Question of the Week

Ron, Spring Branch, TX
Subj: Best athletes in history
Are drugs the reason we have seen “the best ever” in so many sports the past 20 years or so?

Drugs are certainly part of the equation, but today’s athletes have also benefited greatly from better training methods and technological advances. Babe Ruth is a perfect example. Imagine how much better the Bambino could have been if he ever exercised in the off-season, or for that matter, if he simply abstained from eating hot dogs in between his at-bats. One also has to wonder how much better Ruth’s batting average could have been if he had opted for one of today’s more streamlined Louisville Sluggers rather than the 54-ounce railroad tie he used for most of his career. I have no doubt that HGH can transform a skinny shortstop into an unstoppable slugger but I also think that the evolution of off-season training, better equipment, improved coaching and scouting methods and even the use of video are all big reasons why today’s athletes are among the best we’ve ever witnessed.

You've Got To Be Joking

Sit back and relax as you enjoy this week’s sports shorts.

Penny Hardaway received some good news and some bad news this week. The bad news is he was cut by the Miami Heat. The good news is the team is still interested in signing Little Penny to solidify their point guard position.

Jets coach Eric Mangini has admitted that his team videotaped the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium last season. Here’s the creepy part: the taping was done exclusively in the shower stalls.

Senate majority leader George J. Mitchell has released his 409-page report on illegal drug use in baseball. The report is so big you practically have to be on steroids just to lift it.

13 Ohio State underclassmen have filled out the paperwork to gauge where they might go in the NFL draft. For most of the players it was the first time they had used a pen and paper since entering college.

A new high school opening in 2009 in Tampa, Florida, will be named the George Steinbrenner High School. Steinbrenner himself has already hired and fired Billy Martin four times for the position of school principal.

The 2012 U.S. Olympic track and field trials will be held in Eugene. A somewhat frazzled Eugene could not be reached for comment.

Alex Rodriguez has revealed that he and agent Scott Boras are not speaking to each other. The only surprising part about his revelation is that it didn’t interrupt a major sporting event.

The NHL has asserted that widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs is not an issue among hockey players. Of course it isn’t. You have to make decent money before you can afford steroids.