What the heck does this mean. It was just on in a superbowl commercial. It's about not taking steroids so you won't "become an asterisk" I assume it's something like your name will say John Doe*
*(not playing because he is on steroids)
Yeah. I'm a bit confused though, because the actual meaning was unclear.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
It's a reference to placing asterisks besides a player's name in the record books if they test positive for performance enhancing drugs.
It's never actually been done, to my knowledge (although track is the closest to having done it). People are always talking about it with respect to Barry Bonds.
Posted by Tara (Member # 10030) on :
It reminds me of Peter Wiggin's fear of only being a footnote. Or something like that.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Maybe it's a Vonnegut reference.
Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
It means this post is awesome*.
--j_k
*except not
Posted by brojack17 (Member # 9189) on :
I took it as a reference to the homerun ball that Barry Bonds hit that was purchase by some rich guy. He had an online vote and people wanted an asterisk branded into the baseball before it was given to the hall of fame.
Excuse the grammar.
Posted by Xann. (Member # 11482) on :
At my school an asterisk next to your name is used to represent high honors. Maybe they dislike the idea of getting stuck in college sports and never making it to the "big leagues" therefore promoting steroids.
Yes, that must be it.
Posted by ricree101 (Member # 7749) on :
quote:Originally posted by El JT de Spang: It's a reference to placing asterisks besides a player's name in the record books if they test positive for performance enhancing drugs.
It's never actually been done, to my knowledge (although track is the closest to having done it). People are always talking about it with respect to Barry Bonds.
Sort of... It comes up any time a record is broken in a controversial manner. The earliest instance I know of comes from when Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's single season home run record. Since the season had expanded from 154 games to 162, there was a bit of a controversy over the record. No record book ever actually did put an asterisk next to the record, but there was talk about it. Wikipedia credits sportswriter Dick Young with popularizing the idea.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
quote:Originally posted by Noemon: Maybe it's a Vonnegut reference.
Oh, that's a hot riot.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Maybe an asterisk indicates something Orincoro would hit.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester:
quote:Originally posted by Noemon: Maybe it's a Vonnegut reference.
Oh, that's a hot riot.
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
It's a pretty common reference in sports. It's become part of the lingo. An asterisk next to a thing denotes that it is of questionable legitimacy, even though technically it's on the books.
People used to talk about, for example, the San Antonio Spurs NBA championship in 99 as being an asterisk championship, due to the lockout.
Posted by JennaDean (Member # 8816) on :
quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Maybe an asterisk indicates something Orincoro would hit.
Nah, there aren't enough of them.
Posted by Sterling (Member # 8096) on :
I'm reminded of a reader's comment in Dave Barry's "Book of Bad Songs" regarding the song
"I love you period Do you love me question mark" (etc.):
"This song hurts my :. I want to kick the author's *."
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:Originally posted by JennaDean:
quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Maybe an asterisk indicates something Orincoro would hit.
Nah, there aren't enough of them.
Mmmm, you may be right.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Seems like there was an episode of "King of the Hill" where Peggy and Hank are demanding that an asterisk be put next to some Arlen High kid's "record-breaking" amount of touchdowns.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)