An Opportunity to Right a Wrong.

This is my first baseball related post since resuming my blog, and because I think the topic of performance enhancing drugs in baseball is vitally important, this post offers three suggestions: one to Ryan Braun, one to the Baseball Writers Association of America, and one to professional athletes at large.

Last week it was reported that Ryan Braun, the National League MVP and one of the true young stars of the game tested positive for a performance enhancing drug.  The reports don't indicate that it was an anabolic steroid, but I don't think it really matters what he tested positive for.  What matters is that it was a banned substance that MLB and the players' union have agreed enhances performance to such a degree that the player will be suspended if it's found to be in their system.  In my opinion (and the opinion of baseball), it doesn't matter if the player knowingly took the substance, what's important is that it enhanced his performance.

Is this performance enhanced?

Now, like every other player that has ever tested positive, Braun is maintaining his innocence.  It's nearly impossible for him to deny that his testosterone levels were nearly four times higher than normal or that it was a synthetic substance that caused the increase, so Braun's only hope is to prove that he took something that was tainted or that someone tampered with something that he took.  Neither of these defenses have ever succeeded in the past, so I don't expect them to work this time around.

Operating under the assumption that Braun's appeal will fail and he will be forced to serve a 50 game suspension I have a suggestion for the slugging Brewer: admit that your performance was enhanced, maintain your innocence if you wish, and relinquish your MVP if you want to try to salvage even a sliver of your clean-cut image.  I know it would be unprecedented, and I know he has every agent, publicist, and union rep telling him that he absolutely should not give up the award, but that's exactly the point.  Nobody expects him to do it, which is why it might, just might, give him a bit of credibility with fans that are certainly ready to write him off like they've done to so many before him.

Whether he did it or not, his performance was enhanced and his numbers were inflated.  Even if it gave him the edge on one home run, one stolen base, or one RBI, his performance was aided by a synthetic substance that other players (as far as we know) did not have in their systems.  Odds are, however, that it gave him an edge on more than one of each of those statistics.  Braun should come to terms with this fact and admit to the baseball world that he doesn't deserve the most valuable player honor because of this substance that gave him an advantage.  In a sport like baseball where statistics and history are of such significance, Braun has to acknowledge that he has skewed both the stats and the history.  I'm not, however, asking that Braun acknowledge that he cheated.  He really doesn't have to.  Unless, of course, he did.

This brings me to my second suggestion: if he won't give back the award, the Baseball Writers Association of America should conduct a revote.  There is no denying that I'm a diehard Dodger fan and that Matt Kemp would likely be the primary beneficiary of a revote, but this suggestion has more to do with precedent that fanhood.  Unfortunately, precedent seems to be why most baseball writers don't think a revote is warranted.  I've heard the argument that "they" didn't take away any of Bonds's 7 MVPs, Roger Clemens's 7 Cy Young awards, or Alex Rodriguez's MVP from Texas.  With all due respect, that's a terrible argument.  The link to performance enhancing drugs, or the proof of such use, didn't come until well after some or all of those awards were won.  In Braun's case, not a single game has been played since the news broke.  Precedent only applies to facts and circumstances substantially similar to the precedential case, and this is a prime opportunity to set such precedent.  It would let award winners know that the BBWAA can and will strip you of your honor if evidence that your statistics were artificially enhanced comes to light before another game is played.  The BBWAA is not the MLB, it is its own separate entity with the power to operate as it chooses.  This second suggestion is not a cry to strip every player linked to performance enhancers of their awards, it is a call to set narrow precedent that I believe is greatly needed and leads to my third and final suggestion.

Celebrating his massive payday, or the idea of an MVP award with his name inscribed?

So here it is, my last suggestion for all baseball players and professional athletes: start paying closer attention to what you put in your body.  You are an elite athlete for a reason.  You are genetically predisposed to perform at the highest level possible.  Pop your Flinstone vitamin in the morning and hit the gym extra hard if that's what you need to do to compete.  But please, stop taking every supplement that your trainer puts in front of you.  Substances not called steroids are banned for a reason and you shouldn't be putting them into your body, not even accidentally.  The court of public opinion does not care if you maintain your innocence.  The fans want to know that the game is clean.  If you are linked to performance enhancing drugs you will be written off.  The price is too high to not pay careful attention to the powders and pills you're ingesting.  But then again, maybe the price isn't too high.  Maybe these players are willing to roll the dice, knowing that a massive contract and financial security for generations to come is worth the risk that they're legacies will be tarnished and the history of baseball will be re-written.  However, if the BBWAA heeds my advice and takes Braun's MVP award away, maybe that thought will enter some small number of players' heads as they take the next great supplement that is supposed to give them an edge.  Maybe they'll think, "the slight advantage that this may give me isn't worth the fallout that could result.  Instead, maybe I'll spend 15 extra minutes in the gym and take an extra 25 cuts in batting practice today."  Maybe thoughts like that, in conjunction with the understanding that your individual honors can and will be taken away will be enough for just a few guys to think twice.  

Cheating will always be a part of baseball and every other sport.  The stakes are too high and there is too much money on the line.  But the BBWAA has an opportunity to make a small impact on the use of performance enhancing drugs.  Take away this MVP award and conduct a revote, and I can almost guarantee that someone, maybe a few someones, will think twice about the next substance they put in their body.      

Fin.

Done.  Finished with finals and the feeling is fantastic.  This was the most difficult finals period I've had to endure since first semester of first year, thanks in part to the way my three exams were scheduled.  I had my fist on December 1st and my last on December 15th.  Due to outlining and intense studying to prepare for the first exam, I had to buckle down and begin preparing toward the beginning of November.  This necessitated a studying and class schedule that didn't allow for a full day off between November 6th and December 15th.  Yep, that's a total of 39 straight days of school work, including a few hours on Thanksgiving morning.  It may seem a bit insane to work that many days without a break, and to many it may even seem unnecessary.  However, I've worked really hard thus far in law school and every semester and every class is incredibly important to me.  When grades are released in the coming weeks, if I don't do as well as I hoped or expected I would hate to look back at my preparation and think that I could have done more.  I feel really great about my preparation this semester.  That doesn't always equate to good grades, but I can confidently say that I did all I could to prepare.  Of my five semesters I feel as though my  level of understanding of the classes I took this semester is second to none.  I'll certainly be disappointed if  things don't turn out well with my grades, but I won't be disappointed in my preparation and what I've learned, and isn't that what really matters?

With all of that said, these next 3 weeks are going to be glorious.  In fact, the first two-and-a-half days have already been great.  Thursday after my exam I got together with a bunch of friends from school in a non-studying setting, and had a great reunion with the 2010-2011 Civil Rights Clinic.  On Friday I started my break-long movie marathon and watched The Big Lebowski and Die Hard, neither of which I had seen before.  Saturday was devoted to holiday shopping, which, due to the insane crowds of people, was stressful (but much better than studying).  Today is my first day of uninterrupted football watching of the season, and I'll finally get to enjoy the games and follow my fantasy teams without worrying about the 4th Amendment, secured transactions, or Section 8(a)(5) of the National Labor Relations Act.

Now, as I finish my second cup of coffee and an entire episode of Sunday NFL Countdown, I'm looking forward to heading over to my buddy John's house to check out a little Tebow Time.  Go Broncos!    

Koufy.

Koufax, or Koufy (read: co-fee) for short, is the most recent addition to our family. He's our way-to-smart-for-his-own-good Border Collie mix that we adopted in 2009. We crate trained him as a puppy and he hasn't quite outgrown the need for the crate during the day. He can be quite mischievous at times so he unfortunately has to be relegated to the clink during the day. He actually doesn't seem to mind it and quite happily trots in each morning as we're getting ready to leave for the day. Amanda and I have had several discussions about possibly leaving him out for short periods of time while we run errands, just to see how he'd do if we gave him free reign of the apartment without supervision. I have been adamantly against the idea due to visions of him chewing every single thing he can get his mouth on. Don't get me wrong, Koufy is pretty well behaved when we're home, but he loves attention and when he's not getting it he likes to try to impress us (and get our attention) by chewing slippers, paper towels, socks, shoes, floor mats, hats, blankets, pillows, and anything else he can manage to drag to the middle of the living room. Needless to say, the ongoing "should we try to leave Koufy out" debate always ends with the realization that he's just not ready to stay out of the crate, and we just don't want to have to buy new shoes, pillows, blankets . . . you get it.

Last night I arrived home around 7:30 pm and heard the familiar sound of the excited dogs behind the door as I approached. They usually hear us coming and give a few barks of relief that someone is finally home to feed them and take them for a walk. But this time, the familiar barks were a bit different. I heard the more high pitched whimpery bark of Koufy coming from directly behind the door, rather than from across the room where his crate sits. As I unlocked the door and cracked it slightly open I was greeted by a pouncing Koufax, rather than a pouncing Wendall. Now, this is a familiar sight because when Amanda arrives home before me the dogs are obviously out and about. But when Amanda's not home before me, the only way Koufax can possibly greet me at the door is if he busted out of the clink (or wasn't ever locked in it). That's exactly what happened.

This picture doesn't quite do the destruction justice. In all, he chewed a floor mat into 1,000 pieces, shredded a piece of mail and some notes that were sitting on the coffee table, and did quite a number on three shoes by chewing out their insoles.  As you can see in the picture, Wendall has the "holy crap, why is Koufax so happy doesn't he realize how naughty he was?" look, while Koufax has the "YAY, I'm so glad you're home why are you yelling at me I didn't do anything wrong let's go play and can you feed me now!" look.

A good amount of damage was done, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.  Koufy seems to be in good spirits despite eating who knows what.  Plus, after a quick survey of the apartment we realize he could have gotten into a LOT more trouble.  Luckily he didn't and we were able to laugh about the whole thing.

America the Beautiful.

I can never get enough of the mountains, especially on mornings like this.  The photo is a bit grainy because it was taken with my phone, but the Rockies looked incredible this morning.

For purple mountain majesties

Brrr.

I truly love all seasons, winter included.  It's weather that I don't always like.  Specifically wind and bitter cold.  The last two days have fallen within the latter, and venturing outside has been miserable.  As I was gathering a recipe to send to a friend yesterday I realized that there is one thing that can take a bit of the sting out of the cold and make enduring the sub-zero temperatures a bit more bearable... chili!  I found a recipe for vegetarian chili several years ago and have put my own twist on it in the mean time.  I'm pretty sure I've perfected veggie chili and I'd love to share it with anybody reading.  Here is a picture, the recipe, and a couple more photos capturing the cold.

 

Matt’s World Famous Vegetarian Chili

Ingredients

Olive oil

Garlic

1 Large sweet onion (use 1/2 - 2/3)

1 Green pepper

1 Zucchini

1 Jalapeno pepper

1 Bag of frozen yellow sweet corn (16 oz)

28 oz. can whole plum tomatoes

2-14.5 oz. cans of dices tomatoes (1 no salt added, 1 with diced green chilies)

16 oz. jar chunky salsa

2 cans of kidney beans (no salt added)

1 can of garbanzo beans (no salt added)

1 can of black beans (no salt added)

1 bottle of dark beer (this is used to add liquid, you could probably substitute another can of diced tomatoes instead of the beer if you prefer)

3 teaspoons of chili powder

1 or 2 teaspoons of ground cayenne pepper

Black pepper

Optional Ingredients

1 bag of frozen meat-substitute ground burger crumbles (I prefer Quorn brand, but anything works)

Sourdough bread

Shredded cheddar cheese

Sour cream

Diced red onion

Prep

I prefer to prep everything first, which makes the process go much more smoothly.

Start by dicing the onion and green pepper.

Cut the zucchini into 1/4 inch slices and cut each slice in half.

Open the all 4 cans of beans and rinse thoroughly.

Open all cans of tomatoes, but don’t discard any of the juice.

Mince garlic.

Dice the jalapeño, don’t discard the seeds.

Steps

1.) In a large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat and add a fair amount of garlic.  Cook until just browned, and add diced onion.

      2.) Cook several minutes and add the can of plum tomatoes.  I prefer to take a big spoon (or knife if you won’t ruin your pot) and cut each of the plum tomatoes in half.

      3.) Add both cans of diced tomatoes; stir.

      4.) Add the jar of salsa.

            5.) Add all of the beans, stirring while adding.

      6.) Add 1/2 - 2/3 of the bag of corn.

      7.) Add the zucchini and jalapeno.

            8.) If using veggie crumbles, add the bag  to the pot.

      9.) Add the beer.  I usually take a couple swigs, so the full 12 ounces never make it in.

      10.) Last ingredients to go in are the spices.  This can be done to preference, but I usually add about 2-3 teaspoons of chili powder and about 1 teaspoon of cayenne.

            11.) Finally, mix everything together, turn the heat up to high and bring it to a boil.  Once it is boiling, cover the pot and turn the heat down to simmer.  Let it simmer for 20-30 minutes and you’re ready to enjoy.

      12.) I think a nice toasted sourdough is the perfect bread to eat with chili.  I also like cheese and sour cream, and a finely diced red onion on top of the sour cream is great.

I just missed it flipping from -1 to 0

Looking west on campus, just as the sun begins to hit the Rockies

ISPP Holiday Party.

This past Saturday night was the annual Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe holiday party.  Amanda and I were invited last year as well, and even without having started working and therefore not really knowing anyone, we had a wonderful time.  I was looking forward to this year's party because now I do know everyone, which makes the evening much less stressful... or so I thought.

The party was at the amazing Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver.  It's one of the oldest hotels in the city, and although I have heard wonderful things about it, I had never been inside.  Last year Amanda and I were the first to arrive, which was a bit awkward (remember, we didn't really know anyone).  So this year we decided that we would try to arrive around midway through the cocktail hour, around 6:30.  Well, that plan didn't exactly pan out.  The travel time between home and the party should have been about 15 minutes, but instead it took nearly an hour and a half!  Somehow we forgot to account for the poor driving conditions (due to snow) and, most importantly, didn't account for the fact that nearly every road in the city was closed due to the annual Parade of Lights!  After multiple detours and having to wait through 2 or 3 light changes at almost every single light we came to, we got to the Brown Palace at about 7:20; 20 minutes after dinner was supposed to be served.

When we walked in everyone was seated and every table was either full or had one empty spot.  After saying hello to a couple people and quickly realizing that there was nowhere for both of us to sit, we were almost relegated to our own table.  You know, the one in the corner that is perfectly set but where no one is sitting.  Everyone was trying to be accommodating and was telling us that there was "plenty of room to squeeze in," when really everyone was already pretty much elbow to elbow.  At this point there was no hiding the fact that we had arrived so late and certainly no hiding the fact that we were causing a slight commotion trying to find a place to sit.  Eventually we did end up squeezing into a table that had one empty spot, and surprisingly the 9 of us fit almost comfortably at an 8 person table.

At this point the embarrassment began to subside and things began to calm down.  We ate, drank, and enjoyed the rest of our evening.  In fact, that last thing, enjoying our evening, would have been nearly impossible to do based on the company we were surrounded with.  What I began to realize is that showing up a few minutes late for dinner is certainly not the end of the world, even when you're still at the point of trying to make a good impression.  Really, in the grand scheme of things, it's meaningless.  Although I was slightly embarrassed, I should have known that the last people on earth that would have cared would be my future colleagues.  One of our managing partners, K.C., always makes a speech at the holiday party to thank everyone for coming and gives a brief "state of the firm" type address.  The past two years (and several times in between) he has mentioned how ISPP is like a family.  How everyone cares for each other and cares about the work that they do.  This year, possibly due to a couple too many cocktails, he threw in the concept that ISPP has a strict, "no asshole" policy.  While his words are simple, and most managers or "bosses" would love to believe that they foster an idealistic work environment, K.C.'s message is absolutely true.

While I realize that Saturday night was an incredibly minor incident, it reminds me why I feel so fortunate to have a job with ISPP.  There are many reasons why I feel fortunate, but after spending a summer working there and having the opportunity to join in several social functions with them, I think what I am most excited about in starting my new career are the people I'll be working with.  They don't care if you're 20 minutes late to dinner.  They're the type of people that don't even think twice about the small commotion you've created and instead offer to squeeze two more into their already full table.  A simple gesture, but a perfect indication of how caring and accommodating they are.  If you're going to dedicate yourself to a career as demanding as law, you might as well work with people you enjoy and respect.  I am confident that ISPP lives up to that.  I enjoy my future colleagues and, more importantly, I respect them.

I leave you with a couple photos of the beautiful setting of the holiday party.  The first is a stock photo of the outside of the hotel and the second is one that I took overlooking the main lobby/bar area of the hotel (not the actual room our party was in):

Let's try this again (final exam edition).

It's been a really long time since I've blogged.  Judging by my last post, my life has changed quite a bit in the mean time.  I have wanted to pick this back up for some time now, but for some reason I just haven't.  I hope to write somewhat regularly now.  When life is hectic my posts will be short.  When I find more time, I'll write something more substantial.  Right now I'm in the midst of my second-to-last set of final exams, so this post is going to be short and sweet.

Finals are torture.  I have already taken my criminal procedure final, which completely destroyed me.  I was more prepared for it than I have ever been for an exam.  Unfortunately, I felt like all my hard work flew out the window the minute the proctor said, "begin."  I was tasked with writing five essays in three hours, and I didn't feel like I was able to really apply my knowledge to the exam.  I didn't feel like it was an adequate showcase of my high level of preparedness.  The word counts, time crunch, and blandness of the essay questions resulted in what I am anticipating to be a poor showing.  Now it's time to keep buckling down and prepare for commercial law and labor law.  Commercial law is going to be a beast, and labor law, two days later, is going to be a breeze.

Like I tell myself every semester, in 11 days it will all be over whether I like it or not.  The exams will come, I will do the best I can, and then it will be done.  And this year I will have an uninterrupted, work-free break that lasts nearly a month.  I plan to relax, run, and read (for enjoyment).  It's going to be incredible.

I leave you with a picture of my snowy Sunday morning, the rim of my cup of coffee, and Wendall looking intently out the window...