Is it football season yet?

Well, the answer to the "first serious injury of training camp" goes to LeCharles Bentley of the Cleveland Browns. Bentley, acquired in the offseason to bolster the Browns' offensive line, injured his knee in an 11 on 11 drill last week and is likely out for the year. Sorry to see that, since I think the Browns are heading in a positive direction under Romeo Crennel. I'm not sure how far this sets them back, but it's not a good thing.

Time for a rant...and it has to do with doping in professional sports.

I'm sure everyone has read (ad nauseum) the stories about Barry Bonds, Floyd Landis, Jason Giambi, and others. This little rant is not to opine about the guilt or innocence of any of these guys, but to address what I believe to be the deeper issue: a disturbing lack of personal accountability.

A guy I work with brought up an interesting argument. He noted that Tiger Woods had corrective eye surgery (his eyes were already 20-20), and that some golfers wear colored contact lenses to allow them to read the greens better. Is this not "performance enhancing," and, ergo, akin to taking substances to make you stronger, faster, bigger?

Is it the same? I don't necessarily think so, but I think there are some philosophical similarities. Both practices are altering the physical characteristics of the human body to perform better. But so is a guy with 20-200 vision wearing glasses when he plays. Both practices give the individual an advantage over a competitor that hasn't gone that route. I think the big difference lies in the fact that one is a legal practice, while the other isn't. In my opinion, sports has always been about honest competition, hard work, dedication and talent. I don't believe that the purity of sports includes (or has ever included) the artificial adaptation or improvement of the human body by chemical means.

This is a difficult argument to present clearly, because there are a lot of "yeah, but what about...?" questions out there. I'd like to think that the professional athletes today are capable of putting the ideals of the sport they play ahead of their desire to push the performance envelope through the use of banned substances. Evidently, there are some that have found it difficult to do so. For whatever reason, they decided that it was morally acceptable to do something that is not in keeping with fair play. Those that have violated that fundamental principle have no business in competition, and should be kicked out immediately (and, for the record, I do NOT buy the 'unknowingly ingested' argument), fined any performance bonuses, and have their statistics expunged from historical records.

I'm against baseball's current discipline policy (one and done is the way I think it should be), mortified that there is no accepted HGH test for all sports yet, and sickened by the rampant cheating in certain arenas (cycling, track and field).

There has got to be a standard of honest competition in sports, or there really is no reason to hold these guys/gals in the regard that we do now.

Rambling? Probably. Coherent? Probably not. But, it felt good to get it off my chest.

Where has the time gone??

Like a bear awakening from a satisfying hibernation, I am finally returning to this blog. When last I left you, Penn State had capped a tremendous 11-1 season with an epic 3 OT thriller vs Florida State.

Since then, a couple things have happened in the world of sports. I think a quick run down is in order:

--The Steelers and Seahawks meet in one of the least anticipated Super Bowls in history. Bad calls aside, this game was not worth watching.

--The Carolina Hurricanes beat an over-achieving Edmonton Oilers team in seven to win Lord Stanley's cup. All 17 people that knew hockey was playing again were thrilled.

--The Miami Heat defeated the Dallas Mavericks to capture the NBA title. Congrats to D-Wade, boo to Pat Riley...still not sure how he sleeps after he pushed Van Gundy out.

--Barry Bonds passed Babe Ruth for 2nd all time in home runs. Since this story has been beaten to death, I will just say that I hope (for the sake of all that is holy) that Bonds does NOT come close to Mr Aaron's record.

Now on to some more current events...

NFL training camps open this week. Anyone got a guess as to who will suffer the first notable pre-season serious injury? The NFL has to wise up and shorten the pre-season to less than 12 games (or something like that). Some story lines from around the league...

• Drew Brees takes the reigns in New Orleans. Will he come back from the torn labrum? Even if he does, does he have the system in place around him to make him successful? He doesn't have LT or Antonio Gates, but he does have Deuce (or Reggie) and Joe Horn. My guess is that NO still has trouble making the playoffs.
• Brett Favre decides to return for another season. If the running game is left to Samkon Gado, look for another sub .500 season, as Favre will throw 67 interception.
• Jake Plummer's days in Denver are numbered. First round pick, Jay Cutler, will push Plummer in the pre-season, and the Broncos fans (still waiting for John Elway to come out of retirement) will be calling for the Rookie to play early.
• Larry Johnson (PSU 2002) gets the chance to start at KC due to Priest Holmes' injury. Will he be able to keep up the pace he set last year (9 straight 100 yard games)? Lots of folks see a 2K yard season for him.

Went up to State College last week for short visit. Always nice to see what's happening in Happy Valley. Got to see Medlar Field at Lubrano Park...the new baseball facility that is home to the Single-A affiliate of the St Louis Cardinals during the summer/fall, and the PSU baseball team in the spring. World class facility that can only help recruiting for Robbie Wine's program.

Heard that Ed DeChellis was on the verge of getting a big time recruit for the men's basketball team. I really think this program is close to being a perrenial Big Ten challenger. Eddie D is definitely steering this program in the right direction.

Looking forward to the 2 Sep opener vs Akron. Season tickets sales are unreal this year...lots of excitement around JoePa, Morelli, Poz and the group. I will have a season preview once the summer practices start next week.

Some non-sports stuff...

I was listening to an 80s radio station the other day, and realized that it has taken 20+ years for me to get some of the words right. So, in another 20 years, I will know all the words to every El DeBarge song. Sweet.

Did you know that a 2001 Kia Spectra has an interference engine? And that if your timing belt breaks on I-270, then it will cost about $3K to fix? I didn't either. So, it looks like we're going to be in the market for a new car. As an aside to this...we're donating the car to Volunteers of America. Someone can get some use out of the thing. Also, if you're in the Rockville Md area and need a trustworthy place to get some auto work done, I recommend Gili's.

On a personal note, my beautiful wife and I are amonth away from welcoming a new addition to the family...keep your fingers crossed for us.

Will talk more soon...For the Glory,