the first place. :D