Separated at Birth: Drew Gooden & Jerramy Stevens

In honor of the NBA trading deadline, we present a special edition of Separated at Birth (a second one may be to follow, but it may be tomorrow before I get around to it). Drew Gooden, left, smiles as he remembers the better days as a Cleveland Cavalier. Now he'll be miserable in Chicago. I couldn't find a smiling picture of Jerramy Stevens, who would bear a much closer resemblance to Gooden if only he'd show some teeth.

Oh well, what you see is what you get. And it's certainly a better shot than this one.

The quote A-Rod would love to have back

When microphones and tape recorders are constantly shoved in your face and under your chin, it's tough to avoid occasionally sticking your foot in your mouth.

If anyone would know about media scrutiny, it's Alex Rodriguez. So Rodriguez should know that when you're asked a difficult question, you dodge it: not overtly, but by using a lot of words and subtly changing the subject or the tone of the conversation.

And A-Rod should certainly know that you never volunteer anything that could incriminate you.

When asked the obligatory questions about steroids in baseball and the alleged use by Roger Clemens, though, Rodriguez managed to violate just about every one of the keys to an effective interview.

“Last year, I got tested 9 to 10 times,” he said. “We have a very, very strict policy, and I think the game is making tremendous strides.”

You what? As the New York Times story points out, 9-10 tests could be an indicator of positive tests; most players are only tested twice and additional tests are typically reserved for those who failed initial tests.

Fortunately, Rodriguez has a media relations director looking out for him, as he later explained that his initial statement was a matter of hyperbole. It was really 7-10 tests, he said.

Hmmmm. Looks like that foot is still pretty much lodged in there.

Feature story on NFL Draft Analyst Rob Rang

By most appearances, Rob Rang is a pretty average customer. He goes to school, teaches yearbook and freshman English, and goes home.

But the seemingly ordinary Rang has a second career as an NFL Draft Analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, and he's known as one of the best in the industry.

If you're interested, check out the feature piece I wrote on Rang that came out in today's Olympian.

Takin' it to the street: Suns and Nuggets to play outdoors

Carmelo Anthony could become the first NBA player to have a bird scat on his head during a game, Shaq could be the first to lose a pass in the sunlight, and Steve Nash could complain about a wind gust knocking down his three ball.

Lots of things could go wrong with the outdoor exhibition between the Suns and the Nuggets, scheduled for October 11 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California.

But lots of things could go right, too. And if worse comes to worst, the powers that be can just put the kabosh on any similar events in the future.

Considering the NHL's smashing success in staging the outdoor Winter Classic, though, I don't think the NBA has anything to worry about. The New Year's Day event drew record crowds despite snow conditions, and seemed to create the kind of stir the league has desperately needed.

The sheer novelty of an outdoor game and all of the interesting possibilities stemming from that -- see the first paragraph -- is what excites me.

But there's one thing about the pre-season event that has me scratching my head. It seems that by playing an outdoor game, the NBA is trying to appeal to the street ball crowd: you know, the ones that play inside the chain-link fence, swish their shots through metal nets, and say things like "we got next."

By hosting the game at the luxurious Indian Wells (check out the link if you've never seen a tennis match there), any notion of "street" is pretty much thrown out the window. But if that's not what they're going for, then I'm good with it.

EFBM: Everyone's fault but mine

I'll start by saying sorry to anyone who's visited this site in the last week and found nothing but old news. I was busy, then on a short vacation. Everyone has a right to some time off, I think, but I should have posted a note or something.

Anyway, let's move on.

I was reading the remarks from Hank Steinbrenner about baseball being "singled out," and it got me thinking: pretty much everything about this whole steroid mess is someone else's fault.

Roger Clemens is furious that his trainer would betray him like this, and all of the corroborating testimony that Brian McNamee has conjured up is equally outrageous. Rafael Palmeiro squawked that he tested positive for steroids because he was given tainted supplements. And Barry Bonds...well, he's pretty much just angry with the world at large.

Anyone that hasn't taken a deny, deny, deny approach is admitting one-time use for recovery purposes only, and the net result is this feeling that everyone is trying to sweep a major issue under the carpet. When the music stops with you, you say your piece -- but be sure to keep it short and vague; it's best for your career -- and hope everyone can move on.

It's time for everyone, from the Commissioner to the owners to the general managers to the players, to taken ownership for what has taken place in the last decade and a half. They've cashed their increasingly bloated paychecks, and I think it's more than fair to expect an explanation to the fans.

Everyone at every level would like this steroid problem to go away. But as they say, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, and too many people flat-out refuse to do that.

Andy Pettite took a decent first step yesterday, and we can only hope that others will follow his example.