The Dream is Dead and More Mitchell Fallout

I was an unusual Sunday for me at Bandits Honeycomb Hideout. I had neither the Bengals to deal with watching as they had played (and lost a listless game to the 49ers) the night before nor the Vikings to look forward to (Playing da Bears tonite). Unconcerned about the snow bowl game the Browns and Bills were playing and not wanting to break out into hives listening to the Fox broadcasters drool over Brett Favre (Oh hush, Pack fans. I know he broke Marino's passing yard record and yes he is a great QB) I decided to work on my golf game (I play an old version of Hot Shots Golf and play decent on occasion) and check in on the scores. The only game I was really concerned about was the Dolphins and Ravens. After my first round of 3 under par 69, I checked to see that the Ravens were leading 6-3. After my second round of 1 under 71, I checked to see that the Ravens were leading 13-3 but the Dolphins were driving. After a horrendous 80 (Three times in the water hazard will do that to you) I checked to see to my horror that the Dolphins were winning 16-13.
What!!
This can't be happening.
I must admit before I continue that I was secretly harboring a desire to see the Dolphins go winless or at least until they got to their season ending game against the Bengals. I know that the pressure would have been on the Bengals to complete the dream of a winless season. I debated leaving the cozy confines of the hideout and trekking to the neighborhood pub (In the snow) to catch the conclusion of the game on their NFL sunday ticket. The only drawback is that I would have to deal with annoying Packer fans who host their weekly Favre fests at this bar and braying Browns fans who flush with playoff fever have gotten quite boisterous as of late. I decided to keep a vigil on the sports networls for updates. The Browns-Bills game ended and CBS cut to the Jags-Steelers game a tight one in itself but not the game I wanted to keep abreast on. I tracked the game on NFL.com and was pleased to see that despite being down 16-13 the Ravens were at the Dolphins 1 with a timeout to spare. 4th and Goal at the 1, with battering ram Willis McGahee at your disposal? The choice is obvious, run it in and send the Dolphins to another close loss and keep the winless dream alive.
Billick sends the field goal unit out to kick the chippee
Huh???
What happened to the axiom, play for the tie at home and the win on the road?
Guess Billick wasn't there for that lesson.
Anyway, the Ravens make the field goal and win the toss in overtime, the Jags-Steelers game concludes and the network switches to the Ravens-Dolphins game which sees the Ravens led by last years Heisman winner Troy Smith (Is HE still in this league?) marching down the field. Its looking a lot like this one is going to be over. Then the network does it.
They show a graphic, showing Ravens kicker Matt Stover is 5 for 5 in overtime field goal attempts in his career and I get that feeling.
The same feeling I got in the Metrodome in January 1999 when Gary Anderson lined up for a 38 yard field goal to give the Vikes a ten point lead in the NFC Championship game and hearing someone says Anderson's automatic he hasn't missed a thing all year.
The same feeling I had in 1997 when I was in the RCA Dome in Indy, sitting a row behind a Kentucky fan whom after watching Arizona beat North Carolina in the first national semifinal game and before Kentucky was to take the court to play Minnesota pulled out a cell phone and said "Go ahead and start on those back to back national championship t-shirts. We ain't losing to Arizona.
Anderson missed, the Vikings lost. Kentucky played a bruising game against Minnesota and was so spent that they let a talented but overmatched Arizona team beat them in OT in the national championship.
Anyway, Stover came out for a 44 yarder and missed. I knew then the dream would die. The network citing its league obligations cut away from the game at 4:15 ET. I went back to the computer and waited. The Dolphins ran two plays and then there was a long pause. Just as I was about to curse my PC connection CBS broadcast the final play of the game and I saw an aqua streak going across the small football field. 66 Yards to Brian Cammarillo (Who is that guy?) Touchdown Dolphins, they win and they won't go winless.
Damn.
I guess that dream will go the way of those back to back national championship t-shirts that UK fan was getting made...
I wanted to see the unbeaten Pats taking on the winless Dolphins, but now its just another meaningless game.

Some quick thoughts on the continued fallout about the Mitchell report.
Other than The Sporting News cribbing my abbreviations of PEDs (Yes they did!) There is only one thing I have to ask about.
The records and stats. I have heard that they should be expunged from the record, I have heard that they should have an asterisk next to them. I have heard that the players should never be in consideration for the Hall of Fame. Or that some or all of the items should be weighted But to all of these I say this.
Do nothing to the records and stats.
Make no asterisks.

Bonds hit 762 home runs, can you tell me which ones or how may of them will you throw out?
Given the intricate number of players and teams that were affected by this, what wins and losses do you throw out? Do you call them forfeits? What about the awards won, championships claimed and superlatives set? How do you adjust them?
I heard someone say just vacate their participation, but what of the clean players that have played and the games that they were in that had players that had PEDs? What do you do with them?
Like I said before, do nothing.
I am not condoning the use of PEDS, lets get that straight but what is punishing the players that did what they did retroactively going to prove? Now getting elected to the Hall of Fame, that may be a different story. It may be ironic that MLB's Hit King and Home Run King may be sitting at the gates of Cooperstown, on the outside looking in. But vacating records, alerting standings and redistributing awards will cause more of a mess than leaving things alone.
I state again, the Mitchell report while highly incidiary and quite damming on some fronts does shed light on some activities. It is not a positive drug test and since no one has them; whether because there was no testing for it, or there were ways to get around it. There is no proof besides the accusations of a trainer that there was PED use. Now, if players come forward like a Jason Giambi or an Andy Petitte and admit that they did use PEDS or a player is hemmed up in court to the point that they have to admit that they did use PEDS like I have the feeling that Barry Bonds will end up having to do. No one will ever find out the depth of PED use and how much it affected the game. Don't say look at the numbers and the jump in homers and slugging. You cant say that PED use was the single factor in that happening. Yes the Mitchell report will have some ripple effect. I'm hoping that once and for all it rids the national pastime of this PEDS shadow. But a reactionary and retroactive response to what amount to a McCarthy like laundry list is not the answer.
The great list of bowl picks will start on Wednesday with the first 6 bowl games of the season. Also on Wednesday will be a preview of another boring Thursday Night affair, as well as my thoughts on Michigan's new head coach and the Phat Dap/Head Slap of the week of which I have lots of nominees for both.
Until Next Post Fellow Sports Fans!