Now that the Mitchell Report is out I’m seeing several postings on different forums about Pete Rose.  Basically people are saying that Pete Rose should be reinstated because of all the cheaters we have now in baseball.  I think what people are missing here is that the Mitchell report is in most cases built on hearsay.  There’s not a ton of overwhelming evidence here about anyone.  Sure there’s check’s and mailing slips and the like and even a trainer saying he injected players but the media seems to be underwhelmed when it comes to report and I have to say I agree. 

But what Rose did is to me a different version of cheating.  In his position as a manager he had the opportunity to affect the outcome of his teams games, games he later admitted to betting on.  Rose not only cheated but the he lied even in the face of overwhelming physical evidence.  That to me is a much worse sin than using a PED.

This Week

The New England Patriots host their AFC East rival New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m.  This is the second game of a three game homestand for New England.

The Patriots beat the Jets in Week 1 in the Meadowlands, 38-14 in a game that has become well known because the Jets accused the Patriots of videotaping their coaching signals.  The NFL confiscated the camera and the tape and days later ruled in favor of the Jets allegations.  The Patriots were fined $250,000 and had their 2008 first round draft pick stripped from them.  Head coach Bill Belichick was also fined $500,000 for his part in the camera incident.

The Patriots are 6-0 at the Razor this season, 4-0 against the AFC East and 10-0 in the AFC. The Jets are 1-5 on the road, 2-3 against the AFC East and 3-6 in the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Jets and Patriots.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -23.  The over/under is 46.

They’re saying we may have some bad weather come Sunday but either way I see this as a blow out. 

My prediction is Patriots 38, Jets, 3 . Give the points and take the under. I am 9-4 against the spread and have called the over/under ten out of thirteen times in 2007.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out.

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here. Many times tickets are released in the last 48 hours prior to the game.

Getting To The Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel.

Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages.  With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks.  You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme. 

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time.  Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver.  Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS is televising the game and the play-by-play duties will be handled by Jim Nantz with Phil Simms doing game analysis. You can check here to see if you are getting the game from CBS and look for your local CBS Station.

Radio

The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.

It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak, Pete Brock and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network.

The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots radio call is available on Channel 114, the Jets radio call is available on Channel 126.

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Apparently the New York Yankees are bringing their over the air (OTA) games to WTIC-TV FOX 61 in Hartford for the 2008 season. WWOR My9 is the Yankees OTA flagship station and other stations in different markets pick up the OTA games. In years past WCTX TV My9 and WTXX TV CW20 broadcast the Yankee OTA games to the Hartford market. Now according to a teaser I saw on FOX 61 they will be the Yankees OTA affiliate in Hartford.

The Yankees very own regional cable sports network YES carries a majority of the Yankees games with select games being broadcast on the OTA channels. At this time I don’t have a breakdown on the amount of games between cable and the OTA stations but this is a big deal for Yankee fans in Northern Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. Most cable systems in these area’s do not carry YES even though there are adequate numbers of Yankee fans in those area’s to justify it.

On the day the Mitchell Report became public the New York Yankees decided that it’d be a good idea to announce that the Alex Rodriguez contract was finalized for 10 years $275 million dollars plus additional incentives for him breaking certain major league records.  In America’s largest media mecca, the player that ESPN dedicated a whole hour to when he became the AL MVP, the same guy that opted out of his last contract during Game Four of the World Series and garnered a whole bunch of publicity for the timing basically got no pub yesterday for a record contract.

I just became convinced that there is a God.

Written by Steve Hofstetter, Keith Alberstadt, Adam Hofstetter, Cody Marley, Ryan Murphy, Elliot Steingart, and Chris Strait 

Job finding site Monster.com just bought a Super Bowl ad. Hopefully, Eric Mangini will be watching the game. Well, we know he won’t be coaching in it.

Injured Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett is now walking on his own. Everett already has more mobility than half of his teammates. Everett first stood up during a Bills game – to change the channel.

David Beckham was given the job of the official backstage photographer for the Spice Girls, only to miss the concert with an injury.

Forbes named the New York Knicks the NBA’s most valuable franchise. This thrilled the team’s majority stock holder, Anucha Browne Sanders.

Goodletsville, Tennessee’s Brandon Coppinger is officially the best NASCAR video game player, winning the EA Sports Craftsman Challenge. He is truly the best at simulating left turns. Maybe next year he can simulate kissing a girl.

Scott Niedermayer will rejoin the Anaheim Ducks after missing the team’s first 28 games. Niedermayer wasn’t retiring, he just hadn’t realized that the NHL season had started.

And USA Today’s staff has compiled a list of the top 25 college football games from the last 25 years and none of them involve the SEC. Even sadder? In the last 25 years, not one journalism department in the SEC has produced a student capable of working at USA Today.

For more of the Sports Minute (Or So), visit minuteorso.com

As baseball fans we have been consumed with the players involved in the release of the Mitchell Report today. We do have to remember one thing, most of the players named in this report allegedly used or bought performance-enhancing drugs.

The other thing we have to look at is what exactly Mitchell recommended to Bud Selig, MLB commissioner, as to what do about the problem of steroids and HGH in baseball.

Mitchell’s Statement:

“All of these recommendations are prospective. The onset of mandatory random drug testing, the single most important step taken so far to combat the problem, was delayed for years by the opposition of the Players Association.

“To prolong this debate will not resolve it; each side will dig in its heels even further. But it could seriously and perhaps fatally detract from what I believe to be a critical necessity: the need for everyone in baseball to work together to devise and implement the strongest possible strategy to combat the illegal use of performance-enhancing substances, including the recommendations set forth in this report.

“I urge the commissioner to forgo imposing discipline on players for past violations of baseball’s rules on performance-enhancing substances, including the players named in this report, except in those cases where he determines that the conduct is so serious that discipline is necessary to maintain the integrity of the game. I make this recommendation fully aware that there are valid arguments both for and against it; but I believe that those in favor are compelling.”

Mitchell’s recommendations plus Bud Selig’s reaction as well as that of the MLBPA after the jump.

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Here is a press release from the Boston Red Sox concerning their involvement in the Mitchell Report and investigation:

The Boston Red Sox have supported and fully cooperated with this investigation initiated by Commissioner Selig and conducted by Senator Mitchell. The Senator and his staff should be thanked and commended for their dedicated and independent efforts in producing this important report.

It is imperative that we continue to educate our players on the dangers and unfairness of performance enhancing drugs and to do everything we can to eliminate them entirely from the game of baseball.

We are confident that that adoption and implementation of Major League Baseball’s and the Major League Baseball Players Association’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, the toughest in all of professional sports, will also result in helping to achieve this goal. .

Until we have had the opportunity to read and review more thoroughly the Mitchell Report released today, we will have no further comment at this time.

With the Mitchell Report including Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, we all knew that there was going to be some sort of statement coming from both players.

Clemens’ lawyer Rusty Hardin released a statement concerning Clemens involvement with performance-enhancing drugs:

“I have great respect for Senator Mitchell. I think an overall look at this problem in baseball was an excellent idea,”

“It is very unfair to include Roger’s name in this report. He is left with no meaningful way to combat what he strongly contends are totally false allegations. Hee has not been charged with anything, he will not be charged with anything and yet he is being tried in the court of public opinion with no recourse. That is totally wrong.”

“There has never been one shred of tangible evidence that he ever used these substances and yet he is being slandered today,” said Hardin, who called McNamee a “troubled man.”

Because Andy Pettitte is an active member of MLB right now, he has been advised not to comment. Here is a statement from his agent, Randy Hendricks:

“I have advised Andy that as an active player, he should refrain from commenting until we have had an opportunity to speak with his union and other advisors. At the appropriate time, he will have something to say.”

Was this a desperate plea by Brian McNamee, who named them both in the Mitchell Report, to save his own skin so he didn’t become the next Kirk Radomski? Or was it the truth?

If these allegations prove to be true, what is the recourse since it seems from reading the report, they allegedly used performance-enhancing drugs before they were banned in baseball.

As far as the comments by the camps of Clemens and Pettitte, I am not surprised at all. You have to figure that both parties will deny their involvement in the alleged usage of the drugs.

My feelings are if you did them, then just admit it. We are a forgiving society and will probably overlook the alleged transgressions.

Two members of the 2007 Boston Red Sox roster, Eric Gagné and Brendan Donnelly, were in the Mitchell Report but there alleged use didn’t happen while they were members of the Red Sox.

The big question is what did Theo Epstein know about the alleged transgressions of Gagné and Donnelly.

When the Boston Red Sox were considering acquiring Gagné, a Red Sox official made specific inquiries about Gagné’s possible use of steroids. In a November 1, 2006 email to a Red Sox scout, general manager Theo Epstein asked, “Have you done any digging on Gagne? I know the Dodgers think he was a steroid guy. Maybe so. What do you hear on his medical?”

The scout, Mark Delpiano, responded,

Some digging on Gagne and steroids IS the issue. Has had a checkered medical past throughout career including minor leagues. Lacks the poise and commitment to stay healthy, maintain body and re invent self. What made him a tenacious closer was the max effort plus stuff . . . Mentality without the plus weapons and without steroid help probably creates a large risk in bounce back durability and ability to throw average while allowing the changeup to play as it once did . . . Personally, durability (or lack of) will follow Gagne . . .

More after the jump

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Former Senator George Mitchell is speaking right now about his findings from his 20-month investigation into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball and the official list of players has been released.

Here is the list of current and former players:

Players with Red Sox ties in bold

Manny Alexander, Chad Allen, Rick Ankiel, David Bell, Mark Bell, Gary Bennett, Marvin Bernard, Larry Bigbie, Barry Bonds, Ricky Bones, Kevin Brown, Paul Byrd, Alex Cabrera, Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti, Mike Carreon, Jason Christiansen, Howie Clark, Roger Clemens, Paxton Crawford, Jack Cust, Chris Donnells, Brendan Donnelly, Lenny Dykstra, Bobby Estalella, Matt Franco, Ryan Franklin, Eric Gagné, Jay Gibbons, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Troy Glaus, Juan Gonzalez, Jason Grimsley, Jose Guillen, Jerry Hairston Jr., Matt Herges, Phil Hiatt, Glenallen Hill, Darren Holmes, Todd Hundley, Wally Joyner, Mike Judd, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch, Tim Laker, Mike Lansing, Paul Lo Duca, Nook Logan, Josias Manzanillo, Gary Matthews Jr., Mark McGwire, Cody McKay, Kent Mercker, Bart Miadich, Hal Morris, Daniel Naulty, Denny Neagle, Rafael Palmeiro, Jim Parque, Andy Pettitte, Adam Piatt, Todd Pratt, Armando Rios, Stephen Randolph, Adam Riggs, Brian Roberts, John Rocker, F.P. Santangelo, Benito Santiago, Gary Sheffield, Scott Schoeneweis, David Segui, Mike Stanton, Ricky Stone, Miguel Tejada, Derrick Turnbow, Ismael Valdez, Randy Velarde, Mo Vaughn, Ron Villone, Fernando Vina, Rondell White, Jeff Williams, Matt Williams, Todd Williams, Steve Woodward, Kevin Young, Gregg Zaun.

Here is the link to the full report.