Clemens mess won't accomplish anything

So Roger Clemens has been indicted for perjury by the feds for making false statements to Congress.  The move comes two and a half years after he testified under oath at a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and directly contradicted trainer Brian McNamee over whether Clemens had used banned substances.  A hearing he asked for.

It’s a sad point in a great players lifetime, but what does it accomplish?

He’s been defiant to this point so it’s doubtful he’ll plea bargain.  We’ll likely see a trial and who knows what the outcome will be.

Congressmen will gives speeches over the fact they are taking a stand on stopping drug use.  Oh really?  Then why haven’t we stepped up enforcement along our borders to stop the drug cartels?  Why aren’t we destroying all of the poppy fields we find in Afghanistan?  Why aren’t we funding more cops on the streets?  Because that’s taking real action.  This is just grandstanding.  Elections are coming up.  Need I say more.

You think popping another ballplayer for lying about performance enhancing drugs is going to put a stop to it? 

I’m not condoning drug use in sports, but this going after the big names and leaving the rest who used PED’s unscathed does nothing other than tarnish a man’s reputation.  No matter what occurs going forward, a vast majority of fans will assume Clemens is guilty.  Guilty of lying and guilty of taking PED’s.  He’s been branded for life.

I can tell you from personal experience that Clemens was always one of the hardest workers in the game and followed the type of conditioning program Nolan Ryan did.  That doesn’t mean he didn’t use PED’s, but no one ever accused Ryan and he was still pitching effectively at 46.

I’m not covering my eyes and denying many players have used PED’s, they have.  But what is dragging these guys in front of Congress years later to talk about their playing days doing to help curtail use today?  Absolutely nothing.  That’s what bothers me.  

We’ll all make our own judgements about Clemens, Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa who are up for vote to the Hall of Fame in 2013.  They’re not the first guys to ever cheat in the game, but it looks like it’s going to be an empty class three years from now.   

BYU the Fighting Irish of the west?

Just a month ago, college football was on the verge of monumental upheaval.  Instead, there was an earthquake, but not massive damage.  The Big 12 survived with a flesh wound and it appeared all would settle down until next summer.

Then word came out Wednesday that BYU was looking to become a football independent and would leave the Mountain West Conference.  Suddenly the ground began shifting again.  While this isn’t a seismic shift, it does indicate how fragile college football’s footing is.  

If the Cougars become an independent in football and move back to the WAC for all other sports, suddenly the Mountain West could fold.  Boise State is said to be ready to back out of joining the Mountain West and come back to the WAC.

Just a month ago, BYU thought they might get invited to join the Pac-10.  Instead, Utah got the offer, but the Mountain West was still on the verge of possibly becoming a BCS conference if the Big 12 had folded. 

In short order the Mountain West could be totally irrelevant while BYU tries to become the Notre Dame of the west with their own TV network.  Something they can easily do considering the Morman church, which owns the school, already has BYU-TV and it is set to go HD, making it possible to expand their brand as an independent and make much more than the $1.5 million in TV rights they’d get in the Mountain West.

The Cougars won’t likely get the preferred path to BCS bowl games that Notre Dame gets, but it looks like they’ve made the decision it’s worth the risk to go it alone.  

Favre return an elaborate PR move?

As if anybody really doubted it would happen.  Brett Favre reported to camp with the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday.  Now I’ll be the first to tell you that I’ve never had issues with players who struggle with the decision to retire.  

You can only play most professional sports when you’re relatively young and once you step away from the game, it’s almost always for good, so the fact Favre has wavered back and forth doesn’t bother me in the least.  If his team is good with it, why shouldn’t we be?

But there’s this little voice in the back of my head that wonders if this isn’t all an elaborate promotional campaign by the Vikings and the NFL.  Do you really think it took sending three players, Jared Allen, Ryan Longwell and Steve Hutchinson to Hattiesburg get Brett to return?  And do you think he just suddenly told wife Deanna that he was leaving for Minnesota, you and the kids catch up with me in a few weeks.

I’m not into conspiracy theories, but come on, they convinced him to pack his bag and jump on the plane with them.  If healthy, the Vikes are a better team with Favre than without him.  Everybody knows that including his teammates, but what better way to hype the season than this drama?

Vikings coach Brad Childress is fine with the timing of it all and the story has kept the NFL at the forefront of the sports headlines throughout the summer.  That’s worth the salary increase that Minnesota has reportedly offered Favre.  Hell, every team in the league should pitch in some cash for the pub they got from this.

But finally, it’s time to play ball.

Going Hog wild over a Gator hat

So you think coaches aren’t paranoid lunatics who like to throw their weight around whenever they want and that the media that covers them doesn’t bend over for them whenever asked?  Have you heard the story of Renee Gork, a radio personality with KAKS-FM in northwest Arkansas?

It appears Renee made the mistake of wearing a Florida Gators hat to a news conference Saturday for Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino.  After answering a question from Gork, Petrino informed her he wouldn’t answer anymore questions until she removed the hat.  Gork happens to be a Florida grad and said she grabbed the hat to wear because it was raining when she left home.

Monday, she used Twitter to announce she’d been fired by the sports station she worked for, which by the way, goes by the nickname “The Hog”.  The station's general manager, Dan Storrs, who’ll never be confused with someone who stands up for his principles, confirmed the firing with The Associated Press, saying, "This radio station is Hog Sports Radio. We are very biased. We support the Razorbacks 100 percent." 

What are you saying Dan?  You fired someone for wearing a college hat?

Gork tweeted that she’d hoped to apologize for the mistake on the air Monday but was canned instead.  She actually thought she needed to apologize?  To whom?  Petrino?  This guy walked out on the Atlanta Falcons without so much as a goodbye.  He doesn’t deserve an apology and there was nothing to apologize for.  

Gork probably made about $20,000 a year, if that, in her job.  Maybe Petrino will volunteer to pay her salary until she finds a new job, presumably in another state.  Why should the rest of us be forced to pay unemployment for someone who was fired because a pretentious millionaire football coach got his panties in a wad because someone wore a Florida hat.

Petrino, KAKS and Arkansas fans who complained about Gork deserve each other.  Gork deserves much better.

Rookie corps looks strong for KC

If there was a bright spot to take from last Friday’s 20-10 exhibition loss to Atlanta it had to be the performance of the rookie corps.  The problem with that is that it just highlights the lack of production the Chiefs received from the year one draft of general Manager Scott Pioli.

Players up and down the 2010 draft class performed admirably in their first game action.  Standouts included Dexter McCluster, Javier Arenas and Kendrick Lewis.  Each provided glimpses of players who could be significant contributors to the club in their first season.  Top draft choice Eric Berry played as expected as well.  The real questions come from the veterans.

Will last year’s top pick, Tyson Jackson, start playing like one?  For that matter, will 2008 top pick Glenn Dorsey, join him by playing up to expectations?  Can QB Matt Cassel make significant progress in his second season?  He’s yet to prove he’s got a firm grasp on playing the position.  

McCluster, Arenas and Lewis bring something to the Chiefs they haven’t had, speed.  Pioli and coach Todd Haley have said the Chiefs have to get faster.  They’ve done that and that should make them a better squad this fall.  But the NFL is won in the trenches and KC has still yet to prove they can compete on the line of scrimmage, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.

A controversy that could have been avoided at the PGA

This year’s PGA Championship had more twists and turns than a Tom Clancy spy novel.  We had the tournament leader bomb out with an 81 in the final round, a former champion with a chance to become the second oldest player to ever win a major.  Dustin Johnson lost a shot at a playoff with a penalty on the final hole and a guy named Bubba saw his chances to win a major disappear in a creek on the final playoff hole.

In a scene that will be remembered for a long time to come.  Johnson, who collapsed the way Nick Whatney did at Whistling Straits back in June in the final round of the U.S. Open saw a stellar final round spoiled by a 2 stroke penalty for grounding his club in one of the thousand plus bunkers on the course after a wayward drive on 18.  He said he didn’t even realized he was in a bunker.  Easy to believe considering the fans were standing in it.  The problem for Johnson was the players were warned before the tourney began that everything that was sand was a hazard.  He was hitting out of sand.  It was a painful mistake.

Almost forgotten was the steady and spectacular clutch play from eventual champion Martin Kaymer of Germany.  The 25 year old drilled a 15 foot par putt on 18 to get into the playoff with Bubba Watson and then hit another clutch 15 foot birdie on 17 to tie Watson and set up the climatic final playoff hole.  

The tournament continued the surge of young players dominating the tour.  Kaymer, Watson, and Johnson are just the tip of the iceberg.  21 year old Rory McIlroy had a birdie chance at 18 to be a part of the playoff as well.  Youth has been served.

But getting back to the penalty.  While the letter of the law was followed and Johnson suffered the penalty, should it have come to that?  Should spectators have been allowed to walk through and stand in the bunkers?  Shouldn’t the official who was standing there with Johnson have made sure he knew his ball was in a hazard considering the crowd was packed around them?  Not remind him of the rules, just let him know the facts he was in a hazard?  If that had happened there may not have been the controversy that followed.