That was a quote from a speech president bush gave. Remember? I should have cited it.

You asked me how I know Ken was the best of the era. The best answer I can give is: I don't know, but I believe it. It seems to me that most of the people in this forum treat baseball like math class. You gotcher swarps and the morps3 and your oops. I don't think of baseball like that. I think it's a mixture of gym class and performance art.

I think Griffey was the best for a few reasons.

1.) Great ambassador of the game. Nice guy, big smile. Great with kids.

2.) Athletic aestetic. Smooth. Powerful. Graceful. It's the performance art idea. He was technically doing the same things everyone else was doing, it just looked a hell of a lot cooler when he did them. (like the biggio/griffey argument yesterday. If they were cars, Biggio is a chevy malibu, Griffey is a lambo. They will both get you where you're going, but which one do you want?)

3.) He never used steroids. Okay, I don't know this one for sure, but, I firmly believe he never used the stuff.

4.) Everyone in the nineties was chasing Griffey. I offer that steroids were largely a response to Ken's natural talent.

baseball isn't about stats. They help to evaluate guys over the long haul, but they leave out about a third of the story. For example, people said that Griffey was an average centerfielder - which may be true. But, I'm sure a lot of third base coaches held guys at third because they weren't going to let Griffey, the star, beat them. No stat for that.

How many times did a lefty come in to face Griffey, only to give up hits to righties hitting after him (arod, buhner, etc..) No stat for that.

How many times did a pitcher crap his pants when Ken was on deck? How many times did a right fielder play way too deep against Ken? How many times did an opposing coach overcompensate for Ken?

All eyes were on him at all times. Distractions aren't good for defenders.

Most fans just don't understand that.

Look, I know how to hit a splitter and I know how to do all those things they only the baseball fraternity knows. I can listen to Joe Morgan and think he's brilliant. I don't know what warp3 is.

And, it all boils down to this: Ken was a great role model. He certainly didn't drive people away from the sport. In fact, isn't he credited with saving baseball in 95?

Other non baseball people can argue he wasn't the best, feel free to (the more attention on baseball the better). But, I think he was the finest, and I think most baseball people agree.

The guy who started last night for the falcons hadn't started a game in 5 years. and his last job was a sideline announcer for louisville.

Insert Nelly and Terry Crews reference.

The NFL has a shortage of quarterback talent. Michael Vick has quarterback talent. He'll suit up again.

The NFL is evil. They'll accept Vick back with open arms. (King, Testaverde started a game this year, he doesn't exactly have Vick's athleticism, and he's 43)

Why don't they put stickers with the names 'Jacinth Baker' and 'Richard Lollar' on the back of NFL helmets? You know, the guys who Ray Lewis killed.

I'll probably say it three more times. See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.

and God Bless Ken Griffey Jr.

Bagpipes was a little juiceface. Biggio is Pete Rose divided by 7.

I thought we were going to hammer away at Fehr and Selig today.

Goodday.

I'll grant a lot of those stats. Griffey can K with the best of them. Biggio scrapped and scooted around that dome for a long time.

I don't recall a Biggio for President ad campaign by Nike. Griffey was a force. The face of baseball - that's better than a pic of bonds angrily staring at someone. I don't remember one kid on my teams growing up that tried to emulate Biggio's swing.

Did Griffey play for the buckeyes? No, but his little brother Craig did. Kenneth was too busy starting in the all-star game at 19 to go to college.

Griffey was on the all-century team. Biggio wasn't. Thomas wasn't. Bonds wasn't. Rose was. Ted Williams was. Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth got the nod. Micky Mantle was on that team too.

I'll put it this way; you'll never have to answer to your grandkids what it was like watching Craig Biggio play. That means more than OPS.

Sorry, Mikes Pace, but Griffey was not the best player of the "steroid era". I don't like to let people get away with saying that, and they say it a lot. Barry Bonds was the best player of that era. Then probably some combination of Biggio, Frank Thomas, and Jeff Bagwell before Griffey.

If you called the four men you mentioned, all of them will tell you that Griffey Jr. was better than them during the steroid-era. Well, maybe not Bonds. But that wouldn't surprise me. It's fairly apparent that he doesn't always tell the truth.

Biggio?! Really?! That is such a head scratcher.

So do you think American forces should continue to occupy Iraq, and try to stamp this out.

Or should we leave Iraq and leave these Islamists to murder any women they want?

Or do you have a more nuanced answer?

(you can't put toothpaste back in the tube, and I doubt the AP's theory that Basra was a shining oasis of tolerance before the war.)

should we stay or should we go now?