Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Bruno‘ hits stores on Nov 17 and he’s released an unaired scene featuring Pete Rose to help promote the DVD. Bruno is set to interview Rose but there’s no furniture in the building. That’s where the day laborers and sushi served on a naked guy come in.

I can’t believe some people think Pete Rose is a bad person just because he bet on baseball and lied about betting on baseball. This video should put those thoughts to rest. Pete showed great compassion when he realized the man he was sitting on could no longer support him and called for another man on which to rest his ass. You think Cal Ripken Jr. would’ve done that? Hell naah. First off, Cal’s so selfish he would’ve sat in a chair instead of employing a day laborer, and if he did sit on the guy there’s no way the Iron Man’s letting his chair punk out.

Unaired ‘Bruno’ Clip: Pete Rose Interview [The Sporting Blog]

This interview from 1995 is cruising along until the reporter asks Johnny Bench about Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame. A simple question from the young journalist turned Bench into Bobby Knight. To tell the truth, you can’t blame Johnny Bench for being in a bad mood. The fact that he was willing to do an interview while being detained for attempting to cross the border lets us know he’s a class act.

Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Hall of Fame, video, youtube

Before the Mitchell Report was released there was news the Mitchell investigators had asked about Pete Rose. That was dumb because everybody knows the only juice the hit king deals with is of the bookmaker variety. During the taping of Wednesday night’s Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller, Pete got a chance to speak on the Mitchell Report.

“The Mitchell Report’s come out, and I never thought anybody would make me look like an altar boy.”

“I’ve been suspended 18 years for betting on my own team to win … I was wrong … but these guys today, if the allegations are true, they’re making a mockery of the game.”

It’s close, but I’m gonna side with Pete. Gambling is the number one crime in baseball, but Pete Rose committed his crime alone. The steroid era involves management, ownership, and hundreds of players. It’s a conspiracy, a scandal, and a bigger black eye than Pete Rose’s gambling. As you would expect, John Dowd, the author of the Dowd Report, disagrees..

“He committed the capital crime of baseball… He’s the king of capital crime.”

18 years later and still hatin.. Let it go John, let it go.

Dowd dismisses Pete Rose’s protests on ‘roids vs. betting. Courtesy of Newsday

Tags: Pete Rose, Steroids, Mitchell Report, Baseball, Dennis Miller

George Mitchell’s steroid investigation findings are the other shoe waiting to drop. Everybody knows it’s coming, but nobody knows when. Names are supposedly gonna be revealed, so MLB’s gonna have to figure out a way to sweep the report under a rug before next season. Hopefully Bud Selig has been taking notes from David Stern on how to handle a potentially league crippling scandal.

During the course of the investigation George Mitchell has tried to talk to anyone he felt could give some insight into performance enhancing drug usage in Major League Baseball. The only player he has spoken with is Jason Giambi, and that’ only because pressure was applied to Giambi. With the lack of available people to question, the Mitchell investigators turned to people formerly associated with the game.

Larry Starr was the head trainer for the Cincinnati Reds from 1972 to 1992 and for the Florida Marlins from 1993 to 2002. He has been interviewed by lawyers involved in the investigation 4 times over the past year and a half, but has stated numerous times that he will not reveal the names of any players he knows to have used PEDs. That hasn’t stopped the lawyers from asking.

He said throughout their conversations — which included a face-to-face meeting in the summer of 2006 in which Gordon and another lawyer traveled to Florida — Gordon would throw out the names of players and ask if they had used drugs.

Starr said Gordon asked about “the obvious ones,” including Barry Bonds, and about other players as well.

“I think Sheffield’s name probably came up, and to be honest, I said while he was with me there was nothing I saw,” said Starr in reference to Gary Sheffield, who played for the Marlins from 1993 to 1998.

I’m not surprised that they asked about Barry, he’s been the trophy the whole time, but this caught me off guard:

“They asked me if Rose used drugs,” Starr said. “His name did come up; I am not sure why, other than I had him as a player. Anyone that knows Pete knows he didn’t use steroids.”

The Mitchell investigation wants to know if Pete Rose used steroids? I guess Pete Rose, the all time hit king, being banned from the game isn’t enough. They need to let Charlie Hustle breathe. And how far back did the investigation go? I don’t need the Mitchell report to tell me Jackie Robinson and Stan Musial never used the cream and the clear.

Former Trainer Provides Insight Into the Mitchell Steroid Investigation. Courtesy of The New York Times

Tags: Steroids, Performance Enhancing Drugs, Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, New York Times

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z58d25so0LU[/youtube]

If O.J. is gonna get ten friends together, it would have to include a whacked out bunch like this video. The Juice, Pete Rose, Michael Vick, Tanya Harding, Bill Belichick, Mike Tyson, Jose Canseco, Ricky Williams, Tim Donaghy, Pacman Jones, and Rae Carruth make up “O.J.’s Eleven.. Gotta love Belichick with the camera… I have one question though.. Where the hell is Al Cowlings? Not just in the video, in real life. He shook O.J. like Barry Sanders did Rod Woodson.

Tags: OJ Simpson, You Tube, OJ’s Eleven, Sports, Comedy

Since bursting onto the NFL scene in 2001, Michael Vick has divided people with his talent and potential. There were folks that thought he would revolutionize the quarterback position as a strong armed, scrambling threat. There were others that thought he was nothing more than a running back lined up under center. Vick’s play didn’t help to settle the argument. He could stink it up for a few games and be amazing in others. He was never as good as the Vick lovers made him out to be, and never as bad as the haters claimed. Michael’s every move was seen as potential ammunition in the pro/anti Vick debate, and he was dealing arms to both sides. Unfortunately for MV, his enemies have the bomb, in the form of his plea agreement.

I’ve written about the Vick case from time to time, but I was trying to wait to see how things would truly develop. The plea deal means that the story is over for the time being, and that Michael Vick will be going to jail… Possibly for 3 years?!?! The things that he’s been accused of and will admit to are disgusting and ignorant. I’m not here to defend Michael Vick and his actions, but 3 years in jail or a lifetime ban from the NFL would be cruel and unusual. Six to twelve months in jail and a one year ban from the league seem fair to me when you keep things in perspective.

After reading the indictments and gathering all of the information I could over the past few months, here is what I have learned from Michael Vick’s predicament…

Hypocrisy Is Rampant: I don’t even know where to start. Some of the people that are advocating for animal rights want to kill Michael Vick. Johnathan Babineaux is still on the FALCONS roster and Qyntel Woods didn’t go to jail. The NFL might be more concerned with the gambling charges against Vick than the dogfighting charges. People hunt for sport and it goes on and on. The hypocrisy has been what’s bothered me the most. Especially in the case of Vick versus Babineaux. Killing dogs in the manner that the Bad Newz Kennel crew did is disgusting. What Johnathan Babineaux did is sinister… Using a hammer to kill a girlfriend’s dog because you’re mad at her might be a sign that you have problems. I could see that situation leading to domestic violence or worse… Which to me, would be a bigger crime than dogfighting, but a segment of our society believes…

Animals>People: If I’m ever in a LOST type of situation, I’m gonna pray that there’s no PETA members in the group. There’s no way I’m arguing about why we should eat fish instead of the pilot. Who isn’t wary of a person that would save an animal over a human in a life or death situation? And truthfully, most of this is about dogs rather than all animals. It’s easy to see why dogs want to be human’s bff. People got their dawgs’ back. Another form of animal pugilism, cockfighting, doesn’t get attention like this. Roy Jones Jr. only has to look out for Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson not the Feds.

Michael Vick Is A Terrible Businessman: John Elway got into the car dealing business, Mo Vaughn’s helping low income families with housing issues, and Michael Vick goes into dogfighting. He could have done a million things with his millions, but he’s investing in a cotdamn dogfighting ring. What’s the ROI on a dogfighting enterprise? He could have started a record label like Willie McGinnest or rapped like Troy Hudson… Sure nobody’s heard Hudson’s album but he ain’t going to jail… Unless selling under 100 copies in your first week goes on the books.

Davon Boddie, Quanis Phillips, Purnell Peace, And Tony Taylor Are Snitches: Let’s keep it real for a minute. If criminal activity is your chosen profession, you still have a code of ethics. Rule Numero Uno: Never Snitch. Never… And you don’t cook the golden goose. That’s a violation and bad business. Extensive evidence aside, if these snitches had shut up and done their time, Mike would have gone on with his football life… And when the Four Tops got home, he woulda looked out for them. Greg Anderson went to jail for Barry Bonds, Kato Kailin kept his mouth shut for the Juice, and Lil Kim perjured herself for the homies. I guess she’s a real bitch… Sorta like the Falseto Four.

Race Always Plays A Role: Minorities (Blacks) get accused of playing the race card, but a racist never admits to being racist. Ever. Just one time I would like to see somebody come out and say, “I don’t care either way. I just hate Blacks”. Race plays a factor in the Vick scandal, at the minimum because of some blacks feeling that Michael Vick was taking so much punishment in the media and the court of public opinion that they felt compelled to take Vick’s side… And I’m confident that some of the people protesting Michael Vick were more upset by his race than his actions. I heard one clown ass local sports radio host say that Michael Vick needs to get rid of his Black friends. And when he was called on it, he said that it wasn’t a racist statement. He’s full of shit just like my homeboy that’s a Falcon fan. The brotha told me he would be supporting Joey Harrington or Matt Schaub the same way. Yeah right.

Michael Vick Will Get A Book Deal: Pete Rose, Martha Stewart, and Heidi Fleiss all did books after being in jail. This is a market that Vick has to tap in to. Especially since he might be forced to quit his day job. He’s gonna have plenty of time on his hands so he should be able to crank out “The 48 Laws Of Dogfighting”, “The 7 Habits Of People That Blow 100 Million Dollar Contracts”, or “Federal Prison: How Herpes Saved My Ass”, in no time.

Put Vick, other sports ‘crimes’ in perspective. Courtesy of The Gainesville Times

Active Animal Cruelty Charge, Active On The Roster. Courtesy of Leave The Man Alone

NBAer Avoided Jail Time After Dogfighting Charges. Courtesy of Sports By Brooks

The Marlins are close to getting a new home. Thank you Sun-Sentinel

Racism involving a golf club. Thank you The Post-Standard

Bob Kraft inventing weed sensing wet wipe. Thank you Boston Herald

Pete Rose is in Reno meeting with the Italians. Thank you Reno Gazette Journal

No developments in the murder of Bryan Pata. Thank you The Miami Hurricane

The House is helping the players. Thank you The Lompoc Record

Rapper Cam’ron apologizes for making ass of himself on 60 minutes. Thank you All Hip Hop

The Fab Five of underrated sports blogs. Thank you Ball Hype

79 year old woman killed by golf cart in Oregon. Thank you The Seattle Times

Wagering on the NFL draft. Thank you Covers

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