Mickey Mantle's Liver

When will ESPN quit making excuses for Steve Phillips?

So I am driving to Dairy Queen tonight to get a chocolate malt for myself and a Blizzard for my wife listening to ESPN Radio on my satellite radio.  Of course, the topic that Ryen Russillo was talking about was the upcoming congressional hearings in which Brian Macnamee and Roger Clemens are both supposed to testify.

Russillo's guest was former Major League General Manager Steve Phillips, who now works as  an analyst for ESPN.  The problem with having Phillips speak in any manner on the issue of steroids in baseball is that he was part of the problem.  Every time I hear Phillips talk about steroids and baseball I want to ask a simple question: Why the hell didn't you clean up your own clubhouse?

Remember, the person identified by the Mitchell Report as the source of all the steroids was Kirk Radomski, who worked for the New York Mets from 1985 through 1995.  According to the Mitchell Report, Radomski began distributing steroids and HGH in 1993 and continued through 2005.

Phillips worked in the Mets' front office beginning in 1990.  Even though Phillips wasn't the GM of the Mets until 1997, the fact is that Phillips was around when Radomski started the use of steroids in Major League Baseball.  That is not to say that Radomski was the only person who was involved in the distribution of steroids in MLB, but the genesis the steroids at issue in the Mitchell Report can be traced back to Radomski, when he began distributing steroids as an employee of the Mets.

Again, every time I hear Phillips on the radio talking about steroids I yell out the same question: why didn't you (Phillips) clean up your own clubhouse?

Well, tonight Ryen Russillo attempted to answer the question by making feeble minded excuses for Phillips.  Russillo began by saying some thing to the effect of "Look, Phillips was the GM of a major league team.  What was he going to do, approach a player he thinks is juicing and tell him to get off the 'roids or he is off the team?"  Russillo continues to make excuses for Phillips by telling the audience that Phillips was under pressure to win in New York, that at the time of the 'roid usage it wasn't against MLB rules (more on that in a moment), and that Phillips was doing what everyone else in MLB was doing.

EXACTLY!!!!!

Phillips should have stood up and done the right thing.  If that means confronting a player and telling him to get off the 'roids or else, then yes, that is what Phillips should have done.  This isn't about hindsight being 20/20, this is about doing the right thing.  Imagine if Phillips had grown a pair and actually stood up to one of his players that was juicing.  Imagine the furor that would have arisen.  Imagine the attention he would have gotten (and the Mets) for actually standing up against these spoiled athletes, and standing up for doing the right thing.  You mean to tell me that would have been a bad thing?

According to ESPN and Russillo, doing the right thing was apparently the wrong thing.

By the way, 'roid usage at the time (and now) was not only illegal but also in violation of the collective bargaining agreement.  The MLB CBA allows a team to cut a player without repercussions if the player is convicted of (or presumably admits to) a crime.  Using steroids (without a doctor's prescription) was and is a crime.  There was something Phillips could have done to at least make a dent in the use of steroids in baseball.  But like everyone else during that era, Phillips chose to look the other way.

ESPN spends a lot of time criticizing Selig, the owners and the players for turning a blind eye to the use of 'roids and other performance enhancing drugs during baseball's Steroid Era.  Of course, when it comes to one of their own - Steve Phillips - who is equally culpable, ESPN cannot make excuses quick enough.

ESPN must put an end to this double standard in order to regain credibility on the issue of steroids in baseball by being as tough on Phillips as ESPN is on the rest of MLB.

Michael Vick stepped in a bunch of Dog Pooh

By now, unless you were on the International Space Station, you probably know that Michael Vick has been indicted by the federal government on charges that he essentially was the ringleader of a dog fighting operation in Surry County, Virginia and operated across state lines.  The fact that Vick is alleged to have run this operation across state lines is what places the case under the jurisdiction of the federal government.

If you want to read the indictment, click here:

Download vickindictment.jpg (123.3K)

Pretty damning stuff, but you have to remember that these are allegations only, and by no means is the case closed.  I agree that if these allegations are true, Vick's career in the NFL should be over.  The NFL has worked hard over the last couple of years to clean up its image in the eyes of the general public.  The general public isn't going to want to purchase a product from a company that employs a Dog Fighter.  The moral objections society has to such a practice is enough to permanently damage the NFL.

The consequences of a conviction have been well documented and well discussed.  Vick, if convicted, could spend as much as six years in the federal pen.

Ahhh.....but there is even more at stake for Vick.

The allegations, if proven, will have an even greater consequence for Vick.  You see, if you read the indictment, the feds allege that Vick won thousands and thousands of dollars in these dog fighting events.

I am going to bet that Vick never declared any of that money as income.  Which leads to a new charge Vick will have to defend against: Income Tax Evasion.

Remember, Al Capone was never convicted of any murder, assault, or conspiracy.  He was  sent to jail because he was convicted of INCOME TAX EVASION.

So by now you are thinking to yourself "If Vick may have committed the crime of evading income taxes, why didn't the feds include that charge in the indictment?"  That is a good question that warrants a good lawyer answer.

The answer relates back to the indictment itself.  You see, in order for the feds to obtain a conviction on the dog fighting charges, the feds are going to have to prove not only that Vick participated in the dog fighting enterprise, but also that Vick won money as a result of his participation in the dog fighting enterprise.

If the feds cannot prove, in this case, that Vick made money as a result of his participation in the dog fighting enterprise, there is no way the feds could prove that Vick earned "income" for purposes of obtaining a conviction on an income tax evasion charge.

It is basically a pseudo "first things first" principle.  In the practice of law, it is called res judicata.  Res Judicata prevents situations where one jury makes a finding of fact (i.e. Vick made money fighting dogs) and another jury makes an opposite finding of fact (i.e. Vick did not make money fighting dogs).  The principle of Res Judicata basically says that a factual finding in the first federal case will apply to a second case involving the same facts.

In other words, first prove that he made money in the dog fighting case, which means that all the feds would have to prove in a subsequent case that he didn't pay income taxes on the money he won.  First things first.

The point is that Vick has much more than 6 years in the federal pen on the line.  Just ask Pete Rose how much the federal government likes to prosecute income tax evaders.

Ted Nugent for President.....

Why can't everyone talk like Ted Nugent?  He is the anti-Rosie:

I don't know about you, but I am going to buy his album, which is slated to come out in August.

Go Ted Go!