NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. Gaylord Perry Giants Jersey . - The class was held just last week in Professor Bud Seligs classroom at the University of Wisconsin. The topic of the day, in the professors Baseball in American Society curriculum, was a whopper: steroids and baseball.Oh, if only there had been a camera rolling in that classroom that day. It was not Professor Seligs most comfortable lecture of the school year. Hes the first to admit that.His students werent easy on him, baseballs commissioner emeritus said Monday, the day after learning hed been elected to his sports Hall of Fame. In fact, they kept raising their hands to grill him at every turn.Did they ever, Selig told ESPN, in a candid conversation on one of his least favorite subjects. They were tough.And the toughest question they asked, he said, was one that millions of baseball fans have wondered about for nearly two decades, one that hung over the celebration of Seligs election to Cooperstown this week.They asked me, When were you aware of it? Selig recalled Monday, and, Why didnt you do more?Amid all the change and all the growth and all the innovations that propelled this former commissioner into the Hall of Fame, it is still that question about that era that never seems to stop lurking in the shadows. So how does Selig answer it? Heres how:In 1998, he said, he went to St. Louis to watch the Cardinals play the Cubs, as Mark McGwire dueled Sammy Sosa for what was then baseballs most beloved record -- Roger Maris 61 homers, which for 27 years had stood as the single-season home run mark.I talked to the Cubs about Sammy, Selig recalled. The Cardinals were thrilled with McGwire. It was a big civic celebration.And no one on either team mentioned a word, he said, about what was really driving those two men toward the threshold of history. So Selig said he turned to his baseball people in the commissioners office.He says he asked, Whats causing this? And they reeled off what we would now describe as the usual, everything-but-the-elephant-in-the-room, theories: Expansion. The dilution of pitching. Questions about whether there was something different about the baseball.They gave me a whole bunch of reasons, Selig said. And I kept asking about steroids.He said he then went to see one of his favorite Milwaukee Brewers, the recently retired Robin Yount, and asked him the same question: What about steroids?And he said, Commissioner, the only guy I knew [who was taking them] was [Jose] Canseco, Selig said. But he said, I dont know whats going on now.And I talked to a lot of baseball people, Selig went on, over and over and over again. But you know, by 2000, I moved (to impose testing and suspensions) in the minor leagues, which I could do unilaterally. So thats 15 years ago. So this idea that we didnt do anything just isnt accurate.You know, Ive thought about it a hundred times, because Im pretty tough on myself, Selig said, finally. And I honestly dont know what else I could have done. Thats my answer.But that wasnt his final answer. He also wanted to make it clear that once everyone in his office was ready to admit they had a huge problem on their hands, it was the players association that stood squarely in the way.He told tales of raging fights at the bargaining table that went on for hours. And as he heaped blame on the players association, he vented his frustration in a way he had never vented it before.I never understood, Selig said. Why would you defend a bunch of cheaters?And that is how Professor Selig laid out this controversial saga to his students last week, how he remembers those times to this day. He firmly believes he did what he could.I went back through the whole negotiations, Selig said he told his class. I went through everything. And I told them, There was nothing I could do. Its collectively bargained.But was it really that simple? Is it ever that simple? Clearly, Bud Selig wrestles with those doubts to this day, because after giving his side of this story for 11 minutes, he then turned to me.Now let me ask you a question, he said. And Im being serious. If you had been me then, what would you have done?Frankly, I was amazed that he asked. But I also had no trouble admitting to the commissioner emeritus that I thought back on those times a lot. And like a lot of members of the media, I carry a deep sense of guilt about that era and the way it was covered. I told him I wish Id done more. I wish Id asked more questions. I wish Id learned more. I wished Id said and written more.So that, I told him, was what I thought he could have done. He was the commissioner. So the one thing he could have done, without needing a bargaining table to do it, was raise this issue, speak about it more, admit to it earlier and bring it to the forefront.Thats fair, Selig replied. Thats very fair.A moment later, he looked me right in the eye again. Maybe youre right, he said. Maybe I should have said more.It is now many, many years later, of course. Eighteen years since McGwire and Sosa. Way too late to jump in a time machine and go back to those days when so much more could have, and should have, been done and said.Selig constantly tells himself that, ultimately, baseball dealt with the problem. It took too long. But in the end, he said, baseball wound up with not just the toughest testing in sports, but in America.But did it come with a lot of pain? Selig asked, rhetorically. You bet it did.And this was the true measure of just how much pain. Even on one of the greatest days of his life in baseball, that pain was impossible to dismiss, just as these questions are impossible to dismiss. Even in a college classroom in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison Bumgarner Jersey . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Denard Span Giants Jersey . Cote was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 15. Cote helped running back Jon Cornish run for a league-high 1,813 rushing yards en route to being named the leagues most outstanding player.http://www.sfgiantsapparelsshop.com/ricky-romero-jersey-c-25/ . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Coyotes endured more than their share of injuries, losses and tough travel to start the season, but there is one area in which Arizona is fortunate. The team is tied for the fewest number of games played in the league at 17.That is about to change.Starting with a Wednesday home game against the Vancouver Canucks at Gila River Arena, Arizona will play every other day or back-to-back days for the next 46 days -- a total of 23 games. They wont have more than one day off in a row until Dec. 24-26.The World Cup of Hockey created a condensed schedule for all NHL teams, and the Coyotes are about to pay the piper, eliminating much of their practice time and forcing coach Dave Tippett to get creative.There are times when rest is going to be a better factor, but you still dont stop preparing even though you use rest to allow you to play better in games, Tippett said. With our group, we still do lots of video because weve got a young group thats still learning a lot of situations. You dont stop teaching. You dont stop finding solutions in a game. Sometimes its just not through practice.The Canucks (19 games played) face a similar situation with only two two-day rests on the schedule for the next month and 16 games on the slate. That doesnt bode well for a team whose early-season struggles nearly matched the Coyotes. Vancouver (16 points) and Arizona (14 points) are two of the bottom three teams in the league standings.Vancouver is still smarting from blowing a three-goal, third-period lead against the Blackhawks on Saturday and losing in overtime at home. The collapse began when Chicago scored two goals in the first 4:06 of the third period.I dont think we panicked, but they got momentum off it and started coming at us and were hard to handdle, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. Willie Mays Jersey. We needed to be more aggressive, and we didnt sustain enough. We had to get after it. We didnt want to sit back.While the Coyotes earned points in each of their past three games (1-0-2), the Canucks are 3-2-1 in their past six games, including a 3-2 overtime win over the Coyotes in Vancouver on Thursday.Arizona settled its fluctuating center position this week when it sent 2015 first-round pick Dylan Strome back to juniors on Sunday to play for Erie of the Ontario Hockey League. The move came one day after the team lost veteran center Brad Richardson to a broken tibia and fibula in the game against Vancouver. Richardson will be sidelined indefinitely.With both of those players gone, the Coyotes will rely on a depth chart of Martin Hanzal, rookie Christian Dvorak, rookie Laurent Dauphin and converted left winger Jordan Martinook, who played center in juniors.I feel like every game I get more and more comfortable, Martinook said. Now that I know its set in stone, Ill focus a little more on the little things like faceoffs. Wherever they put me, wherever they want to play me, Ill do it and Ill do it with a smile on.Arizona right winger Ryan White (upper body) and defenseman Alex Goligoski (illness) practiced Tuesday and are expected to play. Mike Smith will start in goal.Vancouver forwards Derek Dorsett (shoulder), Jannik Hansen (undisclosed) and Anton Rodin (knee) and defenseman Chris Tanev (lower body) are on injured reserve. Goalie Ryan Miller is over his case of the flu and is expected to start. The Canucks recalled forward Joseph Labate from Utica of the AHL on Tuesday. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
The Wall