Cushing wins re-vote

[Conch]

So the guy is taking a PED that makes his pecker a normal size because the steroids he was taking shrunk it. He obviously has a good masking agent for his steroids. But he could not mask the fact he had a small pecker. Probably was afraid to shower with the team.

 

Again most of the sports media who took a blind eye to steroids for 20 years give another cheater a pass. It is time we hold the sports media to a standard, any standard, for they have obviously failed their duty again. It is also time to rename the Steel Curtain the Steroid Curtain. Let's call cheaters what they are every time we see them.

 

I had always like Chris Berman, he voted for Cushing twice, he has lost all credibility.

[Delete This Account]

Oh no you didn't!

 

yeah, he did. i thought it was quite funny.

 

jw

[Gugny]

Would the timing of Cushing's positive test for HCG, and the fact that he'd be regularly tested thereafter, mean that there's no doubt he was clean for the entire season?

[Delete This Account]

I realize JW has already answered this, but here's how I had it explained to me by a guy from a bigger paper: "When AP began handing out awards (more than a half-century ago, in some cases), there really weren't that many AP employees. The AP was ... and is ... all of us."

 

To prove his point, I believe every AP-affiliated paper which regularly covers a Division 1 basketball program -- yeah, even the little ol' Olean Times Herald, down here on the Bonnies beat -- gets a vote in the weekly Top 25 poll.

Thanks, Lori.

one point of clarification. all member papers that cover a Division I team are eligible to vote. however, they all do not get a vote. to keep it fair for all teams, votes are split up between each state based on population and number of Division I teams they have.

i don't have the list in front of me, but i do know that Upstate NY has two voters, including the Olean Times-Herald.

 

jw

[Lori]

Thanks, Lori.

one point of clarification. all member papers that cover a Division I team are eligible to vote. however, they all do not get a vote. to keep it fair for all teams, votes are split up between each state based on population and number of Division I teams they have.

i don't have the list in front of me, but i do know that Upstate NY has two voters, including the Olean Times Herald.

 

jw

Okay, thanks for that correction. I know Amy Moritz has one of the votes in the women's poll. Wonder if the other one for the men resides in Buffalo or Syracuse (or perhaps someplace like Albany or Bingo, depending on the definition of "upstate").

[Gugny]

List of AP Voters (from Wiki)

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AP_Poll#List_of_voters

[uncle flap]

CHANGED FROM JAIRUS BYRD (2)

Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Brian Cushing)

 

wow. so how does this make any sense?

 

anyway, the only reasons i can think of why cushing would still be eligible for, and then win the DROY are:

 

1. the voters decided that since the failed test was before/at the beginning of the season, and cushing passed subsequent tests throughout the season, that he was clean during the season

 

2. the voters are making a statement in order to pressure the nfl to change their handling of these matters ("oh, you don't want us to give a "cheater" an award? then you should've suspended him earlier- or at least told us before the first vote...screw you")

 

personally, i'd be torn between these two options. i'm as big a homer there is but strictly based on on-field performance, i'd give my vote to cushing over byrd. but in the light of cushing's suspension, i could not in good conscience vote for him, unless there was some coordinated effort by the voters to make some sort of statement (and if that is the case in reality - the statement isn't clear to me, so nice job guys).

 

however, as has been brought up in a number of other posts- who cares? i could maybe guess a few of the winners of the past few years, but really the only reason anyone is paying attention to this award is because a known cheater won it. and maybe cushing technically wasn't cheating during the majority of the season, he still cheated and that is enough reason for me, if i were voting, to vote for someone else.

[KD in CA]

I will boycott reading several publications.

Based on your inability to write coherently or articulate anything resembling an intelligent argument, I'd guess this has been a lifelong policy.

 

 

This thread is an embarrassment. I can't remember the last time we had so much self righteous whining over something so utterly meaningless.

 

As for Ed Bouchette, he probably thought the 're-vote' was a silly publicity stunt and this was his protest. Good for him.

[Captain Caveman]

I am not going to agrue with someone that calls himself Captain caveman! LOL!

 

BS, you've shown here that you'll argue anything and with anyone. Stop crying.

 

Edit: I just read the rest of this thread. I guess you already did argue with everyone and everyone. And you'll be crying alone, or at least not on this board.

[Booster4324]

BS, you've shown here that you'll argue anything and with anyone. Stop crying.

 

I don't think you will get a response. At least, not for a while...

[VABills]

Based on your inability to write coherently or articulate anything resembling an intelligent argument, I'd guess this has been a lifelong policy.

 

 

This thread is an embarrassment. I can't remember the last time we had so much self righteous whining over something so utterly meaningless.As for Ed Bouchette, he probably thought the 're-vote' was a silly publicity stunt and this was his protest. Good for him.

pasta recipes.

[R. Rich]

I don't think you will get a response. At least, not for a while...

 

 

There may be more to follow.

[Zulu Cthulhu]

There may be more to follow.

 

Good. Some just don't know how to play nicely on the internets...

[LongLiveRalph]

This thread is an embarrassment. I can't remember the last time we had so much self righteous whining over something so utterly meaningless.

 

 

Who actually gives a rat's ass about the ROY awards? Who remembers them even four months later? I honestly forgot Cushing won.

 

It's hilarious, the self-righteous people on here who will boycott various publications and networks, but will not boycott the NFL, who made this whole fiasco possible with their failure to suspend an offending player in a timely fashion. I keep posting that this should be more of the issue, but there hasn't been much response. Isn't it true that allowing Cushing to play in actual games that matter, and affecting the seasons of his team and their opponents, is more of an issue than who the Detroit Free Press beat writer votes for in a worthless award??? I sure think so.

[bills44]

i'm extremely disapointed (sic) with your spelling as well as your comprehension abilities. however, your instinct for kneejerk reactions seems to be working well.

 

jw

 

 

again, you're comprehension skills are lacking. i didn't just critique your grammar.

 

jw

 

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

 

Who actually gives a rat's ass about the ROY awards? Who remembers them even four months later? I honestly forgot Cushing won.

 

It's hilarious, the self-righteous people on here who will boycott various publications and networks, but will not boycott the NFL, who made this whole fiasco possible with their failure to suspend an offending player in a timely fashion. I keep posting that this should be more of the issue, but there hasn't been much response. Isn't it true that allowing Cushing to play in actual games that matter, and affecting the seasons of his team and their opponents, is more of an issue than who the Detroit Free Press beat writer votes for in a worthless award??? I sure think so.

 

 

And yet you took the time to post about something you claim to care nothing about?

[LongLiveRalph]

And yet you took the time to post about something you claim to care nothing about?

 

Good input, thanks for taking the time to add that!

 

I'm saying and (have been saying) that there's a glaring issue that's not even being mentioned: The NFL's 8-month appeals process for a failed test. The league has a banned-substance list, Cushing tested positive for a banned substance in September...What's the issue? What's the delay? Whether he took it unknowingly, it was prescribed, etc. is irrelevant. The list is provided to every team and player, he failed the test.

 

I couldn't care less about sportswriter opinion awards. I'm trying to steer the discussion into something relevant, like actual games that count in the standings. If the Bills missed the playoffs by one game, and they lost to Houston in a game that Cushing had 11 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles, and an INT, I'm sure the conversation would be quite different than "I'm writing a letter to that hack at the Seattle Times!"

 

What if Houston won the Super Bowl and Cushing was the game MVP? Is the NFL going to come out in May and say, "Oh by the way, the MVP of the biggest game in our sport was on steroids, and we knew it, but were taking a closer look." ???

 

So THAT'S what I care about. Not this ancillary B.S.

[uncle flap]

Good input, thanks for taking the time to add that!

 

I'm saying and (have been saying) that there's a glaring issue that's not even being mentioned: The NFL's 8-month appeals process for a failed test. The league has a banned-substance list, Cushing tested positive for a banned substance in September...What's the issue? What's the delay? Whether he took it unknowingly, it was prescribed, etc. is irrelevant. The list is provided to every team and player, he failed the test.

 

I couldn't care less about sportswriter opinion awards. I'm trying to steer the discussion into something relevant, like actual games that count in the standings. If the Bills missed the playoffs by one game, and they lost to Houston in a game that Cushing had 11 tackles, three sacks, two forced fumbles, and an INT, I'm sure the conversation would be quite different than "I'm writing a letter to that hack at the Seattle Times!"

 

What if Houston won the Super Bowl and Cushing was the game MVP? Is the NFL going to come out in May and say, "Oh by the way, the MVP of the biggest game in our sport was on steroids, and we knew it, but were taking a closer look." ???

 

So THAT'S what I care about. Not this ancillary B.S.

 

my guess as to why this process is so drawn out is because the nfl wants to limit the impact of negative news surrounding an up and coming player who will likely sell lots of jerseys and tickets throughout his career, as well as limiting the negative news about the nfl in general.

 

cushing's suspension would have been a much bigger deal if it was announced midseason and imposed immediately. the nfl seems to hope (and they're probably right) that no one will be talking about this in a week, and by the time the season rolls around, there will be many more hotter topics of discussion.

 

and your last point is a good one- all the more reason to impose suspensions immediately. i'm all for the appeal process, and the idea of "innocent until proven guilty," but in this scenario - which effects employees of a company, not the general public, the only valid defense would be some type of lab error. there is a zero tolerance policy- it doesn't matter if a player takes a banned substance knowingly or not. how can an appeal last more than the time it takes to retest, if in fact there was or might have been a lab error?

 

i realize the nfl's punishments are strict and that cushing has been ultimately been suspended, but there is still something very wrong with this process.

[LeviF]

Good. Some just don't know how to play nicely on the internets...

That is one of the greatest avatar/handle combos I have ever seen!

[papazoid]

backlash against AP voters who supported Cushing is building...

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/...ng-is-building/