Bonds' trial concludes; NHL Playoffs begin

The Barry Bonds courtroom drama is over - for now.

At this point all of you know what happened this past week. And undoubtedly many of you were left scratching your heads once you heard the final verdict. But let's start from the beginning...

Think about the most basic, essential part of this trial for a moment - the government was trying to prove that Barry Bonds KNEW something. They were trying to prove in a court of law that Bonds knowingly took steroids and lied about it to a grand jury. How in the world do you go about proving that someone knew something? How do you begin to provide evidence when you can't physically open up Bonds' skull and say "yep, right here, this portion of his brain is physically damaged because he lied under oath"? Without hard evidence, wasn't this a game of he said/she said?

Well, the government proved that it certainly was not a game, and a conviction was not a long shot. I give the prosecutors a ton of credit for formulating an argument and painting a detailed pictured that elicited at least one guilty verdict, let alone four. Analysts and commentators have been debating whether or not the prosecution won or lost this trial, and I cannot understand those who say they lost.

Sure, Bonds was only convicted on one out of four charges. But with the deck stacked against them the government worked their way into one guilty verdict, and nearly got two - one juror refused to agree to a guilty verdict for the 'unknowingly receiving injections' allegation.

The head-scratching part of all of this is the future and the question 'where do we go from here'? The other three charges are still in limbo, and the government is deciding whether or not to re-try Bonds on those same charges. Perhaps this is why I was left so unsatisfied once I heard the outcome - I might have to go through this again. I might have to see reporters outside of a courtroom taking pictures of the home-run king as he walks through a metal detector. I might have to watch a legal analyst give the daily report on courtroom proceedings and testimony. I might have to have my own personal debate on how large the circumference of a human head can possibly be.

But until then, only two words can describe my feelings...annoyed and unsettled. The true joy for me will come when Barry Bonds is no longer in the news, and this drawn out, excruciatingly time consuming legal process finally comes to an end.

The NHL Playoffs have begun and today I realized something - those damn Red Wings have a really, really good shot to make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals. In the last five seconds you have undoubtedly realized I'm not a Detroit fan, but I gotta acknowledge how good they looked today against the Coyotes (I was fortunate enough to get game 2 of their series on TV at my apartment).

I could break down teams and do some predictions, but I think the bigger underlying theme to the Stanley Cup Playoffs is the intensity, stress, and physical toll that players will endure in the coming weeks. We as fans appreciate that more than anything. Take Johan Franzen for example - in today's game, he gets absolutely crushed face-first into the boards by a Phoenix defender. Franzen's face was mangled, bloody, and gross. But he returned to the game in the second period and played the remainder of the game with 27 stitches and a giant band-aid on his face. I'm not a Detroit fan, and I really hope they somehow collapse against the Coyotes, but I gotta give credit to players like Franzen who are absolute warriors.

But just for kicks....San Jose over Buffalo in 6 games...

Podcast for March 15th

Idaho: The Sickest State in America

My clock radio alarm went off at 6:30am this past Saturday morning. About ten minutes later I was laying in bed, still mending my emotional wounds from working close to 12 hours on Black Friday. I was in no mood to get out of bed, shower, eat, and drive to work. But then a clip of a play-by-play announcer yelling "The Boise dream is over!!" rang through my radio.

This did not change my feelings about working on a Saturday. However, it alerted me to the heartbroken population of Idaho - the angst, disgust, and sick feeling those people had to be dealing with. Suddenly working on a Saturday seemed less torturous.

As I ate breakfast and saw highlights of the game, I realized just how awful those Boise fans had to be feeling. They had the game won. It was right there. A 26-yard field goal is nothing more than an slightly extended extra point. Heck, even I kinda felt like throwing up.

Think about what Boise St. lost on Friday night. They lost a BCS bowl berth. They lost a chance to potentially play for the National Championship. They lost money - last year, the Broncos earned the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) close to $8 million for appearing in a BCS bowl.

But to the people of Idaho, much more was lost.

On a national level, Idaho is known for two things - potatoes and Boise State football. Personally, when I think of Idaho I think of the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" (I heard once upon a time that the movie was filmed there). The bottom line is this - no one really pays attention to the state of Idaho and what happens there. They (people of Idaho) go about their business, and the rest of the country does the same. What Boise State football brought to the state of Idaho was an identity. The Broncos gave Idahoans something to take pride in - something that they could look at and say "that's OUR team." And the rest of the country not only paid attention, but wondered if that team could possibly play for a National Championship.

So we strained our eyes, trying to make out what exactly was going on down on that blue carpet that high definition TV so annoyingly enhances. We watched Kellen Moore and Titus Young baffle opponents with spectacular throws and catches. Nearly three months ago we watched this team make a 4th quarter comeback and win against a Virginia Tech team many believed to be one of the best in the country. And so we began the process of wrapping our minds around the notion that the Broncos could be a legitimate title contender. For three months, we continually asked the question "Can this team really compete in the BCS championship if given the opportunity?"

That notion was put to bed on Friday night, and a dagger was driven into the pride felt by those citizens of Idaho.

Boise State will continue to play football. The fans will continue filling the bleachers and the turf will be blue as ever. But this senior-laden 2010 team will look much different next season. Will they be able to climb back to the top-3 in the BCS in 2011? Will they be relevant on a national level? That remains to be seen, but the quick and obvious answer is no. However, Chris Petersen has proved himself as a head coach and more recruits are taking a serious look at Boise State. All we can do now is wait and see if the Broncos can grab our attention once again.

Until then - here's to you, Idaho. The potato capitol of America.