Life In The DPC!

“Player acknowledges and agrees that an indictment for any criminal act under [that section] … is proper grounds for termination of this contract…Player also acknowledges and agrees that he will not grieve, appeal or otherwise challenge any club action to terminate this contract as a result of player’s indictment for any criminal acts [specified] … nor will he cause or authorize any third party, such as the Major League Baseball Players Association, to grieve, appeal or otherwise challenge any club action to terminate this contract as a result of player’s indictment for any [specified] criminal acts.”  - A provision of Barry Bonds proposed contract with the San Francisco Giants

 Public enemy number one at DavidPatrickCastro.com, Barry Bonds, has am ambigously written clause in his latest contract proposal that could void the deal if he is indicted on criminal charges related to the BALCO steroid fiasco. Bonds could be facing perjury charges if it is found that he knowingly injested performance enhancing drugs and then subsequently maintained that he was a stooge during the Balco proceedings.

At this point the clause in his latest contract may be moot because the collective bargaining agreement and/or the player’s union would bar the Giants from dumping Bonds and his ample salary. In a strange way the San Francisco Giants have brought in a bit of the existentialist’s plight and ideology to the bargaining table.

In its simplest terms Bonds is, if the aforementioned contract stipulation was validated and binding, responsible for the life and legacy he chooses and will never be a victim of tainted flaxseed oil again.  Bonds finds himself as DPC.com greatest villian for two reasons: 1. He is a bit of an asshole. 2. He never owned up to his cheating ways despite the fact that it was plain as day. Only Mussolini got lynched for his crimes and I assume Bonds would be granted some level of exoneration if he had said what had gone down with the juice.

He was free, free in every way, free to behave like a fool or a machine, free to accept, free to refuse, free to equivocate; to marry, to give up the game, to drag this death weight about with him for years to come. He could do what he liked, no one had the right to advise him, there would be for him no Good or Evil unless he thought them into being. - Sartre

Ultimately Bonds is a victim of his own choices and personal misgivings. Though he may have always been a bit of a prick there was never any denying his supreme talent but at a certain point he went over the edge in search to satisfy his vanity. By virtue of his actions, ingesting illegal and immoral enhancements and then trying to maintain that he was a victim of another man’s lies, Bonds show that he made his own plight in the eyes of Sartre. Even if he was a victim of other people’s illicit desires he was ultimately responsible.

Bonds dug his own hole in one way or another and the Giants are trying to make him responsible for the last chapter of this twisted saga. But we have recently seen Bonds defy existential value and blame a teammate when he tested positive for amphetamines and I can’t fathom whom he would pass the buck off to if he was convicted of perjury.

If man, as the existentialist conceives him, is indefinable, it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he himself will have made what he will be. Thus there is no human nature, since there is no God to conceive it. Not only is man what he conceives himself to be, but he is also only what he wills himself to be after this thrust toward existence. - Sartre

After the divisional round of the playoffs last week I made preliminary picks on the conference games. My initial choices were the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots and I stand by them. These picks were made shortly after everything was said and done after the Patriots game and I will follow the ethos of Kerouac, Your first thought is your best thought. 

New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears: I’ve been trying to put my loyalty to the Bears aside in their playoff run when making gambling choices. I try to view them in an impartial light and not fall to the nasty comments made by the meda. It worked in their win over the Seahawks but in reality that wasn’t a hard game to pick. Going into the conference championship game the often maligned Rex Grossman has been cast as the Bears weak link and to a certain degree this is true. If he falters and turns over the ball more than three times I don’t see the Bears winning. But if any of these QB’s give up the ball a lot their respective squads aren’t going to win either.  Grossman played well against Seattle and they won but he is still viewed as a liability and he shouldn’t be. The Bears’ achilles is their defense. If the Bears are going to win they need to shore up the middle in the abscence of Tommie Harris and their offense needs to control the ball with their two headed monster: Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson.

I am taking Chicago for a few reasons. It is a home game and the Saints’ offense is predicated on speed and Soldier Fields’ turf is not built for the slashing and cutting style of the Saints burners.

“Coming from turf to Soldier Field is very big difference.” Bernard Berrian said recently. ”Out here I’m still slipping around and I’m use to it all season so it’s a big advantage for us. We know that we’ve got to keep our feet underneath us and some of the cuts they’re used to making, they’re going to have to slow down and their cuts aren’t going to be as fast or as sharp.”

The Saints’ DB’s aren’t the best and Bears’ receivers should be able to make just enough plays down field to open up the running lanes. And most importantly for playoff football in harsh elements: the Bears are built for this. Their style is predicated on defense and running the ball. Grossman has opened up the air attack but this squad will never be confused with Daryle Lamonica and the Vertical Stretch. The game will be close but the Bears will prevail.

My Pick: Chicago Bears
Reality: The Bears

New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts:

Well it comes back to my gambling ethos again and I will stick by it even though many flaws have come to the surface the last few weeks (Thank you, LaDanian Tomlinson and Ray Lewis). For reasons that are beyond me Peyton Manning can’t beat Tom Brady. Pure and simple. Some dudes have your number in life and this is no exception.

The game will be close because they usually are. It is in Indianapolis but a part of me thinks the Colts will be over confident after two straight wins over their nemesis.  Hopefully I will get my predicted rematch of Super Bowl XX.

My Pick: New England Patriots
Reality: The Colts

Finals Thoughts On The Conference Championship Games: The strategy of the Saints kind of threw me for a loop. They needed to adjust their game to the elements. Use heavy dosages of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush and try to hammer a succeptible Bears defensive in unforgiving elements and yet they relied on Drew Brees and an air attack. Strange strategy and it likely cost them a trip to the Super Bowl.

Peyton Manning beat Tom Brady, plain and simple. It hurts me to type this but the Bears matchup better against the Colts than the Patriots. That aside, I just don’t think I can handle two weeks of Manning’s redemption angle from all forms of media.

Early Prediction that could likely change between today and Super Bowl Sunday: The Bears

Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens: I didn’t watch this game. I had the Yahoo! game cast on because I was at work. It is rarely noted that a claims adjuster’s work is never done. Truthfully I’m kinda glad I was chained to my cubicle because the game seemed boring. This is the norm with the Ravens. They grind you to death and I assumed they would use this MO and force Peyton Manning into mistakes and alow scoring victory. The game was a grinder but Steve McNair turned it over and Adam Vinateri showed why he is going to Canton when everything is said and done.

My pick: Baltimore Ravens
Reality: Indianapolis Colts

Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints: I got home from work in plenty of time to catch this one. Truthfully this was the Saturday match up I wanted to see and it was fairly entertaining. Jeff Garcia’s Cinderella run ended to a Saints squad that are rightfully America’s team in this playoff run. Deuce McAllister was the MVP and overshadowed Reggie Bush and proved that the Saints can play ground control football, which is neccesary for a championship. Of course they have a tendency to give up big plays and this might be the Achilles of this talented squad. (Note: The Saints turn around from last year’s 3-13 season has been attributed to  the additions of head coach Sean Payton, Dree Brees, Reggie Bush and Marcus Colston but I give all the credit to Aaron Brooks. He was dumped and ended up in Oakland  with a 2-14 record. If the Raiders go with Andrew Walter or grab Brady Quinn or JaMarcus Russell I predict an Oakland renaissance.)

My pick: New Orleans Saints
Reality: Ditto

Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears: I’m not going to lie this was a hard game to pick due to my allegiance to the Bears but I’m trying to be more logical as opposed to emotional. I now realize that putting money on Nevada, with no spread, on the road against Arizona State is dumb. With that said, I took the Bears in this one but a part of me has no faith in Rex Grossman and never will. In my lifetime the Bears have had one good QB but Jim McMahon was never healthy so I guess they never had one over a long stretch. The Bears had the chance to take Byron Leftwich but dumped the pick and took Michael Haynes and Rex Grossman. Leftwich isn’t the gretatest QB in the league but he is more consistent than Grossman and he is also my prototype QB in Madden so I might be a bit biased. Anyway Grossman played well and made no mistakes and the Bears won but their defense looked very vulnerable.

My Pick: Chicago Bears
Reality: Ditto

New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers: One of my gambling tenets is to never bet against Tom Brady and today was no exception. Despite the fact that the Chargers are a tip top squad and the game was in The Murph they had two things going against them that no squad could overcome. One is the fact that Marty Schottenheimer is at the helm and two is Tom Bady’s mere presence. The Chargers are loaded with LT, Merriman and Philip Rivers but they were in over their heads and even though the Pats were behind most of the game I was sure that the Bolts would blow it and they did. I feel bad for Tomlinson because he will never win a big game because of Martyball. He could be this generations Gale Sayers in both performance and championships.

My PicK New England Pattriots
Reality: Ditto

Super Bowl Pick (An early one that will likely change before the conference championships are played): Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots in a rematch of Super XX and Brady becomes the new milleniums Joe Montana after garnering his fourth Super Bowl ring.

In my 2006 NBA Draft analysis I made a few assertions and unlike most journalists I will admit when I am wrong but I also like to keep tabs on some of my predictions.

I said it before (http://davidpatrickcastro.com/nba.html), and I will reiterate Adam Morrison is the future of the Association. He will likely have the best career of anyone involved in this recent draft.  -July 1st, 2006 Life In The DPC

Adam Morrison is second amongst rookies in scoring , 13.7 ppg, and based upon NBA.com Rookie Rankings he is second behind Jorge Garbajosa of the Toronto Raptors. My statement was quote bold but I stand by it because there is a derth of pure shooters in the league and the 6′8″ variety are rarer. Also keep in mind that the core of the Bobcats is young with lots of NCAA Tournament experience and that they are substantially under the salary cap after this season. As goes the Bobcats so will Morrison.

Paul Millsap was a steal…The guy has a nose for the ball and seems to be driven in the same vein as Ben Wallace or Dennis Rodman. The Utah Jazz lucked out. - July 1st, 2006 Life In The DPC

Paul Millsap is averaging 6.4 ppg and 4.2 rpg in only 15 minutes a night. The 47th pick in the draft has been a consistent rebounder in limited minutes. Millsap was the only player in the WAC that could shut down Nick Fazekas and keep in mind he is the only player in NCAA history to lead the nation in rebounding three straight years.

Hopefully as the years go by I will be vindicated by these predications. Or as Fidel Castro would be apt to say;”History will absolve me.”

The University of Nevada is one of the west coast’s oldest institutions, founded in 1874, but despite there vast alumni in a myriad of professions the school is over looked as a hot bed of athletic and cultural development. Charles Wright, aka Papa Shango and the Godfather, is another chapter in Nevada’s proud legacy of producing not only men but athletic perfection for the world to envy.

Tim Richmond was a dominant NASCAR driver whose career was tragically cut short by AIDS in 1989 and his death remains a black mark in the history of stock car racing.Richmond’s meteroic rise to fame, and all of the luxuries that are afforded to a champion, came together and ruined a promising racing career and showed that NASCAR is truley an Old Boys Network.

“When you watched Tim Richmond drive a race car, you could understand how Hank Aaron hit all those home runs,” said former teammate Benny Parsons, now a TV commentator. “Certain people have a certain knack for things. He had a knack for getting the race car around the track.”

Richmond came to racing prominence in an unconventional manner for American stock car racing. Raised in the oppulence of a wealthy family in Ohio Richmond was a late starter in the world of racing and came into the game at the age of 21. Starting off in open wheel racing he showed promise and garnered a ninth place run at the Indianapolic 500 in 1980. He switched to NASCAR and by 1982 he charged into victory lane twice in twenty six races.

 With each subsequent season Richmond charged up the Winston Cup standing and culminated with a third place finish in the 1986 season. Unfortunately the pratfalls of fame that had destroyed many others that are thrust in the spotlight began to catch up with Richmond. Rumors of drug abuse and excessive late nights dogged the promising new star on the circuit.

“How much of it was him and how much was a supplement?” seven-time Winston Cup champion Richard Petty said. “I’ll always have that question in my mind.”

By virtue of being brought up in a separate culture than his NASCAR brethren Richmond brought in a rock star image. He was the handsome, well educated playboy driver on the circuit. In many aspect Dale Earnhardt Jr. has fulfilled the same void but by virtue of his name he has been accepted by the masses. While Richmond’s rise to glory was always viewed as an outsider intruding on a gruff Southern collective that doesn’t like those that haven’t paid their dues or were part of the monarchy.

“That was the biggest question mark about Tim Richmond,” Parsons said. “How in the world could he be so good? He was no normal, typical stock-car driver. He was a playboy. He belonged in Hollywood, in the movies.”

One could assume that 1986 was the start of Richmond’s rise to fame and NASCAR success and that the subsequent season would be even better. Unfortunately 1987 was the beginning of the end for Richmond and his time in racing. Towards the end of the 1986 season he had become quite ill and checked himself into the Cleveland Clinic. After a series of tests it was discovered that NASCAR’s newest star was infected with AIDS.

One must bare in mind that in the mid 1980’s AIDS was fairly unknown. It was generally maintained that this plague was limited to homosexuals and heavy drug user. At this point there is very little known about the disease and the social stigma transcends any scarlett letter that the media can spawn. During the 1986 off season did his best to regain strength for the 1987 campaign and to also hide his illness from the world.

Claiming that he was infected with a severe case of pneumonia Richmond raced only eight times in 1987 but won consecutive races. By the end of the season, with his health fading, he was sent to the garage by NASCAR.

In 1988 he tried one more come back but NASCAR intervened and laid down the law. At this point the general population was still unaware of Richmond’s illness. They bought in to his excuses but NASCAR knew the reality of the matter and refused to let Richmond rejoin the circuit. They subjected Richmond to a drug test, he was the only driver chosen, and maintained that he tested positive for banned substances. Richmond was banned indefinitely. Enraged, Richmond demanded another test and passed and ultimately NASCAR maintained that the only substances in his system were Sudafed and Advil. His ban was rescinded but they demanded full disclosure of his medical records if he wanted to race again. Rumors spread and many of his peers were now aware of his illness. Ruined and desperate to regain his credibility Richmond sued for defamation of character and NASCAR countered by requesting all of his tax records, medical records and drug screening results. Dejected and finally beaten Richmond dropped his case, fearful that any disclosures would become public record.

Richmond ultimately retired to seclusion with his mother in West Palm Beach, Florida and succumbed to AIDS on August 13, 1989.

Ultimately Richmond’s story became public and NASCAR fans were dismayed by the treatment of one their favorites. His career, though short, touched a lot of fans. He was the hard living, rock star of the circuit for a brief period and sixteen years later the sport  sanctioning bodybarely recognizes of one their own. Despite his short career he was voted one of the fifty greatest drivers of all time but his biography on NASCAR.com that shares this proclamation is quite short (http://www.nascar.com/2002/kyn/history/drivers/02/02/trichmond/).

The manner that they treated one of their stars NASCAR has shown that many of the stereotypes (conservative, back water and intollerant)are true. Richmond died of AIDS when the country was just starting to understand this horrible plague. They handled the manner in the cruelest way possible. If they had embraced their own, as the NBA did with Magic Johnson, maybe America’s fastest growing sport could alleviate many of the perceptions that outsiders to the sport maintain but even seveteen years since his demise Richmond is viewed by the old boys network as the vermin that didn’t die fast enough.

“It was a bad time,” Petty said. “Let’s just forget the whole thing, no matter how good he was.”