A few thoughts on some of the major sports stories nationally…
As I watched entirely too much of the congressional hearing with Sen. George Mitchell, Bud Selig and Donald Fehr on Tuesday, I thought about jotting a few notes down in blog form and posting them as I went along — for about 6 seconds.
For me, it was still rather riveting television because I’m still deeply embedded in the steroids in baseball issue. But I know others aren’t, and truthfully, there wasn’t a whole lot from the hearing to opine on, even after 4 1/2 hours.
A few things I did come away with:
- Hey, don’t lie to anybody associated with federal government. Ever. Now Miguel Tejada’s in trouble. Next time, guys, get a lawyer and speak the truth. If not, it’s going to end badly.
- This hearing was nothing like the one on March 17, 2005, the day Mark McGwire’s public life died. The representatives for the most part fell all over themselves to praise Mitchell and poked very few holes into a report that has many, and there was a lot of thanking of the commissioner and the players’ association chief. A little too much, really.
- Rep. Christopher Shays’ performance was laughable and embarrassing. He claims he’s a baseball fan and then refers to the “1919 Chicago Blackhawks” (instead of Black Sox), calls Rafael Palmerio “Palmeiree” and can’t remember whether “Palmeiree” got his 3,000th or 300th hit.
- Also, and Shays was not alone in this, but can you please pronounce the commissioner’s last name correctly? It’s not “Sell-ig”, it’s “See-lig.”
- The only big thing to come out of this for me was the revelation about the high number of doctors’ prescriptions given to players for ADD drugs like Ritalin. There was a jump from 28 in 2006 to more than 100 in 2007. That’s a way around the amphetamine ban in baseball, and it’s alarming.
- For those still wonering why Congress keeps maknig a big deal about going after steroids? Because there’s only one side to it — the right side. A politician can’t possibly be wrong on this one.
- All in all, the hearing was a pretty big pat on the back for everybody, even with all the HGH talk, none of which amounted to much. The real fireworks should be on Feb. 13 when Roger Clemens and his former trainer and now accuser, Brian McNamee, show up.
A few other comments on things going on:
Peyton Manning may have dodged an embarrassing bullet when his Colts were stunned by the Chargers over the weekend.
By the time the game ended, all-world safety and the defense’s lynchpin Bob Sanders had left with an injury, top wideout Reggie Wayne was blown up on the last drive, running back Joseph Addai missed large chunks of the game for a head injury and Marvin Harrison obviously wasn’t the real Marvin Harrison.
Losing last week instead of in Foxborough to Tom Brady and the Patriots may have helped Manning’s legacy more than it hurts it.
There’s a large amount of buzz surrounding Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, but didn’t he call a bad second half against the Giants?
In the first half, the Cowboys marched all over New York, utilizing running back Marion Barber and mixing in nifty crossing routes with Terrell Owens and Patrick Crayton. The result? How about a 20-play, 10-plus-minute touchdown drive?
The second half? Barber disappears and Tony Romo is scrambling for his life and chucking 40-yard bombs on every other play. Huh? What happened to the ball-control, keep-them-on-their-heels offense from the first half? Romo was under pressure all the time because the wideouts’ routes were so deep.
Marion Jones told Oprah Winfrey this on Wednesday: “I truly think that a person’s character is determined by their admission of their mistakes and then beyond that, what do I do about it?”
Admission of mistakes? What does this say about Jones’ character when she was outright denying her use of performance-enhancing drugs for two years?
Now she admits it, but only after lying to the feds about it. And now she’s off to prison for six months.
Don’t lie to the feds.
Alex Podlogar 