So another golden boy has supposedly hit the dust when it comes to the steroid flap that hangs over baseball like a wet blanket.

Alex Rodriguez reportedly failed a 2003 steroid "survey" test that was never supposed to be made public and was told to the players to have no consequences.

Well, so much for that.

A-Rod is now being burned at the cross by the press and public, all of his accomplishments are already being tossed out the window and forget about any "clean" athlete being placed ahead of Henry Aaron on the all-time home run list.

All because he was named among the 104 players that tested positive under the survey test.

So where are the other 103 players? I know A-Rod is probably the highest-profile athlete in the bunch and he's the favorite punching bag of many, but it's not right that he's out there hung to dry in this situation.

And how bad does MLB look now? They did a survey test to see how bad the problem was and then instituted its righteous act as more proof came forward.

On the eve of spring training, we all find out about this test, question everyone and everything prior to the last few years and wonder who else will fall from grace in the days and weeks ahead.

If A-Rod's name is available, others must be at someone's lips as well. That Mitchell Report has nothing on this report.

So what should A-Rod do now? Well if it's true, he better take the Giambi route and start apologizing now. It's the only way to save some face and keep a possible HOF bid in the works. If you deny, deny, deny with evidence against you, you will be cast aside like McGwire, Bonds and Clemens.

I was blown away by the news on Saturday. Not so much by the athlete named (nothing athletes do surprises me any more) but that this test was given in the first place, "hidden" for 5-6 years and now many ballplayers are wetting their pants in hopes the rest of the names aren't unlocked.

Good grief. Bud Selig is going to lose the rest of his hair and start smoking again.   

Donruss has created a limited-edition card set that will be distributed to VIPs and fans in attendance at the events surrounding this weekend's Pro Bowl. Donruss is one of the official sponsors of the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl.

The set features three veterans and two key rookies from both the NFC and AFC. The veterans are pictured in official Pro Bowl uniforms from year's past, while the rookies are featured in their official NFL uniforms. All cards contain the official 2009 NFL Pro Bowl logo.

The AFC players are Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson, Andre Johnson and rookies Chris Johnson and Joe Flacco.

The NFC players are Drew Brees, Adrian Peterson and Larry Fitzgerald and rookies Matt Ryan and Matt Forte.

Pro Bowl Thoughts
So, what does everyone think of the Pro Bowl? The All-Star event for the NFL seems to take a back seat to every other sport's All-Star game. It's played after the season (though that will change next year when it's done before the Super Bowl) and it's an event that many of the players who have made multiple appearances decline to attend (Favre, among others). I thought Hawaii would be nice, but perhaps the plane flight is too much.

It's on the mainland next year, so maybe that will bring in some of the stars (minus those playing in the Super Bowl, of course).

Regardless, you can swoop in and get the cards of the 2008 studs in football, which is a nice recap set for the season.

With news of the NBA cards being reduced, it's nice to see there are still plenty of options with football cards. 

The large roar out of Tampa Bay has subsided with the Steelers winning the Super Bowl. What's left is a silence, sort of like when a pro golfer is lining up a putt, starts his swing and follows through.

What follows is a giant roar (when they make it). That's what the sports world is like for me right now. Sure college basketball is keeping me glued to the screen for Big Monday and the Saturday marathons, but it's the end of February and into March when that scene really heats up.

No, the silence now will lead to outright jubilation next week with the opening of spring training. Baseball is almost here. Can you feel it?

Sure Manny is still without a team, along with a bunch of other free agents that normally have a new home by now, but it's still baseball and nothing beats it.

I went to spring training in Arizona two years ago and wish I could go back every year since and forever. Green grass, warm temperatures and the chance to see the players up close in a relaxed atmosphere.

Nothing beats baseball, I don't care what football fans say on the heels of the Super Bowl.

I hope the MLB Network starts kicking it into high gear, as I'm growing weary of seeing their showings of recent playoff and World Series games. Give me some dirt and some interviews - something to set the stage for the season to come.

Until next week Friday, I remain silent, ready to erupt when I finally hear those words: "Pitchers and catchers, report!"

Upper Deck is releasing a special series of nine collectible insert cards titled “Historical Firsts Predictors.” The cards, which feature some very bold predictions, will be scattered inside its next baseball card release.
 
Topping the list of historic predictions will be cards predicting that an AIDS vaccine is developed, an alien life form is discovered on another planet and the Dow Jones reaches 15,000 points!
 
“Nobody could have guessed how 2008 was going to turn out, so we thought we’d have some fun and provide some thought-provoking predictions for 2009,” said Kerri Stockholm, Upper Deck’s director of Sports Marketing. “With the onslaught of news stories focused on the troubled economy, Upper Deck wanted to provide some hope and humor for collectors and fans. Who knows? Some of these predictions may very well come true.”
 
The “Historical Firsts Predictors” cards, inserted at a rate of 1:6 packs in Upper Deck’s 2009 Series One Baseball release, will be hitting store shelves on Feb. 3. Other noteworthy predictions in the series include gas prices plummeting to 99 cents per gallon, and the first African-American woman being confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice.

 
I like to keep my predictions related to sports, since the rest of the world is far too unpredictable with way too factors that I am not familiar with.

So I predict the Steelers will not repeat in 2010, the Tampa Bay Rays won't even sniff the playoffs this year and the NBA Finals will come down to Boston and the Lakers, again.

And if you're counting on Lance Armstrong in the Tour De France - go ahead and bet against him. I wouldn't.

I came across something I find a little intriguing – the Top 15-selling NBA jerseys. For some reason, it seems the NBA jerseys get the most attention among jerseys, or the league keeps the best track of them and then hands out that information. As seen in the latest news with NBA trading cards (Panini takes over as exclusive licensee), the NBA keeps a pretty heady grasp on things.

So here's the list:  

1.    Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers    
2.    Kevin Garnett – Boston Celtics    
3.    LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers    
4.    Chris Paul – New Orleans Hornets            
5.    Allen Iverson – Detroit Pistons    
6.    Pau Gasol – Los Angeles Lakers    
7.    Paul Pierce – Boston Celtics           
8.    Dwyane Wade – Miami Heat          
9.    Derrick Rose – Chicago Bulls    
10.    Nate Robinson – New York Knicks    
11.    Steve Nash – Phoenix Suns          
12.    Dwight Howard- Orlando Magic     
13.    Ray Allen – Boston Celtics    
14.    David Lee – New York Knicks
15.    Carmelo Anthony – Denver Nuggets

Kobe Garnett (with an added boost from the Boston fan base) and LeBron are easy to see. It's a tribute to Chris Paul and his game that he's in the top five. Allen Iverson will always be strong as well.

But the next 10 is filled with players you might not expect and it comes down to their markets. Nate Robinson and David Lee? They're all right, but never players who would roll off the tip of the tongue when considering popularity. The NYC faithful really love their basketball and is one reason why the Madison Square Garden is considered a mecca for hoops fans.

The only other surprise for me is Ray Allen. He's decent, but doesn't have the flash usually associated with jersey collectors.

I am wondering how Yao Ming didn't make the list considering his idol status in China, but I think that goes back to other countries not buying into the jersey buying/collecting fever we have in the U.S.

Anybody else see any surprises here?  

It's almost that time of year again – the annual Media Day at the Super Bowl. This is the event where media outlets of all kinds  - many of which have nothing to do with sports - converge upon the Super Bowl site, ask dumb questions and try to attract as much publicity as possible for themselves and the outlet they are representing.

Meanwhile, the players first get the same questions over and over about the game, their preparation and how the team has overcame this and that obstacle to get to the big game. How many times do you think Kurt Warner and Hall of Fame will come up?

But then they also have to answer really dumb questions, like favorite cereal, if Harrison is related to former President Harrison, what dogs do they have at their house and what's their favorite novel. But that's just for the star players (except for those interviews by Jay Leno's guest reporter, who makes a point to interview the guys that don't get interviewed).

The lesser known players just lie around with their shades on, waiting to leave or on their cell phones trying to get more tickets for the family.

In the end, it's just a circus. With two weeks between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, every angle has already been dissected twice by everyone with a microphone or keyboard in front of them (me included).

There is just one commentary article I read from the media, and that's ESPN's Bill Simmons because, frankly, he's one of the best writers out there - funny and informative.

So sit and enjoy this week -it's going to be a wild ride – and that's before the game even starts.  

While staring blankly at my computer screen the other day, a co-worker was going on about seeing an article about top moments (not necessarily good moments) in a particular writer's lifetime, such as 9/11 Berlin Wall coming down, etc.

So my co-worker then turned it into something of a discussion about top sports hobby moments. Some of his examples were meeting Henry Aaron, opening his first box of 1959 Topps Baseball and visiting Shea Stadium for the first time.

And then he turned the tables on me: "What is your top sports or sports hobby moment?" he asked. And I sat there dumbfounded for a few minutes before the answer became abundantly clear: making the 18-hour car trek to Cooperstown to see the hall of fame induction of Robin Yount (and Nolan Ryan and George Brett, too, though I was there for Yount).

To be on this hallowed ground and to see the induction of my childhood hero (making good on a promise I made to myself many years earlier) was a treat I will never forget.

And then there was the circus that is Cooperstown on Induction Weekend. Holy cow. Players signing autographs on every corner. Leon Spinks just wandering around among the crowds. The collectibles of every sort on every sidewalk. The whole atmosphere is fun, all about baseball and truly exhausting.    

And I can't wait to go back again some day.

My second memorable moment is probably a little more focused. It was attending the opening of Miller Park in 2001 in Milwaukee.

You see, that stadium represented a new start for the franchise - a chance to show the world they were staying in Milwaukee, could house teams in a state-of-the-art facility and move on after the opening was delayed a year after a tragic crane accident killed three construction workers during its construction.

It was like a rebirth for the team and the state of baseball in Wisconsin. It took seven years to match the Miller Park attendance success and building a winning team, but the opening of the park was THE start.

Anyone else have some memorable sports moments or hobby tales that will forever stay in your memory?

Growing up, I didn't dislike winter as much as I used to. Perhaps I need to bust out the sled more often to get some enjoyment from feet of snow and endless days of sub-freezing temperatures.

But there's another reason I used to like winter as a kid – it meant it was soon time to enjoy the winter tours the Milwaukee Brewers players and coaches used to embark on throughout Wisconsin. Being a Brewers fan growing up, the season would conceivably end by the end of July, though actual play stopped the first week of October. So when the January winter tour started up, it help appease my growing baseball appetite.

For those of you not familiar with a winter tour, it basically consisted of three of four coaches and players visiting various cities throughout Wisconsin, offering free autographs and general baseball discussion. It was meant to drum up ticket sales and fuzzy feelings among the team and fans, which was needed with the Brewers lousy record for years at the time.

One event I remember was a winter tour stop in Appleton, Wis., at the home of the Single A Seattle Mariners farm system (though not related, the place offered a local link to baseball, I guess).

One of the guests there was Fernando Vina, who would later play for the St. Louis Cardinals, among other teams. We struck what I thought at the time was a good conversation with me, as he promised to get me and my friends some tickets in the future.

So the next game we went to, we got there early and scrambled down the dugout. When Vina came out, we shouted, "Hey Vina, the 'Appleton Boys' are here." He gave us one of those knowing nods and was our favorite players before he switched teams.

No, we never got tickets, but it remains a fond memory of ours all these years later. And thus brings me to the point of winter tours – they bond younger fans to teams even more, leading to more tickets sales and more importantly, a fan for life.

The Brewers don't hold winter tours any more, citing some nonsense about not wanting to cart it's multi-million-dollar players around Wisconsin in winter weather. So they hold one event in Milwaukee in January, thus putting their fans at risk on the road instead.

I haven't attended one of these Fan Fests yet, but the images of large crowds, pay-to-get autographs and travel time don't really appeal to me.

And trust me, even with the Brewers recent success (OK, just 2008), I don't think they can afford to ignore the average fan just yet.

Do any other teams continue with the winter tours? Any memories of your own from them?   

There is one beauty in having to move desks at work (and only one beauty) - the items you discover in, on and around your desk when cleaning up.

Throw in a few more co-workers who have to do the same process – those who have resided at their desks for several years – and you have a jackpot of good things coming out of the woodwork.

The first item to appear was a Yogi Berra signed piece of artwork bearing his likeness. And then a Wayne Gretzky signed puck. Pretty nice, eh?

And then I come back to my desk after running some errands, and I find a stack of Rena Moreno signed photos on my desk. In essence, these photos look like a biker gal, and unless you are really into wrestling, you would have no idea who this is.

Rena Moreno is better known as Sable from the WWF. The same Sable who enjoyed her time in the limelight after posing for Playboy. She was really popular in college for me, which now dates to early 10 years ago. Sadly, (or not. Heck, I don't care) no one from today's generation has a clue who she is.

What made us chuckle was a bobble head of Mike Cramer, former founder and president of Pacific Trading Cards. Oh, it was a nice rendition. But it just goes and shows you the largese involved in the hobby in the 1990s.

Among other items were some buttons of Roberto Clemente, Thurman Munson and Lou Brock. In all, it will display nicely in my new cubicle space. Though I don't know if it can compete with the Jack Lambert McFarlane figure staring at me from across the hallway . . . Darn those Steelers fans.

I'm guessing the Cardinals fans have yet to jump on the bandwagon publicly yet in the office.  

While enjoying the absolutely frigid temperatures here in lovely Wisconsin, I snuggled under some blankets and watched college hoops last night. Though limited in scope, I observed a few things that I found rather alarming.

First, I'll give you a little background, so you don't think I have an inflated ego about my athletic prowess. I'm short, 5'6" short, and my basketball skills were never much and they've gotten worse with age. That said, I can shoot a left-handed layup and I know the basic principles to breaking a full-court press.

Sadly, it seems some of today's college players can grasp neither.

I watched one game where a player made a steal, drove the length of the floor dribbling left-handed and when it came to finish, shot right-handed - right into the defender who blocked the layup attempt. If he would have simply used his left hand, he would have gotten the "hoop and the foul." Easy.

These guys play basketball all day every day. If I can shoot a left-handed contested layup by practicing drills in my old, musty basement at age 12, they should be able to master this simple concept.

And now to breaking a full-court press. One of the main "rules" in attempting to break a press is to not dribble all that often, and when you do, stay out of the corners where you can get trapped.

Someone explain that to the Wisconsin Badgers, who blew a late lead (sizable at that) because their guards loved to bring the ball into the corner (on the opposing end, mind you) and then either have to call a timeout or throw the ball up in the air near half-court for anyone to grab. It was embarrassing to watch for them.

For a Bo Ryan squad, which usually does the fundamentals correctly with the limited talent he recruits, it was unusual. I hope they learn from it or that's all they're going to see from opponents for the rest of the year.

What does this have to do with collecting? Not much. However, Ralph Sampson III plays for Minnesota. He's like 6'10" and only a freshman, so it might be fun to watch his progress down the road - though keeping up with his dad might be difficult.