UP AT 6: CAN'T SPELL 'PRO' WITHOUT HYPROCISY

Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein ...

• The apparent shrug over the Toronto Argonauts signing former Pro Bowl wide receiver David Boston, compared to what greeted Ricky Williams coming north in '06, says so much.
  
  Think about it. There was an outrage that the Argos signed Williams, who had flaked out on the Miami Dolphins and was an admitted pot smoker. He was also under NFL suspension, which Boston is not, fair enough. Some CFL loyalists acted like the Argos had signed the devil himself, even though it's hard to see how Williams could have been worse than Lawrence Phillips.
  
  Boston's dirty laundry includes more than a few roaches. He's failed a steroid test, entered a no-contest plea just last week to a charge of reckless driving and a domestic violence arrest last fall. (Boston's wife had objected to him leaving their one-month-old son unattended; an argument ensued.) He's not suspended by the league; Tampa Bay basically paid him off with an injury settlement last season.
  
  There would be no pro sports without badasses who would be in prison if not for their ability to perform a socially irrelevant act. However, it's odd that a drug cheat who has bullied women and put people at risk by driving when he wasn't in a the right state of mind to being arouses indifference, while the same people got their knickers in a knot over Ricky Williams.
• That being said, the Vikings really, really close to landing Jared Allen, says the Daily Norseman. Apparently his granddaddy talked some sense into him after his drunk-driving arrest last year. (Not completely, though: Allen wants to try MMA.)
• From the "Why everyone hates Duke University" files. Their baseball team fell behind in extra innings of a crucial game on Sunday. Suddenly, a school official emerged and stopped the game due to supposed lightning activity in the area, even though it wasn't even raining. No one put a tarp on the field; they just stalled and waited for rain so the game could be declared a tie. Now do you understand why college basketball fans hate the Blue Devils so, so much?
• Ottawa Fury striker Alex Valerio playing internationally for Portugal, rather than play international soccer for Canada, has stirred up quite a debate.
• Frequent commenter Tyler King is starting an online baseball sim league. There's already 12 owners for the inaugural season of the Ted Rogers Baseball League -- that's a lot of people who'll be looking up at the future champions, the Portland Ballsheviks, who will by flying a fictitious pennant at the fictitious Sagar-Sager Stadium.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.