Easy Justice for Trevor Graham

Trevor Graham was sentenced to 12 months of house arrest for lying to investigators about his own dealings with steroids. Graham, who blew the whistle on BALCO presumably because juiced BALCO athletes were more successful than his own juiced athletes gets an easier sentence than his former client Marion Jones, who served six months in prison. Some justice!

Graham was a cheat who undermined the spirit of competition by pushing his athletes to cheat. When his cheating was less effective than other cheats, he sought to quash the "competition" by ratting them out. He was successful in destroying BALCO, but that doesn't make him the hero as his lawyer tried to depict him as being. He was as crooked as BALCO. He deserved at least as much prison time as Jones received. If anything, the judge should have made an example of him and given him the maximum sentence in prison.

You don't reward cheats by going easy on them. It doesn't matter that his career is over. He would never have gotten to the level he attained without cheating. He was no better than the people he ratted out. He deserved the same treatment they got.

The End is Near ... for 2008 Baseball

I have to admit to being a bit torn during the NLCS. On the one hand, I wanted to see the Phils beat the Dodgers. On the other, I wanted to see the drama of Manny's old team facing Manny's new team in the World Series. Alas, the Phils were just too good for the blue boys down south. No tears from this end. Go Phils (I have to root for the NL, real baseball always trumps the "game" they play in the AL)!!!

Davis' Three Ring Circus Act Continues

Davis finally got around to firing Lane Kiffen. But it was not enough to just fire him, he had to undermine him as much as possible because the Raiders still owe Kiffen the rest of this year and next, and want to get out of the contract. Expect the lawsuits to fly within the next week. Al doesn't like paying people he likes, he's definitely not going to pony up some cash to someone he doesn't like.

The party line is that Al has forgotten more about football than Kiffen will ever know. I don't agree. Kiffen may be inexperienced, but he's no fool. He'll probably end up at Kansas City and lead them to a championship while walking over the Raiders the way Shanahan and Gruden did.

But even if the party line were true, the problem is that the football that Al remembers doesn't cut it in today's game. Davis is still basking in the glory days and can't seem to grasp the concept that the glory days and the circumstances that led to them are long gone and will not return. The Raiders cannot win without a strong, independent head coach. Shanahan proved it. Gruden proved it.

Kiffen may not have been the coach to lead the Raiders to glory, but then who is? As long as Davis insists on micro-managing every aspect of the team, they will never get a head coach who can lead them to a championship. The only coach they will get are cast-offs, failures and untried novices like Kiffen.