Megan Fox Mondays

Ok...so it's been awhile. REALLY sorry about that. Life is sometimes busy and until I get paid to do this full-time, it won't always be the first thing I have going on in my life.

That said, this is my release. I get to write really stupid things about mostly stupid people. And mostly stupid things.

I'm pretty sure I never even published my link dump from last Monday. It's sitting saved in my folder waiting to be published. In it, I mentioned the following:

Screw Mark Morrison. He's cool, but not nearly as cool as Megan Fox. She is gorgeous, endlessly attractive. For the time being, she is going to present our Monday link dumps. There isn't a moment that goes by in the day where I wouldn't cut my fingers off and swim with chum covering my body if that meant I could spoon with Megan Fox. Her presenting the Monday link dumps will include, if possible, the most recent smoking hot photo of Megan Fox. This week's is from last week's. It's her on the set of her new movie "Jonah Hex". That's the easiest way to brighten a Monday up.

I talked about the NFL Draft & how Michael Crabtree is going to dominate with Mike Singletary as his head coach. I mentioned Michael Oher being drafted into a wonderful family organization like the Ravens and how he deserves all the best. And I said that Quan Cosby and Bill Cosby's skits were hilarious...but that was last week. Spooning With A Stranger is about the present. Nothing in the past should be changed bc at the time, it seemed like a smart idea.

...So, I bring you, Megan Fox Mondays:

- As mentioned before this, Manny Pacquiao beat the shit out of Ricky Hatton. Back in Decemeber 2007, I cheered for Hatton to take out Floyd Mayweather Jr when they fought. I just couldn't stand Mayweather's attitude. There was something remarkable about his abilities though. I didn't entirely dislike him. Regardless, Mayweather beat down Hatton in the 10th round. Mayweather retired and hasn't really been heard from since. Until recently.

Pacquiao beat Hatton's ass and now comes news that a) Mayweather owes $6 million in backtaxes and b) his ego wants to fight Manny Pacquiao.

It's simple, Pacquiao is the most dominant fighter around and is the pound for pound best fighter in the game. Mayweather lost that claim when he retired and never challenged the sport's "best" fighters (until Hatton). Now Pacquiao has dominated Oscar De La Hoya and Hatton and is the king. Pacquiao has numerous suitors claiming their next but none bigger than the potential Mayweather-Pacquiao match that could happen if Mayweather defeats Juan Manuel Marquez. Boxing scene dives into the potential matchups in a bit more detail. For our purposes here, it's all about Mayweather-Pacquiao.

Mayweather-Pacquiao is the ultimate good guy vs. bad guy fight. Pacquiao is the quiet, humble champ who will fight anyone, anywhere, any weight class. Raised in the impoverished streets of the Phillipines, he is now figuratively the king of an entire country's hopes and dreams. He brings his friends and family into his life and lets them take all the spotlight.

Mayweather on the other hand, is an American-born fighter who grew up in the world of boxing, surviving the tough streets of Grand Rapids Michigan and the various places he bounced around while growing up. Mayweather is estranged from his father, who taught him everything he knows, and lives an outgoing lifestyle full of boisterous claims and all the riches he can possibly afford.

Mayweather talks his shit and pisses people off. He backs it up usually. Pacquiao lets other people talk their shit (mainly his opponents and own trainer) and then just beats the shit out of them.

HBO's award-winning series 24/7 could present an incredibly gripping look at the various personalities of two of boxing's biggest superstars. The potential for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is out there and hopefully a few cards will fall into place. It will be an epic battle and an epic promotion leading up to it.

Boxing is often thought of as a dying sport. With these two figures heading down the road to a showdown, they will breathe plenty of life into a once spectacular American pasttime.

- NEW TRAILER ALERT. An updated trailer for "GI Joe" has hit the internet. It looks much better than the Super Bowl teaser spot but it still looks fucking ridiculous. My GI Joe's never had an "accelerator" suit and they couldn't dodge missiles like Transformers. Any dude has to give this movie a chance so we'll see. Looks weird though.

- NEW TRAILER ALERT. Updated "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" trailer. Stephen Speilberg called this movie "awesome" after he saw it and I have high hopes for it. The action looks even more intense and Megan Fox does look hotter than ever on her motorcycle. Definitely better than the GI Joe trailer.

- I haven't mentioned A-Rod since the steroid stuff began. I said my piece on it and nearly went on a serial killer killing spree after that. The talk died down as the season began and as A-Rod gets close to his return, here we go again. Selena Roberts', Sports Illustrated's writer who leaked the whole steroid issue, is back at lobbing allegations against A-Rod. Her "biography", which is by no means an official A-Rod biography since it's interviews with random acquaintences and people, is having its release date pushed up. Roberts claims A-Rod did steroids in high school and college and has done them all his life.

Despite high school and college coaches and teammates defending A-Rod, Jason Whitlock writes an interesting piece on Roberts' past credentials, including her interesting piece on the entire Duke Lacross scandal.

Whitlock, a very influential writer from KC/ESPN, is a guy I've had my beef with a lot in the past. This piece though, examines Roberts' credibility and ESPN's penchant to run with random stories (true or not) as long as they generate notoriety.

For the record, I think Roberts' is an attention-craving bitch. There goes my credibility.

- My roommate Kevin has a really funny looking finger from rugby. It's gnarly but isn't nearly as gnarly as Torry Holt's finger. As "With Leather" suggests, if you've eaten any food in the last few hours, don't watch this clip.

- NEW Spoonless Night Addition: topleftpixel.com

This is an endless amount of awesome photography. Some photos can be rolled over with your mouse and you can see different stages of the photograph/background. Prepare to spend way too much time here if you like photos.

- Last night's "Family Guy" courtesy of Hulu.com. Stewie does steroids and they really hit the nail on the head with this one. This one should entertain you.

The Only A-Rod Discussion I'll Ever Have

Sorry for a few blank days. I've been traveling and hanging out with John McCain and NBA All-Stars in Phoenix. My computer has the battery power of a 46-year old unplugged Atari system. And I haven't been able to steal any free internet yet to log-on anywhere. 

Those issues aside, I've done a LOT of thinking about Alex Rodriguez. I threw a javelin through my TV screen at home on Tuesday because I couldn't take it anymore. Every time I turned on the TV, I saw A-Rod. Or Peter Gammons melting face. Or Stephen A. Smith's. Or Skip Bayless' worthless mug. It all culminated with me picking up the javelin I had since 7th grade track season and chucking it through the TV screen when Roy Oswalt suggested that all of A-Rod's numbers should be voided because it gives farm-jockey's like him a bad reputation.

I'm not going to say much on the issue. I have a few opinions and then I'm going to move on. There's a lot more worthy stuff to give a crap about in this world than A-Rod and his steroids. 

It's a shame this whole thing came out because it's a total pain in the ass for Major League Baseball. Just when MLB thought it was moving on, this had to happen. Barry Bonds was going to be guilty of being a human trash pile, Roger Clemens was going to be forgotten, and Spring Training was going to start, fresh off of a great MLB Postseason. Then some righteous prick got a hold of some startling information. 

Look, no one that isn't a professional athlete can understand the pressures these guys go through. Not Stuart Scott, not Katie Couric, not Buster Olney, not anyone. When your thrust onto a stage of millions, asked to perform at extremely high levels, and asked to give up your privacy, you can get stressed. I know, these guys choose this path, but it's not like there's a better option. 

Play sports and have your face recognized by millions the world over, just so your family and your kids' kids can be financially set for the next 200 years? That's not a bad proposition is it? Would you do it? You say you would, sure. Everyone that hasn't had to do it would gladly give up their silly desk job to make $8 million a year to play baseball. But it's not that easy.

Just for a second, look at it from A-Rod's perspective. At the age of 25 (what were you doing at 25?), you sign the largest contract in SPORTS HISTORY, for $252 million. And don't fault him for taking that money. Tell me one thing in the world you wouldn't do for $252 million? There's nothing out there. That money GUARANTEES your family security for centuries. 

Add to that A-Rod's propensity for self-image issues and you find yourself in a bad spot. Look around the league, where drug use is rampant, including in your own clubhouse (see Rafael Palmeiro), and tell me that taking steroids doesn't seem like a bad option? Steroids has never killed anyone. It makes you bigger, leaner, and stronger. It's not quite as illegal as it is today, so why not? You have the pressure of the entire sports world sitting on your 25-year old shoulders and a few non-lethal drugs are sitting there to help make the world less stressful. I bet more than one of us would have taken them. 

It's a bad choice. I'm not defending him. He made this choice and now it's cost him everything he's worked so hard to build. A-Rod was a phenomenal player before this ever happened. He was offered a baseball and (starting QB) football scholarship to the University of Miami. He turned that down and was a 1st-Round Pick of the Seattle Mariners at the age of 17.  In his first full season in the bigs he had the highest AL batting average for a right-handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio in 1939. At 23 he was the third MLB player to join the 40-40 club and at 24 he hit another 42 home runs despite missing 30 games. At 25, he joined the Rangers.

Alex has always been image-conscience. Much has been written about A-Rod's "obsession" with Derek Jeter. Looking at Jeter, A-Rod always saw a guy who is so cool, so collected, and so outgoing with the media. A-Rod saw how Jeter still never let it effect his job on the field. A-Rod has never been able to feel that comfortable within himself. That's where the steroids must have helped. 

It's unfortunate Alex never got the kind of prodding I got from my mom on a daily basis. She would always say, "Who cares what other people think about you." No one ever prodded that into A-Rod's head. You would have hoped that the fact that he averaged 40 home runs, a .300+ batting average, and over 100 rbi's a season before the age of 25 might have done it. Instead, Alex felt compelled to go from those averages to 50 home runs and 130 rbi's a season. And look where is today.

Marvin Miller, the respected famous founder of MLB's Player Union, offered this on the A-Rod shenanigans. "Not one but two surgeons general have said that tobacco use is the worst cause of death in the U.S. that can be prevented -- we lose 400,000 people a year to tobacco-related incidents and over time it runs into the millions. Yet not only do we not outlaw tobacco, but the U.S. Congress keeps giving subsidies to the tobacco industry and everybody sits back and smiles. On the other hand, there's not one single documented death from the use of steroids. So that's a hypocritical lie."

As for the media, Miller said, "A kid who wants to be professional athlete reads the sports pages or watches ESPN and is told over and over again, "These are performance-enhancing drugs. Take these and you can be Barry Bonds or A-Rod or Roger Clemens. The media, without evidence, keeps telling young people, 'All you have to do to be a famous athlete with lots of money is take steroids."

Therein lies our problems. A-Rod was an incredible baseball player before he took steroids. He's been an incredible baseball player since he stopped taking steroids. If I started taking steroids, I couldn't begin to do the things that A-Rod did. Barry Bonds was a great baseball player before he started taking steroids. He was a 30HR-50SB guy that turned into a 60HR-7SB guy. Steroids do not make the player. Steroids enhance the player. 

It shocked people to see A-Rod admit the usage because everyone always labeled him the hardest working, most talented baseball player they ever saw. It hurt people's feelings. Baseball doesn't need to go through this black eye again. Take A-Rod's 2001-03 statistics away if you want. Don't label the man as invisible for everything else he's done. He admitted to something that he didn't have to admit to. It was supposed to be a confidential survey that helped baseball face its problems. A-Rod came out, admitted his wrongs and will now try and move on. America has been somewhat kind to those who admit their mistakes. We all make them...just not on this kind of stage.

I don't justify what Alex Rodriguez did. It's disappointing and sad. The pressures these athletes face are something we won't fully comprehend. C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira just had a load of pressure taken off their new Yankee shoulders. As for Alex, he has always despised and hated pressure. He now faces more pressure than he ever has before.