Bonds to Union: Drop Dead

If there's one thing we've learned, it's that Barry Bonds is perfectly happy to do things his own way. So, it shouldn't come as too big a shock to learn that Bonds has refused to sign the marketing agreement that the Major League Baseball Player's Association uses to market products with each player's name and image. Although Bonds is the first player in the program's history to refuse to participate, it's not unprecedented in other sports. Michael Jordan didn't take part in the NBA program, which is why when you bought a basketball video game, there wasn't a Jordan on the Bulls, even though there was a guy with a shaved head who could kick everyone's ass.

The timing of Bonds' move is interesting. In the next few seasons, he could sell an amazing amount of gear and memorabilia, as he makes his run towards 714, and then 755. By doing his own marketing, he stands to make significantly more than he would if he was simply paid a royalty through the MLBPA. Also, he'll have more control over what is done with his name and image.

But for the union, which has always prided itself on its solidarity, it's not a good moment. I'm sure there are a lot of conversations happening, as Donald Fehr and Gene Orza try and make sure that no one follows Bonds' lead.

Baseball, the Olympics, and Steroids

Major League Baseball hasn't been able to figure out a way to get it's players into the Olympics. Or, now that we have a little more insight into the results of last season's steroid tests, they maybe they don't really want to. Could it be that MLB is afraid to subject its players to the more stringent tests that are required by the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency? Dick Pound, the Canadian lawyer who runs the anti-doping agency, is appalled at the penalties that MLB players can face if they test positive.

"I think it's an insult to the fight against doping in sport, an insult to the intelligence of the American public and an insult to the game itself," Pound told The Associated Press.

"I think it's a complete and utter joke. You can test positive for steroids five times, then they think of booting you out for a year? Give me a break. The first time someone has knowingly cheated and they give you counseling? It's a complete and utter joke."

It's certainly a more lenient policy than most Olympic sports. Under that code, athletes face a two-year ban for the first positive steroid test, and a lifetime ban for the second. Of course, most Olympic sports don't have to collectively bargain their drug testing policies.

UPDATE: Having just posted this, I ran across this little tidbit buried in Jayson Stark's column:

One final Olympics note: Not much has been -- or ever will be -- said about it. But sources say that several minor-league players being considered for the team the U.S. sent to Panama were disqualified for failing to pass the we-ban-everything Olympic drug test.

Here's Your Cup. Now Go Fill It.

What to make of the announcement that between five and seven percent of Major League Baseball players tested positive for steroids last season? Commissioner Bud would have you believe that it's good news, saying that the results show that "there is not widespread steroid use in baseball." Certainly, they're not the sort of results that Ken Caminiti or Jose Canseco might have led us to expect. But, given that MLB conducted 1,438 tests, there were somewhere between 70 and 100 positive tests.

That's not good news. That's three to four teams worth of guys who are on the juice. And while I'm not sure how much good taking steroids does for a baseball player (unlike the clear benefits offered to a football player), it's still far, far too many player to be acceptable.

Beginning on March 2, 2004, players can be tested anytime. According to ESPN, a first positive test for steroid use would result in treatment, and a second in a 15-day suspension or fine of up to $10,000. The length of suspensions would increase to 25 days for a third positive test, 50 days for a fourth and one year for a fifth.

And, most importantly, they'll be naming names. It could be an interesting spring -- especially since anyone who comes to camp a little less pumped than before will face a lot of whispers.

Sharing through Windows iTunes

Apple has done a terrific job porting iTunes to the Windows world. I had no installation problems, and was up and running, and sharing across my home network, in a couple of minutes. But now it turns out that a college student has hacked iTunes for Windows to allow users to download tracks on other users shared playlists. It's reminiscent of a bug (or feature) in the first release of iTunes 4.0 on the Mac, which allowed the same sort of sharing over the internet, and not just on local networks.

Apple has done a hell of a lot of work to try and legitimatize the purchase of music online, but they're going to run out of good will from the record companies if they keep putting out software with loopholes like this. Look for a "bug fix" soon.

Baseball World Cup?

The AP is reporting that Major League Baseball and the player's union are in negociations about staging a World Cup of Baseball before the start of the 2005 regular season. This is welcome news, especially since MLB isn't willing to stop their season for two weeks to allow players to play in the Olympics. Baseball might be the second best sport in the world, behind soccer, for a World Cup-style competition, with eight or so national teams facing off. Imagine the interest in the game if you got to a final featuring a U.S. national team facing off against a Dominican team, for example. Pedro Martinez, Sammy Sosa, and Albert Pujols taking on Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds and Jim Thome.

MLB is, without a doubt, the most frustrating entity in all of sports. They do so many things wrong as they bumble from crisis to crisis without any hint of a plan to market the game and expand its audience. And repeatedly, the game itself saves them. Think of this year's postseason, where a month of phenomenal baseball lead to the best ratings in years. A World Cup could be a huge boon, not only here in the U.S., but around the world. Let's hope they can make it happen.

A Case for Sports

Somewhere on the edges of the human psyche lies a need for competition. Perhaps it's an Darwinian remnant buried in us, pushing us to try and foist our genetic superiority upon the world. Maybe it's a simple need to prove oneself against others, to take our own measure. Or maybe we're just drawn, in our craven way, to see who's fastest, biggest, best. Whatever its origin, sports is its highest expression. What those who hate sports, the people who complain about it showing up on the front of their newspaper or on their televisions, don't understand is that there's nothing dishonest about sports. Sure, there's plenty of dishonesty around sports -- just as there's dishonesty involved in anything that humans do. But the act of sports, the fundamental competition, is as honest, as real an activity as we engage in.

The athlete, no matter what level he competes at, is content to be judged on what he does. There's a purity to this -- a way in which the normal ways that we look at ourselves, the millions subjective cues and hints that we pick up on about other people -- all fade away. Instead, you have the objective. Who hit the ball farther? Who ran faster? Who won?

Why are sports important? There's ritual value there, of course. There's something magical about the way sports can unite people across social, racial and economic lines, forging their hopes into one. But there's also the more personal. Sports are important because they ask no more than simply being in the moment, completely.