What, does AP's photographers work for the Dodgers too? Guess everyone does love Manny. Welcome back indeed. You definitely make it worth watching MannRam.

The other day Pembertonian was giving me crap, calling me a “homer” because I was talking about how much I love my job while he wallows in the self-pity that comes with working in the newspaper biz.

It was the first time in a long time someone could actually call me a homer, because if you’ve read this blog, as a dozen people have, you know I hate pretty much everything. Yeah, not a glass-half-full kind of guy.

Hate the town I live in. Hate the high school and college I went to. Hated pretty much every job I’ve had until now. Heck, I hate myself.

If I played in the XFL, I’d be “B Hate Everybody.”

Speaking of hate, I hate TV “journalism” and morons that broadcast a lot of our sporting events.

Fox, Homer love them some Manny.

We already knew Homer was a Manny/Isotopes fan, but how about the crew at Fox Sports Net/Prime Ticket or whatever they’re calling it these days? Public Enemy No. 1, Manny Ramirez comes to the plate for his first at-bat since being suspended 50 games for failing a drug test, and FSNPT’s ace cameramen couldn’t find any negativity at Petco. The 10 signs they showed, all hearted Manny. Welcome back Manny. Missed you Manny. You da Man Manny.

Same thing in his second and third at-bat, nothing but cheers and Mannywood signs.

Yeah, that same San Diego crowd that threw syringes at Bonds had nothing but love for Manny – yeah, and I love reading boxscores of WNBA games.

While we’re being all positive like these idiots on our televisions, let’s take a second and reflect on how awesome life on the Left Coast has been the past couple days:

• Manny is back.
• Phil Jackson is back.
• Ron Artest is crazy wearing purple and gold.
• Sarah Palin is out.

The Worm and The Artest have a lot in common. They're both crazy.

Really, does it get any better than that?

But just so you know I haven’t lost my glass-half-emptiness. Is it just me, or does this Ron Artest move scare Laker Nation? RK, your thoughts?

Kind of reminds me of another wack-job defensive/rebounding headcase the Lakers signed a few years ago.

Yeah, how’d that work out?

Only in Mannywood baby.

Happy Fourth to all the WCBias peeps!

Remember the old comic book character Man-E-Faces? That split personality remind you of any other blue, super-hero-like characters by the same name?

So Manny Ramirez is set to return Friday after his suspension for using female fertility drugs – they don’t allow that kind of stuff in California any more.

It’ll be interesting to see what kind or reception he gets around the Majors, from opposing players, fans, media, etc. But that’s not what I’m most interested in watching, because, well, we’ve been through with dozens of players who used performance enhancers and will see it probably a hundred other times in our lives.

I’ve said it before and will say it again, until they rid the game of HGH, and at least test for it, you can’t point the finger at just Manny – because I guarantee a majority of the players in the major American sports are on the stuff. Manny just happened to get caught with his pants down, using a female fertility drug to counteract what the PEs do.

I mean, who doesn’t want to get their female fertility on anyway? Heck, my wife’s probably on the stuff, pregnant again despite the fact we have a two-year-old running the house like she’s a She-Ra The Princess of Power or something.

Speaking of He-Man/comic-book spinoffs, it’ll be interesting to see which of the Manny Faces shows up this weekend.

Like the old He-Man friend/foe and comic book character Man-E-Faces (of The Ordeal of Man-E Faces fame), whose head switches from robot, to human, to monster without notice, Manny has been known for his split personality over the years.

1. There’s Happy-Go-Lucky Manny, who led the Red Sox to their first World Series in a trillion years, took the damn Dodgers to the postseason last year, and was mashing this season before the fertility Gods struck down on him.
2. There’s Disgruntled, I Hate Boston Manny, who refused to run out fly balls or hustle in the outfield in his final weeks with the Red Sox.
3. There’s Fertility Manny, worried about the size of his boys instead of his boys … in … umm … Blue?
4. There’s Disappearing Manny, who, when suspended, disappeared and was nowhere to be found much of the time.
5. There’s also Albuquerque Isadope Manny (3 for 10, HR, 2 runs during Manny being Minor week), farming it out with everyone from the Rhode Island ‘Roid Ragers and the Idaho Injectors, to the Delaware Dingleberries.

The Dodgers, who have been one of the NL’s best teams this season, are hoping for No. 1, obviously, not that Manny The Dodger Dingleberry doesn’t have a nice ring to it.

Could you imagine how good this team would be if Manny were to pick off where he left off?

But is that even possible?

Users like A-Roid (now known as MIA-Rod), HG(iambi)H and What Would J.C. Romero Do? (I don’t know, maybe beat up a fan?) all struggled in their return after it was leaked that they had taken PEs.

There are just too many questions, too many hecklers, too much drama that surrounds the return to the field. But, if anyone could shrug that stuff off, you know Manny could.

His, Manny Being Manny attitude and ability to remain oblivious to the outside world could just work to his and the Dodgers’ benefit this season.

I guess we’ll find out which of the Mannys we’ll be faced with starting Friday in San Diego … Next T-shirt coming to a WCBias near you? FREE JUAN PIERRE!

Free Manny Ramirez T-Shirts, for our hardcore Los Angeles Dodgers fans, courtesy WCBias.com.

Get Your Free Manny Ramirez T-Shirts Today! OK, so they’re not exactly “free,” but we couldn’t get Billy Mays to pitch these things and had to do something to get your attention …

You either love him or hate him, even more so now that Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for a banned substance in the eyes of Major League Baseball.

If you still love Mann-Ram like we do, and want to show your support for the Dodgers left fielder, WCBias.com is here for you with our No. 99 Free Manny T-Shirts. Get them while they’re hot today! Or, if it’s a hat you’re looking for, we have FREE MANNY HATS, too.

Support Manny, the Dodgers, and the free content on WCBias.com, by picking up a few for your friends. Heck, get a pair of those Free Manny G-Strings for your moms on Mother’s Day. Nothing says I love you Mom like Free Manny Panties.

Manny Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games. In the meantime, he'll be joining the circus.

Driving home from work today I noticed a yellow tent on the side of the road.

No joke, there’s some ghetto-ass circus that came to town a couple days ago.

And that circus reminded me of a post I wrote a few months back when Manny Ramirez came to La-La-Land, and how I said Manny was bringing a circus with him after all the drama that went down in Beantown.

While Manny is a stud (I won’t vote him on to the WCBias.com All-Stær(oid) Team with the first ballot) and has been a blessing for the most part during his time in Los Angeles, today’s news of his 50-game suspension – for use of a banned substance – showed just how much of baggage can fit in a Range Rover.

But are you really surprised another one of the game’s legendary sluggers was on the juice?

I’ve been saying this for years. If MLB and the other major sports continue to turn a blind eye to testing for HGH, athletes are going to use it. And why not? There are plenty of reports out there that suggest HGH isn’t all that bad for you — so guys take these things like Tic-Tacs.

And it obviously hasn’t hurt guys like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds or Alex Rodgriguez’s pocketbooks. As long as there is millions of dollars on the table, athletes are going to abuse the system and take this stuff.

Especially if the leagues aren’t testing for it.

So the only way they’re going to get caught, is if something gets leaked, an unnamed source comes forward, or if someone gets fails a test for a drug that is testable and is related to the use of HGH or another performance enhancer that typically won’t be tested for (i.e. Manny getting hit for taking a female fertility drug that’s been known to help athletes testosterone levels following a ‘roids cycle). So Manny did the stuff in the offseason and got busted in spring training on his way back to real world.

And we all know this isn’t the last we’ve heard of performance enhancers.

This has become a traveling circus of its own. The circus came to New York a few weeks ago, starring A-Rod, and now it’s on its West Coast swing.
And are the NFL and NBA immune to this traveling road show. Not a chance.

It came to San Diego in 2006 when All-Pro linebacker Shawn Merriman was suspended for FOUR whopping games – and didn’t face nearly the criticism that Bonds has. And Bonds was never even suspended.

And you know it’s only a matter of time before somebody big gets nailed in the NBA.

It’s obvious guys are doing something to make themselves look Hulk-like, or Superman-like in the case of LeBron James or Dwight Howard.
Your body can’t humanly do the things some of these athletes are capable of doing: at their respective positions.

“But B$lim,” you say, “those guys have been huge since high school.”

So has A-Rod, and he’s reportedly been on the stuff since his prep days. So what makes you think LeBron and Co. haven’t messed around with HGH since an early age?

Guys can’t naturally do the things those guys do.

Shortstops shouldn’t hit 550+ home runs.

And centers shouldn’t be in dunk contests throwing down from the free-throw line.

I think John Smoltz summed it up best today when he said, “Sooner or later there will be enough wake-up calls.” That wake-up call would be the major leagues testing for HGH and all performance enhancers like the International Olympic Committee does with Olympic athletes.

But until the circus comes to town, we’ll just never know who the real freaks are and who just looks freakish thanks to the smoke and mirrors.

Welcome back to the best side, Manny and Co.

Manny Ramirez is back, and so is The Bias.

OK, so Manny was nowhere to be found during the offseason, kind of like WCBias.com over the weekend during our redesign, but we’re back. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.

So we’ve gots some new stuff to tell y’all ’bout here at the West Coast Bias Sports Blog.

Yeah, there’s the whole Manny thing. He’s back. Baseball’s back. We have stuff to write about now. About time.

We’d also be writing about the Lakers brawling with the Blazers and all of that, but not sure where our Lakers blogger has gone of late. Guess dude’s been looking for a job or something. But, I think Pembertonian just found Ryantific a gig, considering the quality of graphic design going on at CSC. Brutal. Somebody hire RK to do their logos. Please.

Speaking of design, WCBias.com has undergone a major redesign. Looks better. Feels better. Brings you everything you want to read about the West Coast better.

It’s Web 2.0 and then some.

• RSS feed clearly located at the top, so you can stay up to speed on The Bias while we’re writing away on company time at our “day jobs.”
• We’ve got the new search engine dialed in.
• Tag cloud to go along with our categories, so you can read more about your favorite topics on WCBias.
• We’ve got the latest West Coast sports headlines pulled in below that, courtesy the LA Times.
• Archives, an ad about some frozen chicken appetizers, recent comments and a blog roll.

Does it get any better than that? Well, it does.

You too can contribute to WCBias now. That’s right. You heard correctly. If you’ve got game, want to write about West Coast sports, we’re willing to give you a shot. Just sign up here and attempt your first post. New users are limited in their privileges, but try an initial blog entry, and we’ll let you know if it’s WCBias material.

Thanks for checking in with The Bias, where it’s all West Coast all the time: unless Pembertonian is blogging about the Pirates, of course.
But that’s where Manny comes into play. Ah, Manny, where would we be without you this spring? Probably in the cellar in the NL Worst.

Welcome back to the West Coast Manny and Co. We’ve missed you.

Like our new design? Don’t like it? Have thoughts on how we can improve it. Let us know in the comments tab on the left or by e-mailing editor@wcbias.com.

Time to get me a Pirate's hat.

I think I might buy a Pittsburgh Pirates hat.

Not that I like the Pirates. But, you see, the Pirates suck. Which means that pretty much no one else — aside from the players and maybe three or four drunk guys in Pittsburgh — will ever actually wear a Pirates hat. And Pembertonian likes to be an individual.

You gotta feel for the Pirates fans, though. They haven’t had a winning season since 1992.

That’s 16 straight losing seasons!

Now, granted, the Pirates have been in a World Series more recently than, say, the Cubs. But there are a whole bunch of Pirates fans that have never experienced their team over .500. And from the looks of this year’s roster, I wouldn’t expect a change.

It’s almost like some teams exist only so other teams (i.e., good ones) can beat them. Ever notice how crappy teams like the Pirates don’t even bother trying to get anyone in the offseason? That’s gotta be tough.

But, hey, at least Pittsburgh has only suffered one 100-loss season in those 16 years. I guess for Pitt fans that’s their victory.

And, of course, with 16 straight losing seasons, it’s going to be hard to ever get better. You think Many Ramirez would have ever considered donning the black and gold? (Though, frankly, I think it’d fit his look.)

You wonder why anyone would ever pay to see the Pirates play, though I suspect usually there’s some other reason, like, say, wanting to see Manny Ramirez. (Sept. 25-28.)

I’m not sure what I’m trying to say here, except, maybe — I don’t know. Sorry, Pittsburgh?

But, hey — at least they have the Steelers. That’s more than those sorry bastards in Kansas City can say.