Asterisk

Question of the day: Should every record, award, or other accomplishment of those players named in the Mitchell report on steriod use in baseball be asterisked in the books?

Steroid use is cheating, plain and simple. It's no different than writers who plagiarize and blame deadline pressure. Or students who steal a test and argue that they didn't need to cheat, they simply didn't have enough time to study with extracurriculars, etc., so what's the big deal? (Hearing this from friends always pissed me off when I was in high school. And don't get me started on writers who plagiarize. My word choices would garner me an R rating.)

As with all cases of cheating, steroid use is unfair to the players who don't cheat. (Rely on talent and hard work alone to make the cut? Whatta concept!!) Many players named in the report say there's no tangible evidence of steroid use, and that the report is pure conjecture. Maybe their claims would convince a judge and/or jury, and maybe not, but Mitchell's report is full of cashed checks and notes from the players he names. It's enough to hold up in the principal's office.

No matter what happens to the players named in the report--or to the home run records and Cy Young awards they've picked along the way--huge props are due to George Mitchell and those who worked with him on the report for their focus on the future. I hope MLB adopts Mitchell's recommendations for testing, education, and prevention. The game will be far, far better in ten years if it's cleaned up today. And any accomplishments won't need an asterisk.

Two Interviews, A Website, and Those Yankees

I'll attack the last part first. I saw a news poll on one of Boston's television stations yesterday afternoon that said 71% of Red Sox fans wanted to have the Sox face the Cleveland Indians in the American League Championship Series, rather than face the New York Yankees. After last night's game, they're getting their wish. But I have to wonder why they felt this way. IMO, either team would be tough. I was just hoping the series between the Yankees and the Indians would go the full five games so the advancing team would be tired before arriving in Boston.

Last StubHub check: cheapest tix to the Boston/Cleveland game are running $293 for the nosebleed section of the bleachers. A good seat near the action is running $2718.

On the other hand, the cheapest tix to the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks first playoff game start at $40. Not great seats, but still. What a price differential. I think I could almost get the airfare out west and a game ticket for what it'd cost me to get one ticket to see the Sox. Insane.

However, I have tres coolio news! First, I e-mailed the revisions on my upcoming novella, Last Stand, to my editor this morning. (Did ya hear the woot-woot sounds?! LOVE when I have a project wrapped!)

Second, Joy Siegel of Working Palms Radio Magazine in South Florida has asked to do an interview with me. It will air down there on the following stations:

WLVJ - 1040AM
WFTL - 850AM
WMEN - 640AM
WFLL - 1400AM

As soon as I know the exact dates and times, I'll post 'em here. I'm also doing an interview with the fantastic Cynthia Leitich Smith for her popular Cynsations blog. Again, as soon as I know the exact date the interview goes live, I'll post it here.

Speaking of live, you've gotta check out Lynda Sandoval's new website, which re-launched today. I think it's one of the best I've ever seen. (And if you haven't read Lynda's books yet--either for teens or for adults--you're missing out.)



And a P.S.: Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me to tell me that Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper IS a seasonal release (I'll stock up next year!) and that Diet Cherry Coke is not. I'll go hunting for that Diet Cherry Coke now and hope they don't replace it with Cherry Coke Zero, which is way too sweet for me.