The sad thing is that we continually eat (har har) this stuff up each spring: X has lost weight, Y has bulked up/gotten stronger, Z did karate all winter etc etc. New hopes each year, forgotten by Tax Day. Runelvys' continued inability to be non-fat aside, I just don't put much stock in stories like this:
There was less of him to spread around, however, since Sweeney has lost some weight.Heres the difference between men and women. We have not the slightest interest in Sweeney's new diet, how he thought about it, how its improved his life etc etc. Were this a more feminine blog, this would be different? Is he getting alot of fruits? Or is it more Atkins based? How much raw versus cooked food does Sweeney eat now? What does he drink? Lots of water, or none at all?"I'm at 220 or 222 [pounds]," he said. "Last spring, I checked in at 238, so I'm down about 15 pounds."
Sweeney employed a personal trainer in California and went on a special diet.
Still, for a guy who's plagued with a bad back, being trimmer seems to have some inherent semi-value, but mere #s really don't mean anything. If he's also lost strength somewhere, its probably a wash.
Finally, if Sweeney was someone with a questionable reputation, or, really maybe even not (Pudge Rodriguez) we'd be olbigated to obsess on the possible steroid angle, which is quickly becoming the most tired topic in sports. You wanna hate Bonds? Fine. But honestly, I'd never heard a bad thing about Pudge before, other than whispers that he called a bad game in Texas. Then, after his first season in Detroit, he shows up 20 pounds lighter and all the sudden every B-market columnist in America throws him into their notes column on steroids (which probably took 10 minutes to write) with a line like: "Pudge isn't so pudgy anymore. Hmmmm....".