Baseball's apple pie is long replaced by steroids and the NFL is crawling with man-monsters you don't want to see at your local nightspot after 2:00 a.m. Politicians have -in the words of President Obama- turned toxic discourse into a "sport" and we, the mostly uninformed seethe at one another based on emotion. No one is aging gracefully, and no one is placing value on neither respect nor perspective in the world of sports.

In 2003 Featherweight boxer Manny Pacquiao entered an American sports psychology jaded and hell-bent on tearing down anything approaching that of a phenomenon. By 2003 Marion Jones lied, Shane Mosley's "conditioning guy" Darryl Hudson visited Balco and Barry Bonds told us all we could kiss his black ass. The fact that this one handed Filipino fireball had a desire to learn to fight (from Freddy Roach) based on poverty that makes Grand Rapids look like Beverly Hills was lost on us- because by then we trusted no one.  

Watching Jalen Rose ignorantly minimize Pacquiao's achievements (on ESPN's First Take) is symbolic of the purchasing of widespread fear, born of the pampered Narcissistic American Athlete (and audience) that lowered the bar on the qualities required to improve as drastically as Pacquiao did. Any mention of Pacquiao's defeat at 112 lbs. is like questioning Mayweather's championship credentials because he lost in the amateurs! We find it so easy to underestimate just how insulted Manny Pacquiao is by the accusations of PED use by Golden Boy and Mayweather, we can't imagine someone standing on principal- We're American. Here  we wait for TMZ to tell us who is or isn't a good person, and then storm the gaits when they come back from our character assassination.

Tiger Woods ya'll?

We don't care if Pacquiao blew up to 145 lbs. before the second Marquez fight or that he weighed in at 145 lbs. for Joshua Clottey. We don't care that Boxing is one of the few sports fertile for phenomenon, that there may be theories but historically there have been plenty of physical oddities that possess unique gifts. What the hell is Paul Williams? And if Roger Mayweather is the historian he claims to be, why can't he recall any of the great little men who routinely beat larger opponents?  

In 2010 we would rather believe Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Roger Mayweather's imaginary PED A-side Meth which by coincidence isn't tested for by the USADA outfit working the Mayweather/Mosley bout. Not me, I'd rather believe in Manny Pacquiao because my history tells me men like Harry Greb, Sam Langford and Stanley Ketchel existed.

We'd rather believe that Freddy Roach, a disciple of Eddie Futch, who successfully game planned 3 victories over Ali needs a little assistance to mold a great fighter. Two men who can only claim success with one fighter, a relative, can cast slander on the camp of an All Time great who trained his first Champion in 1987! We'd also rather believe that Mayweather and Malignaggi (Manny's biggest critics), two slick boxers who rely on controlling pace aren't the least bit flummoxed by what Pacquiao brings to the ring. Remember slick boxers depend on a glaring speed advantage (and windows) to control proceedings -neither have ever faced a volume puncher that can match their speed of hand or foot.

Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas and James Toney were all lessened in the ring by steroid use and yet fear of Pacquiao's dominance leads us to believe he somehow got his hands on some "good stuff." Really? No, I choose to believe Manny crossed De la Hoya by taking his briefcase and reneging on a deal. Manny wouldn't get my congressional vote because he navigated this situation like any other athlete: poorly. De La Hoya's embarrassment was heightened when he thought he'd teach the "lil guy" a lesson and got his ass whipped. What Manny took from Oscar that night is more hurtful than the money- I guess the Golden Boy never heard of Harry Greb. Oscar and Hatton both were not only beaten but retired by Pacquiao, so in this climate of skepticism and bitterness the seed was planted. This seed was transferred to Mayweather who had his own axe to grind with Arum and resented the fact that boxing appreciated its new pound for pound king.