The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Commentary on the Week that Was

The Good: MLB Stadium Spectacles

On the cusp of Opening Day, one that will see the last Opening Day in the history of The House that Ruth Built, baseball appeared to be alive and well. 115,300 fans were in attendance at L.A. Coliseum to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers' departure from Brooklyn. The game itself was rife with anomalies: pitchers had to ward against an incredibly short porch in left (201 feet), while hitters had to contend with a 60-foot obstacle called 'The Screen Monster.' The NHL had every right to rejoice when 100,000+ fans crammed themselves into Ralph Wilson Stadium for a bout between the Sabres and Penguins, but this event paled in comparison to baseball's feat. Nearly 116,000 fans witnessed an exhibition game against the Red Sox and Joe Torre's Dodgers, a team that has already bid farewell to their spring training complex in Vero Beach. Baseball's timeless tradition and impact on American culture truly has its allure, one that will draw some 40,000+ to watch the Braves compete against the Nationals tonight in Washington's new stadium, National Park (could it be that a team's name is actually in the title of a ballpark?).

The Bad: Baseball's Home Run King is Denounced

ESPN set a precedent when it started giving teams/individuals distinctions on its Bottom Line sports ticker. The trend started some two years ago, when Barry Bonds was chasing Babe Ruth's 714, and continued when Roger Clemens and the Patriots received recognition for their respective accolades in 2007. Knowing the magnitude of Barry's encroachment on a highly storied record, Giants ownership capitalized on Barry in spite of his association with BALCO and The Game of Shadows. Owner Peter Magowan and general manager Brian Sabean knew full well that Barry Bonds would be included in the infamous Mitchell Report and still rode Bonds's home run prowess to a windfall of revenue in 2007, going so far as to commemorate his every feat with countless scoreboard and outfield wall decor. And yet, how the times, they are a-changin'. The 2008 AT&T Ballpark outfield that Aaron Rowand will now patrol shall be, as per the same management that took advantage of Bond's bat, devoid of any Barry-related paraphernalia. After having served as the face of the Steroids Era in baseball, I suppose that Barry Bonds gets what he deserved all along: non-recognition for years of arrogance and deceit.

The Ugly: Jose Canseco, the Author, is Back

Perhaps lost in the whole Jose Canseco book fiasco is when the tell-all hits bookshelves: April 1st. Very fitting, when you consider that Jose Canseco has been connected to nothing but instances of tomfoolery over the years: hosting a party where his and Roger Clemens's wives compared bust sizes, appearing on VH1's D-list celebrity haven The Surreal Life, and implying that Alex Rodriguez pursued his wife at one point. In his 'memoir' Vindicated, Canseco further implies that he introduced A-Rod to a steroid distributor and claims that Magglio Ordonez was a rabid steroid user himself. The fact that people will flock in droves to purchase copies of a second trash-fest penned by Canseco is despicable. The man is a crock whose 462 home runs are a disgrace to one of the most exciting moments that sports offers: a four-bag trot around the diamond. The way things currently stand, generations of baseball fans will be raised on stories of Jose Canseco the celebrity scoundrel, not a power hitter whose astounding home run total will never get him into the Hall of Fame. Luckily, the court of public opinion won't allow for such a travesty.