I am sitting at the bar of Josie’s on the Upper West Side enjoying a Blood Orange Margarita, making light conversation with an adorable bartender who just so happens to be named Josie and alternately reading news on my Palm, reading an article in The Atlantic about China, and texting friends. This is of course going against all I am trying to learn in regards to focusing and meditation, but old habits die hard and the margarita only spurs more thought.

For a Friday night, there were some real good news bits. NFL Free Agency singings, Hank Steinbrenner making comments that brought a huge smile to my face, and a report that a judge ordered the grand jury testimony of Barry Bonds to be unsealed. For me, being able to alternate between Josie, the margarita, China, text messages and great sports news was almost more than I could handle.

Let me start with what, in my opinion, is the most significant free agency signing of this early free agency season. Asante Samuel signed a 6 year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, reportedly worth $57 million with $20 million of it guaranteed. This is a big deal for the Eagles and for the Patriots. This past season the Eagles had the fewest takeaways in the league and did not score a defensive touchdown. This fact was blurred in Philadelphia where all people want to do is bash Donovan McNabb. So that is one piece of the puzzle for the Eagles that should help them be near the top of the hyper-competitive NFC East next year.

For the Patriots, not re-signing Samuel could signify a much larger trend for the most dominant team in the past 10 years. After the Giants win over the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, I was chatting with good friend T-Mac by the Bay and he posed to me the following question. “Which Super Bowl team, Giants or Patriots, are most likely to miss the playoffs next season?” He asked this question because for the past 5 or so years one Super Bowl participant had not made the playoffs the following year. At the time, both T-Mac and I were looking for a reason to say the Pats would not make the playoffs, but we both knew it would come down to the off-season and what deals were made or not made. Now, with Samuel gone and Randy Moss unsigned T-Mac and I have the ammunition we need to go with the Patriots as the team to not make the playoffs. However, with the AFC East being considerably weaker than the NFC East, and with the Giants losing some key defensive players yesterday (Kawika Mitchell to the Bills, Reggie Torbor to the Dolphins, and Gibril Wilson to the Raiders), and Michael Strahan undecided on his possible return, the Giants are certainly no lock to make the playoffs next year.

Speaking of the Patriots and Giants, this past Super Bowl did nothing to chill the rivalry between New York and the pseudo-city to the north, Boston. And with spring training underway Hank Steinbrenner threw a big heaping serving of gasoline onto the already roaring fire. To go back to last week, Boston GM Theo Epstein made comments about the Red Sox upcoming trip to Japan and for some reason felt it necessary to name Mike Mussina as an example of a player that bitched and moaned about the trip when the Yankees went to the Pacific Rim a few years back. While Epstein’s intention was to say to his players, don’t bitch and moan, there was no reason for him to mention Mike Mussina by name, and even more unnecessary was to say that the Yankees used it as an excuse considering that they won the division that year.

Now to Hank’s comments, which he made during an interview that will appear in The New York Times Play magazine. Here is Hank’s comment: “”Red Sox Nation?” What a bunch of shit that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.”

I love it! Keep it up Hank! And Fuck the Red Sox!

I know a lot of people are tired of all the steroid and HGH talk, and people feel that pursuing liars is a waste of time and money. However, I am not one of those people.

First, when baseball games begin people will focus on baseball and the steroid talk will only come up when a player tests positive. That does not mean that those who have tangled themselves in their own web of lies won’t be the focus of talk, but that is a good thing.

Let me address everyone’s concerns about how Congress spends their time and our tax dollars. The war in Iraq, poverty, homelessness, the US economy and all other very important issues are in no way being pushed aside. If the issue of performance enhancing drugs wasn’t a topic, the aforementioned issues would still exist and they wouldn’t be any closer to resolution.

Second, if people told the truth there wouldn’t be a need for a Congressional investigation. When you lie, especially under oath, you are asking for trouble. Just ask Bill Clinton. The truth shall set you free, and it is about time people start speaking the truth. We all want sports figures to be role models but now that they are being asked to be true role models of how a person should act, a few of them are showing their true colors of liars and cheats that will stop at nothing to salvage their own egos.

Roger and Barry loved being in the spotlight, and wanted nothing more than to further their careers and to acquire more attention. Be careful what you wish for gentlemen, wou just might get it.

Lastly, professional sports leagues are given huge breaks when it comes to taxes and anti-trust exemptions. They do owe it to us, the American people, and to Congress, to answer these questions and to run leagues that at the very least appear to be legitimate. In an upcoming article I will write about the future of the NFL and gambling and why the New England Patriots supposed spying is a big deal.