12/19/07: Monday With the Mounties

December 19, 2007

So I ended last week by saying, "I'll be back with the normal Monday release next week," well this week was out of my procastinating hands. Technical issues with the computer that MWM gets posted on was down. But, we're back up and going now. You have to love technology! It seems that everytime I really need to use a printer or computer one or the other is not working.



Well, since I did get an additional two days for news I got a pretty big headline to work with, Head football coach Ian Shields is leaving EOU. Shields will return to Cal Poly- San Luis Obispo. Sheilds only compiled a 7-15 record while at Eastern, but what he did off the field was amazing. He turned a program around in the classroom after having many problems academically. Shields will be the head assistant coach/ offensive coordinator at Cal Poly. Best of luck to Coach Shields, he was always pleasant to me personally in interviews whether on the radio or the newspaper.



Okay, I have to talk about this Mitchell Report. What is going on in baseball? What has happened to "America's past time?" George Mitchell, a former senator, did an investigation, for just about a year people, and has compiled a list of 55 players who have taken the performance enhancer HGH. I'm not here to say the players did, or did not, take the stuff; but this is the hardest evidence we have so far. Some of the players have been arguing that the list is flawed and there are some missing things in it, some players have come out admitted to being caught, and some have just remained silent.



To the players who are admitting they've been caught, good for you. You know what you did was incorrect, and you're trying in some way to ask for fans forgiveness. But, part of these apologies are ridiculous. I'm hearing they took HGH thinking it was legal and it was to help rehab after an injury, and then they say but I never did steroids, steroids are cheating. No, anything swallowed to "enhance" your play is cheating. Give me a break, you know what you were doing. You are being paid millions of dollars to play a sport, a game, get out on the field or in the gym like everyone else or like when you did in high school when you had an injury and rehab.



To the player who are remaining quiet, we as fans just come to the conclusion that you really are on the stuff. If you're not going publicly protect yourself and say you didn't do it, what are we to think? Roger Clemens took a week to come up with some release through his agent that said he will go public with a statement when the time is right. Oh yeah, I feel pretty secure the Rocket never took anything with that statement. Clemens was asked by a Texas coaches association to come speak for them, but yanked from this after the report came out. His speech was going to be on his workout plan and how he stayed in the game so long.



I'm sorry if I sound so upset and took four paragraphs on this, but enough already. We as fans must do something. Let's boycott, stop buying the jerseys, stop paying crazy amounts for nosebleed sits, and just change the channel when the games are on. I am fed up with watching millionaires complain they don't make enough millions, and then when they do, they use that money to cheat. These players are cheating, if you can not go to a drug store an buy these pills out on the floor, that's suspicious. And, let's not be so nice to think that they have caught the only 55 players ever, no way, this list only caught players with this drug at this one place. The other 600 players in the league could be just as guilty, and it's so sad to think of a game I used to play and collect basbeall cards for has come to this.



Well, after all that let's move to EOU athletics. Basketball continues to win, men and women. The men's team didn't play their best basketball in two games, but came away with two victories over Walla Walla and Cascade College. The men will have to play their best game this evening however against Warner Pacific. The game will feature the two highest ranked teams in the Cascade Conference. Mark Carollo is now only 22 points away from breaking the EOU all-time scoring record. The women continue the best start in school history, winning their first eight games. This is quite the accomplishment after losing three starters to graduation and injury. The men and women both sit in first place alone on their sides of the Cascade Conference standings.



Eastern football also released their schedule for next season. Not too different to the last few seasons, other than EOU will close with Southern Oregon not open with them. SOU will also be the only non-conference opponent the Mountaineers will face. The small Frontier conference forces teams to play each other twice in the same season. Eastern has six home games, highlighted by an October 18 homecoming game against, Montana State- Northern.



I'll close this week by wishing my girlfriend Monica a happy birthday. She had her 21st birthday party in Albany last weeked, then on the long drive back to La Grande I listened to my satellite radio. I heard some pretty amusing ads. I heard multiple ads for people who have debt problems, then I thought about when I watch my digital cable and I see the same debt problem commercials. My question is, why are you watching digital cable or listening to satellite radio if you are thousands of dollars in the red?



Hey if you like my writing check out my new webpage with almost everything I've ever written, www.barrettwhenderson.com or www.barrettwhenderson.blogspot.com . I'm not going to promise you a Monday release for next week, only because it is Christmas Eve, and who knows what might happen. But' I'll try my hardest to publish it by Monday, as always, stay down or MOUNT UP!