Everyone who has ever picked up a baseball bat has had one goal in mind – hit a home run.
And like everyone else, Barry Bonds started his baseball career with the same ambition, but the similarities between Bonds and every other ballplayer ends there.
Bonds was born into baseball, picked and prodded by family from the moment he wore a glove, which planted the seeds for Barry to be a phenomenon.
His father, Bobby Bonds, played in the major leagues for 14 years and was a three-time All-Star. Bonds’ godfather, Willie Mays, was a two-time MVP. And Bonds’ distant cousin, Reggie Jackson, was the best hitting and most polarizing player of the 1970s.
But Bonds felt disconnected with his father from an early age. Bobby Bonds went on the road, did not attend his son’s games and drank more than he ate when he was home.
A youth star, Bonds played baseball in his father’s footsteps without his presence and developed an introverted, volatile personality at an early age.
The Bonds father and son combo eventually resolved their relationship as Barry played high school ball. It was at this time Barry had to make decisions about whether or not to go pro out of high school.
Bobby soon became Barry’s best friend, telling him to continue schooling.
It was the first time Bobby existed in Barry’s personal life, and the two became inseparable.
On one hand, Bobby’s presence helped Barry mature on the baseball field. His father’s guidance gave Barry initiative to continue striving for greatness, but it also dealt Bonds another blow to his character.
Bobby wanted his son to be abrasive and unapologetic, and Barry listened, leading to who he became as a pro.
On his first day during spring training Bonds barged into the Pirates’ clubhouse and into his manager’s office.
Then-manager Ed Ott scolded Bonds to, “get your fucking ass out that door, and don’t come back in unless you knock.”
From day one, Barry alienated himself from his coaches and teammates.
But as aggravating as he could be, Bonds dazzled the baseball world with his compact swing, swift speed and gaudy glove.
A lanky 6’1’’ and 185 pounds, Barry won two MVPs as a Pirate and joined the 30-30 club twice. In seven years in Pittsburgh Bonds amassed his first 176 home-runs and 251 stolen bases, making him the most dynamic and dominant player in baseball.
But Bonds’ mentality on the field shifted after his last year in Pittsburgh.
He wanted to hit more home runs, and his passion to drive more balls out of the park began innocently enough.
Bonds’ annual home-run totals never dropped below 33 for the next 12 years. His stolen base totals gradually dropped. And his strikeout totals soared, because he swung for the fence every time a ball crossed the plate.
Then, in his tenth year in San Francisco, something was noticeably different about Barry Bonds.
He was no longer a lanky kid. He, in fact, seemed to be a mammoth.
Bonds gradually gained weight between his rookie year in 1987 and 2000, but in 2001 he was suddenly 20 pounds heavier.
He was 228 pounds of pure muscle.
2001 is the year Barry officially put his name next to legends and in baseball folklore and hit an astounding 73 home-runs to capture the single-season home-run title.
Barry reached the pinnacle of his career, but his fortunes tumbled in the coming seasons.
In 2003, Bonds suffered a nasty separation from long-time adulteress Kimberly Bell.
In the same year he tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, PEDs, which was not revealed for years. Greg Anderson, his personal trainer since 2000, was caught in a nationwide steroid scandal. His father passed away. And Congressman George Mitchell commenced an investigation into baseball’s alleged rampant drug use.
Eight years later, Bonds has also eclipsed the all-time home-run record with 762 bombs. Mitchell outed Bonds as one of the premier PED users in baseball. Anderson was just recently released from jail for refusing to testify against Bonds. And Bell has stated Bonds admitted steroid use to her in confidence.
Bonds, now, is retired, on trial for perjury for allegedly lying about using steroids and in the final at-bat of his baseball career.
After a brief time in court the prosecution and defense rest while the jury debates amongst each other in what is now their fourth day of deliberation.
Their decision to unanimously vote guilty or not guilty on four charges of perjury is the biggest decision concerning baseball since the Black Sox scandal of 1919.
If convicted Bonds will face jail time, and baseball will ban him like the Black Sox and Pete Rose before him.
And to think, this all started when Barry was a child hoping his tee-ball bat would hit him a home-run.
Pedro Alvarez only has two runs after 44 plate appearances. He needs to find more ways onto the basepaths for Pittsburgh to maintain its good start.
Pittsburgh’s pitchers and a few bats came to life in the first ten games of the season to propel the team to its third straight 5-5 start.
However, as proven in the last two years, a .500 opening does not translate to a .500 season or better.
In 2009, the Pirates finished with a 62-99 record, and in 2010 …
Well, let’s not talk about last year.
Pittsburgh’s starting rotation is largely responsible for this year’s early success.
Newly acquired Kevin Correia opened the season and two starts later looks like one of the better pitchers in the National League. With a 2-0 record, Correia is barely giving up a walk and or hit per inning, and his era, 1.29, shows it.
But then you start to look at the rest of the pitching staff and wonder how some of them are managing to offer up quality starts.
For example, Charlie Morton has walked 10 batters in 13 innings and somehow has managed to only give up three earned runs. What’s more, he has only struck out three batters.
Lady Luck has been on his side, but it will not stay for very long if he cannot turn his K-BB ratio around.
Paul Maholm’s success is also perplexing. He’s not giving up walks. But hits? Yes.
Furthermore, Maholm is also struggling to strike batters out. He’s done it just four times in 12.1 innings.
Then, we come to the Pirates’ two most promising starters, James McDonald and Ross Ohlendorf. If the Bucs hope to have any short-term and long-term success these two are the pieces that must pitch well.
Unfortunately, neither is.
McDonald left early in both of his games after being rocked mercilessly. Ohlendorf did even worse and has been put on the 15-day designated list to rest and rehab his shoulder for late April or early May.
If we turn our attention to the line-up, we see only three regulars hitting well.
The Pirates’ nightly top three batters, Jose Tabata, Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen, may be the best 1-2-3 combo in the National League.
Tabata looks like a bona fide All-Star, Walker looks like a plus hitting second baseman and McCutchen has not missed a beat.
But, after the top trio, there is nothing good to talk about.
Lyle Overbay, the team’s regular clean-up hitter, can tear the ball off of righties, but cannot hit lefties in batting practice.
Ryan Doumit is hitting ok, but he cannot call a game from behind the plate or throw out C.C. Sabathia stealing second.
Pedro Alvarez, Garrett Jones, Ronny Cedeno and Matt Diaz, all regulars, are hitting at the Mendoza Line, (.200), or worse.
When only one-third of an everyday line-up can hit a team is in trouble.
If even one of Tabata, Walker or McCutchen goes down the pitching staff will have to be near perfect to squeak out wins.
And, while the team does have three pitchers and three batters performing well, six total players maximizing their potential and a little luck will lead to a lot more 3-7 and 4-6 ten-game stretches than .500 runs.
There are 19 other men on this club that need to pick up their own individual slack.
This is not to say the team cannot be a .500 ball club, but it has to improve drastically, from striking out batters to getting other its own players on base, to maintain its initial competitiveness.
Matt Howard and Kemba Walker have made collegiate careers out of making buzzer-beating shots, and one may make a another for the NCAA Title.
Who wins in a battle between an American Bulldog and a Siberian Husky?
The breeds are so similar in profile it is difficult to choose.
Huskies are tough, compact working dogs outside and gentle family dogs inside. They have been bred for centuries to pull sleds extraordinary distances in extreme, wintery weather, a tribute to their speed, brawn and work ethic.
American Bulldogs are gritty, loyal protectors to its master and equally caring toward nonthreatening individuals. But strike the bulldog as dangerous and it will be vigilant, ready to guard its master with its athletic, powerful frame.
There is no clear winner here, so maybe there is a more appropriate question to be asked.
Who wins in a pick-up game between the Bulldogs’ Matt Howard and the Huskies’ Kemba Walker?
Walker, a First Team All-American, is the embodiment of an elite college basketball player. A team leader, he hits buzzer-beating jumpers regularly, and it is no secret he is the Huskies’ first option to take the last shot down by one, two or three.
He can also create open looks for teammates and dish the ball well. Hit or miss, he will rebound five a game with a small 6’1’’ frame.
When opponents call him the most difficult competitor to play against in the game they are preaching to the choir.
Howard, a two-time Academic All-American, came inches from hoisting his first NCAA Tournament Championship trophy one year ago against Duke. As teammate Gordon Hayward’s shot bounced off the rim harmlessly away from the net Howard stumbled to midcourt, fell on his back and resolute he would be back.
Here he is, again, competing for a National Title.
Howard is not known for putting colossal amounts of points on the stat sheet, but is the ultimate team player, rebounding and playing tremendous defense.
If the Bulldogs need him to score, though, he can do it. His shooting percentage is greater than Walker’s all over the floor, even from three-point range.
In a sense, this is an odd contest between David and Goliath, because Goliath, (Walker), gives up over half a foot to David, (Howard).
If these two did meet one-on-one the last player to shoot would likely win, but there is no way to determine who would get the ball last.
That leaves us with one question.
Who wins tonight, the Butler Bulldogs or the Connecticut Huskies?
Each team has experienced equally low lows and high highs.
Butler only earned a ticket into the tournament because they earned the Horizon League Tournament Championship against the little-known Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers, a team they lost to twice in conference play.
Butler also lost to the likes of Valparaiso, (who?), and Youngstown State during the regular season.
On the other hand, Connecticut finished ninth in its conference in the regular season and nearly lost to Wichita State.
Obviously, the Bulldogs and Huskies have had high highs as they meet for the National Title. Each team won its Conference Tournament Championship to solidify their bid into the Big Dance.
Butler, led by Howard and Shelvin Mack, defeated Old Dominion, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Florida and Virginia Commonwealth en route to the Last Dance.
Connecticut, led by Walker and Alex Oriakhi, defeated Bucknell, Cincinnati, San Diego State, Arizona and Kentucky to meet their final dance partner, Butler.
Again, it is nearly impossible to choose.
The Huskies can go to Walker first, Lamb second and Oriakhi third for points.
The Bulldogs can go to Howard or Mack for points, but this is where Butler has a weakness.
Connecticut has more scoring options and, thus, more scoring prowess than Butler.
Still, each team is a glutton for buzzer-beating shots. The Huskies won their last two games by a combined three points, while the Bulldogs won three of its NCAA Tournament games by three points or less.
So there is only one truly suitable answer to all three of our questions.
The canine who shoots the ball last will win his team the game.
Welcome back, Bucs.
The loss column missed you, sort of.
After dropping the season opener, Chicago mounted an eighth-inning, five-run comeback on Pittsburgh’s Evan Meek to overcome a three-run deficit and win the second of a three-game series.
Manager Clint Hurdle inserted Meek into his second consecutive game after throwing twenty pitches the night before, each appearance in inclement weather. The Pirates’ set-up man allowed three hits, a walk, five runs, two earned runs and recorded only two outs in a losing effort.
Meek took the mound with a 3-0 Pirates’ lead and a chance to hold, but allowed the Cubs’ first three batters on base by walk, double and error.
The error, which was Pittsburgh’s Lyle Overbay’s fumbling of a routine ground ball, keyed the Cubs’ comeback. Had he fielded it, it would have been a double-play with a runner on third.
Instead, Kosuke Fukudome and Sterlin Castro scored and the Cubs rolled the rest of the inning, capping off the club’s first victory.
On the bright side, Pirates’ starting pitcher Paul Maholm gave the club its second consecutive quality start, throwing a shutout for six and two-thirds innings.
Maholm allowed five hits, two walks and struck out three in his first shutout effort of any kind since a nine-inning shutout against the Astros on July 18, 2010.
Also, the trio of Jose Tabata, Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen continued their early success in the 1-2-3 spots.
Tabata reached base on a walk, fielder’s choice and single to score two runs.
Walker hit his second double in as many games to drive in Tabata in the third inning.
McCutchen walked to reach base a fourth time in nine plate appearances this season.
Tomorrow, Ross Ohlendorf will take the mound in an afternoon rubber match against the Cubs’ Matt Garza.
Ohlendorf struggled mightily this spring with an era over 10, but has been the Pirates’ most consistent pitcher over the last two seasons.
Garza pitched just as poorly this spring, so expect a high-scoring contest.
The Pirates are our baseball team – win, lose and lose, again.
But, having lost for 18 consecutive seasons, it is a marvel the club still has a following.
However, the team’s support is wavering, buckling under the pressure of a fan base hungry for a winning team.
Fan support for the Pirates peaked ten years ago when Pittsburgh demolished Three Rivers Stadium and erected PNC Park.
Despite enduring eight straight years of losing entering the 2001 season, fans poured into the new stadium and set Pirates’ attendance records to admire its beauty and to hope for a winning baseball team to complement its overwhelming aura.
However, the franchise’s major league ball club has steadily declined over the next decade, eventually hitting what Pirates’ fans can only hope is rock bottom with 105 losses last season, third most in the team’s 119-year history.
Looking forward, the 2011 Pirates will not lose 105 games, but they are not favorites to break the most insufferable losing tradition in sports.
Andrew McCutchen and Ross Ohlendorf figure to lead the team followed by a young core of Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, Pedro Alvarez and James McDonald.
After those six, there is not much buzz to this team unless you consider Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan, relievers, stimulating.
Newcomers Kevin Correia and Scott Olsen, starting pitchers, are coming off difficult 2010 campaigns in which injuries and personal issues took prominence over their on-field performance.
Other additions like Lyle Overbay and Matt Diaz, solid platoon fielders at right field and first base, were brought in to fill roster spots and occasionally the line-up.
There is hope a silver lining may appear on the horizon soon.
McCutchen is arguably the best center fielder in baseball, and the young core behind him has a treasure chest’s load of potential.
Still, barring every player having a career year, Pittsburgh will likely bear another losing season.
Kevin Correia signed with the Pirates in the offseason to fill the back of the starting rotation, but now he is going to lead it.
He will take the mound against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 1.
Correia may have been the least likely of candidates to head the Pirates’ rotation considering he came off a 2010 campaign in which he recorded a 5.40 era. In five starts this spring he has put up a 6.38 era, second worst among Pirates starting pitchers.
Paul Maholm will follow Correia and will start the team’s home opener against Colorado on April 7. Maholm posted a 5.10 era last season, but has played better this spring with a 4.50 era in five starts.
The next three in the rotation will be Ross Ohlendorf, Charlie Morton and James McDonald.
Ohlendorf has been the most consistent pitcher on the Pirates staff in the last two seasons, posting a 3.92 era in 2009 and 4.07 in 2010.
However, he has struggled this spring in four starts with a 10.24 era.
Morton was rocked by batters in 2011. He put up a 7.57 era, but improved this spring in four starts for a 1.29 era.
He has the best stuff on the club, but he has not been able to control it, often leaving breaking pitches hanging for batters to hit home runs.
McDonald is widely regarded as the Pirates’ most promising big league arm. With the Pirates last year he started 11 games for a 3.52 era, the lowest era for a Pirates’ starting pitcher since Zach Duke posted a 1.81 era in 2005.
McDonald is the number five starter due to an undisclosed injury. Making him the last man in the rotation to open the season will give him more time to recover and hopefully pitch.
This year’s the team’s success will depend heavily on the rotation. McDonald and Ohlendorf are the two young, promising arms, and their performance could help to stabilize the Pirates’ future.
Winger Matt Cooke is going home after the league hit him his fifth suspension in three seasons.
Not long ago, Penguins Owner Mario Lemieux lamented runs taken at his team so much he wrote a letter to the league proposing teams be fined as a result of player suspensions.
Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero followed suit and called for an outright ban to head shots.
Like clockwork, Pittsburgh winger Matt Cooke was the first NHL player suspended since Lemieux’s pitch to make teams as responsible for their players’ actions as the skaters themselves.
Cooke, who has earned a reputation as a notoriously dirty player over an 11-year career, was banned for 14-17 games – the rest of the regular season plus the first round – as a result of a blindside elbow to the head of Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
The blow was perplexing as the Penguins were up 2-1 and in no desperation for a player to make any sort of impact. It was equally damaging, because it sparked a Rangers’ 5-2 comeback victory.
Everyone around the league has eagerly waited for this moment, a pivotal point where Lemieux has to either write a check or turn his back on himself.
Under Lemieux’s bid to punish teams for their players’ actions the Penguins’ owner would be fined at least $750 thousand and up to $1 million for Cooke’s suspension.
And, with Shero outspokenly condoning a complete ban of head shots, Pittsburgh also has to decide whether or not it parts ways with Cooke.
In three seasons as a Penguins player, Cooke has been suspended on four separate occasions for a total of 10 games, so Cooke meddling in the center of controversy is commonplace. Those figures now read five suspensions and at least 24 games out.
Matt Cooke’s deliberate headshot to Boston’s Marc Savard last season, which sidelined Savard for two months, sparked a league wide initiative to crackdown on hits to the head such as Cooke’s most recent infraction. Coincidentally, the Penguins were up 2-1 in that game, too, with five minutes remaining.
The league implemented new rules on headshots two weeks after Cooke’s hit on Savard.
Lemieux and Shero did not cry wolf then.
But this season Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, Mark Letestu and Maxime Talbot have received inadvertent and calculated headshots alike, and Lemieux and Shero cannot be more disgusted.
Finally, and we did not have to wait long, Lemieux has to support or thwart his and Shero’s outrage toward headhunting players like Cooke by maintaining the weight of his wallet or lightening its load to a tune of $750 thousand.
Panthers' Coach Jamie Dixon still has not found a winning formula for March Madness basketball.
In a split-second, a black cloud swarmed over Pittsburgh darker than a steel mill’s soot-filled exhaust, which once suffocated the city.
Pittsburgh basketball just discovered another way to exit March early.
In fact, we may have witnessed the most shocking 0.6 second collapse in Pittsburgh basketball history.
Butler’s Shelvin Mack had just erroneously committed a foul with 1.4 seconds remaining to send the Panther’s Gilbert Brown, a sure-handed free throw shooter, to the charity stripe with a chance to win the game and sneak into the Sweet 16.
Brown hit the first shot to tie the game at 70, but missed his second attempt.
Then, the Panthers’ tournament hopes crumbled in a two-player battle for the rebound.
Butler’s Matt Howard boxed out Pittsburgh’s Nasir Robinson, recovered the ball and flung the ball into the air as Robinson reached for the ball.
Robinson missed the ball but caught Howard’s arm, drawing another unbelievable foul and sending Howard to the free throw line with two opportunities to win the game.
In short, Butler escaped Mack’s lone mistake in the entire game to win 71-70 and are headed to the Sweet 16.
The Panthers, well, they are going home, tails firmly tucked between their legs.
A number one seed for the second time in three years, Pittsburgh was highly touted entering the NCAA Tournament despite losing its only game in the Big East Tournament one week ago.
In each year, Pittsburgh defeated its sixteenth-seeded opponent, but unexpectedly lost in the second round.
The Panthers’ tournament afflictions are bewildering.
Consistently a dominant regular season team, Pittsburgh cannot avoid faltering in March basketball.
Even in this latest failure, Pittsburgh was the better team on the court until the last second.
This year’s scapegoat will be Robinson, but praise should be directed toward Mack, who also almost became the man responsible for ending his team’s season.
Mack’s last play near the ball will be remembered as the foul to nearly allow Pittsburgh to win.
But Mack led all players with 30 points, including seven three-pointers to propel Butler’s offensive onslaught.
Robinson was simply in the right place at the wrong time. His coach told him to be there for a tip-in, to fight for the ball, but it was not there.
Now, Pittsburgh is saying two things: not again, and maybe next year.
Maybe the sun will finally shine on the city’s beloved basketball team.
That or the clouds will roll in on cue, again.
Shauna Newell was tricked by a friend and sold into slavery.
Shauna Newell is an ex-sex slave.
She is a real person with a real slavery story.
A 16-year old from Florida, Shauna befriended a new girl in town and was invited to a house party on April 29, 2006.
When she arrived a man pretended to be the girl’s father and gave Shauna a drink and, unknown to Shauna, a date rape drug.
For the next four days, Shauna was gagged, bound and …
And I will not repeat anything else Shauna experienced; I do not want any young reader to relive Shauna’s torment.
Shauna is just one of 27 million human slaves worldwide.
Now, she is free, sort of.
Shauna is infected with an STD, trychomoniasas, and carries psychological scars beyond imagination.
Most other slaves are not as fortunate as Shauna, like Shaniya Davis from North Carolina.
Shaniya, a 5-year old, was sold into slave trade by her mother, Antoinette Davis, to pay off her mother’s drug debts.
Shaniya paid for her mother’s drug abuse and decision with her innocence and life.
Shauna and Shaniya are two of an estimated two million United States citizens abducted and sold into human trafficking each year, according to the State Department.
Then, there are two professional football players, Adrian Peterson and Rashard Mendenhall, proclaiming to be modern-day slaves.
First, Peterson said playing in the NFL is, “like modern day slavery.”
Mendenhall later supported Peterson on Twitter, saying, “Anyone with knowledege of the slave trade and the NFL could say that these two parallel each other.”
But Peterson’s and Mendenhall’s combined experience as modern-day slaves equates to a total of zero days.
Peterson and Mendenhall will have earned $50 million combined when their contracts expire.
Shauna and Shaniya were not paid any money to be real slaves.
Peterson and Mendenhall willingly play football for a living.
Shauna and Shaniya were forced to fight for their life.
Peterson and Mendenhall can freely walk away from NFL owners and football.
Shauna and Shaniya could not walk away.
Shauna and Shaniya had only one means to evade their slave owners.
Run.
But neither Shauna nor Shaniya were capable of running.
Shauna fled slavery only because her 14-year old brother discovered her in the back of a car in a convenience store parking lot.
Her brother and his search party had to carry her out of the car.
Shauna was beaten so badly she could not stand.
Shaniya’s fait was decided when her mother traded her for a clean slate on her drug debt.
She was five years old. She could not defend herself from asphyxiation.
When you compare Peterson’s and Mendenhall’s labor tribulations to Shauna’s and Shaniya’s torturous experiences there is no parallel, not even close.
Peterson and Mendenhall cannot understand what it is to be a slave and should not claim to, because they cannot imagine being Shauna or Shaniya, knowing death is one wrong move away.
Whenever an athlete openly exposes their own individual idiocy I wonder if they could have put their foot up their mouths further, so as to not speak at all.
This week has been a particularly bad week for athletes talking too much.
Exhibit A: Adrian Peterson, NFL, Minnesota Vikings
With the NFL lockout in effect until at least April 6, owners and players alike are taking shots at each other.
Adrian Peterson, well, he is just saying stupid shit.
Peterson, frustrated over labor negotiations, said, “It’s modern-day slavery, you know?”
At least Peterson, the modern day slave as he puts it, is going to be a $10.72 million slave in 2011.
Adrian Peterson is one of the richest self-proclaimed slaves in the world.
His owner is nicer than mine.
I am a $9.50 per hour slave.
I would have to work, without taxes:
- 1,191,111 hours
- or 49,629 days
- or 136 years
… to make $10.72 million.
Peterson would not be able to survive on my wage.
Exhibit B: Cappie Pondexter, WNBA, New York Liberty
The world is mourning and aiding Japan after it was hit with an 8.9 mega quake and 30-foot tunami waves.
Cappie Pondexter, well, she is saying stupid shit.
Pondexter tweeted, “What if God was tired of the way they (Japan) treated their own people in there (Japan?) own country! Idk guys he (God) makes no mistakes!”
Her diatribe continued. She used the racially inappropriate term ‘japs” and stated, “u just never knw! They did pearl harbor so u can’t expect anything less.”
Japan did attack Pearl Harbor, and the United States responded with the only two nuclear attacks the world had seen and has ever seen.
Imagine God’s wrath on our country in 3 … 2 …
Pondexter deleted her two original comments, likely after the WNBA and New York Liberty got a hold of her.
She has since taken a defensive and apologetic stance in an equally hotheaded, dense manner.
WARNING: Skip Pondexter’s following tweets in CAPS to avoid rambling inanity.
“I STATED BEFORE WHO KNWS WHY GOD LET ALL THESE TRAGIC THINGS HAPPEN TO INNOCENT PEOPLE N PLACES, IE 911, AUSTRALIA , JAPAN AND HAITI … I WILL ALWAYS SAY HOW I FEEL…SOMETIMES IT COMES OFF WRONG, SOMETIMES IT MAY HURT UR FEELINGS BUT GUESS WHAT: ITS REALS@$T …”
Please, take the computer and blackberry away from her.
I will save readers from anymore of Pondexter’s dribble.
She has apologized for her comments, but, according to her own twisted logic, she should be preparing for God’s fury.
Simply, Peterson and Pondexter are perfect examples of why athletes should stick to guaranteeing wins and trash talking opponents.
Anything more stupid is too much to take.
steeltownsportsguy 