by Matt Barr

Bo blows up

The most searched-for post on New World Man is this one, speculating who Keith Olbermann might have meant when he referenced a previously invincible baseball player who very suddenly succumbed to injury in 1991. Cal Lanier at Football Fans For Truth had the same idea I did, but thought the medicial evidence didn't add up. (And that my name is Mike.)

Yesterday Bo Jackson held a press conference before the White Sox-Indians crusher (if you're rooting for the Indians, or own Bob Wickman in your fantasy league) to announce he's suing a California paper for reporting that he took steroids (which neither Cal nor I did; we speculated whom Olbermann might have meant).

In a story published March 24 under [Inland Valley Daily Bulletin sports writer Jim] Mohr's byline, dietary expert Ellen Coleman was quoted as saying she knew personally that "Bo Jackson lost his hip because of anabolic abuse."...

Jackson said he found the story from the newspaper online, and at least one person called him about it. Biederman said he then contacted Coleman, who denied making any statements about Jackson. She provided the lawyer with a videotape of her speech at a Riverside, Calif., sports forum to back up her claim.

"At no time during my speech or while speaking individually to Jim Mohr did I use or mention the name Bo Jackson," Coleman said in a signed affidavit.

Jackson, now a businessman who lives in suburban Chicago, talks to children about health and nutrition issues. He denied ever using or even seeing steroids in any form.

"I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Maybe I did or maybe I didn't,'" Jackson said. "I didn't. Never did. Never had to do."

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