We were psyched yesterday because we though a decision would be reached about Chronicle Reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams and their refusal to name who leaked to them the Grand Jury testimony in the BALCO case. We even had a posting all ready to go the moment the judge threw them in jail. Everyone seemed to be pumped in anticipation for it as reporters held a protest and sports writers everywhere weighed in. So what happened? Pretty much nothing. Late Thursday afternoon, a judge basically said that they might go to prison if they lose an appeal. In other words, he told them "this time, I'm really, really serious about sending you to jail and if you don't, I really, really, really might have to do something...."

The decision that's being appealed, actually, is the judge's earlier decision. But the government said they could remain free while the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs the decision. That could take months. That means Fainaru-Wada and Williams will probably not be seen in the latest MSNBC prison documentary hanging with Josh Wolf and a bunch of skinhead meth freaks.

There's one more thing in play here, which is that Bonds' lawyer is saying that he's pretty sure the leak is from someone in the government. He's also threatening to go public with it if Bonds is indicted. Supposedly, it's someone so high up that it'll ultimately embarrass the government so much that they'll never get a conviction.

If that's true, it'll add one more irony to all this. After all, we have Barry facing perjury charges for lying to a Grand Jury to which he lied to mainly because he was afraid the testimony would be leaked to which it was and now the very same government that's putting the reporters in jail for writing about the leak might ultimately lose the perjury case stemming from the leak because they were the one's who leaked it.

Follow all that?