Weekly Sporties

-Late in the week Roger Clemens was acquitted in his Federal perjury trial where he was accused of lying to Congress. Once the verdict was announced, people began to wonder what this would mean for Clemens in terms of his eventual Hall of Fame chances. While Clemens has always been widely assumed to be part of the steroid era and has fallen short of the needed votes before, unlike admitted steroid users such as Mark McGwire or Alex Rodriguez, Clemens can stand up and say that he has always maintained his innocence and was found not guilty by a jury so some people think that could sway more than a few opinions. Despite that, I don't think this verdict changes a single thing. If you thought Roger Clemens took steroids before this whole thing started there was nothing revealed during the trial that would change your mind, just like if you believed Clemens was innocent before this you probably still believe him today. Clemens entire defense was based on not fighting the steroid allegations, it was just intended to discredit Brian McNamee as a witness (which wasn't very hard to do). On top of that the jury which found him guilty consisted of no sports fans whatsoever, so they probably didn't view Clemens with the same suspicious eyes that people who had a front-row seat for his entire career did. It was a great job by Roger's legal team, but they won't have a chance to defend him in front of the people who vote on the Hall of Fame. Roger Clemens might not be going to prison, but I am also pretty sure he isn't going to Cooperstown either.

-While we're on the subject of cheating in baseball, a few days ago the Washington Nationals were playing the Tampa Bay Rays when Nationals manager Davey Johnson asked the home plate umpire to check the glove of relief pitcher Joel Peralta as he was warming up. The umps checked the glove and found that it had pine tar inside. Since it is illegal for pitcher to put any substance on the ball, Peralta was ejected from the game and subsequently suspended 8 games. But, here is the messed up part: due to baseball and it's insane "unwritten rules" it is Johnson and the Nationals who have come under fire. Rays manager Joe Maddon thinks that it was totally out of line for the Nationals to have the ump check Peralta for pine tar considering he pitched for them last year, meaning they knew he most likely had the substance hidden somewhere. Now, I will concede that it is a dick move for a team to look the other way when a guy is cheating for them and then calling him out when he is cheating against them. However, that doesn't mean Maddon and the Rays get to claim the moral high ground here - cheating is still cheating. Also, Maddon's contention that pitchers should be allowed to use pine tar because most of them already do is equally stupid. Lots of people used steroids in the early '00s, you didn't hear a big cry to make those a permanent part of the game. Now, I really like Joe Maddon and wish he was managing the Red Sox, but he is totally wrong on this one. Your man got caught, don't try to justify his actions. Take your punishment and move along, because crying about how this kind of cheating shouldn't really count is just going to make everyone start looking at the rest of your team and wondering what other tactics they don't consider to be 'serious' cheating.

-Even though Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas continues to maintain that he wants to take a year sabbatical away from hockey, there was some interesting news concerning him which came out yesterday. Apparently, Thomas has waived his no-trade clause and would allow the Bruins to move him to another team, making him someone else's problem next season. Now, you may be wondering why any teams would be interested in acquiring a player who will count for $5 million against the cap and doesn't plan on playing. Well, the way the NHL salary structure works is that it not only has a cap which teams can't go over, it also has a salary floor which teams are not allowed to go under. So, some particularly cheap organization could acquire Thomas and have him count against the cap, get them above the salary floor but not have to worry about messing with their roster. Admittedly, it would not be the best move for the fans of that franchise but, honestly, that is their problem. Hey, for all we know Thomas could have a change of heart around training camp and want to come back to stick it to the Bruins for trading him and suddenly you got a very good goalie without it costing you very much. Reportedly the New York Islanders are interested, but considering how the team has been playing for the last couple of seasons I don't know if they want to risk pissing off a fanbase which is already teetering on a revolution against ownership. But, even if it is not the Islanders, all it takes is one team to make this happen. If you believe the saying, there is a sucker born every minute. The Bruins just need one of those suckers to own a hockey team.

-At the start of the week running back LaDainian Tomlinson signed a one-day contract with his former team, the San Diego Chargers, and announced his retirement. As is so often the case when a great player retires, people began to debate his place in the game's history. No one denies that Tomlinson had an amazing career - he finishes in the top-5 in all-time touchdowns and top-5 in total yards gained from scrimmage. He'll go into the Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility with a large percentage of the votes. However, I was thinking about it and I could not come up with one moment from his career which really defined him. He put up a lot of stats and won a lot of regular season games, but there was never that iconic moment that all the great players seem to have. Honestly, the first thing I think about when hearing his name is his great fantasy numbers (he won me at least two fantasy football titles) and then him sitting on the bench against New England in the playoffs with his helmet on, not encouraging his teammates. Not exactly the images associated with Hall of Fame football players. Also, Tomlinson's legacy is hurt by the fact that he never played in a Super Bowl. Since this is football you can very easily defend that by pointing out that the man can't play defense as well and all his teams failures shouldn't land squarely on one man's shoulders. While true, it still doesn't change the fact that there is one giant hole in his resume. He is, without a doubt, a Hall of Famer, but if you were drafting a team based on players already in the Hall, Tomlinson would be waiting a while to hear his name get called.

-When the Knicks fired their coach midway through the season, everyone assumed it was only a matter of time before they handed the job over to Phil Jackson. After all, not only is Jackson the kind of big-name that the Knicks normally seem to love, he also has the resume to back it up. On top of that he played for the Knicks and has always maintained the organization holds a special place in his heart. Even when the Knicks started to play better under interim coach Mike Woodson, everyone assumed the job was still Jackson's if he wanted it. However, shortly after the season ended Woodson was given the job full-time as reports started to surface that Knicks owner James Dolan was never thrilled with the idea of having a coach who is more famous than he is. (Sure, Dolan is mostly famous for being a terrible owner, but much like there is no such thing as bad press, to some people there is no such thing as bad fame.) Well, this week Jackson was on HBO's "Real Sports" where he called the Knicks 'clumsy' and said he never would have taken the job if offered. This might have been the saddest thing I have ever seen. Jackson has won more titles than any coach in history and here he was, saying he never wanted the job he was never offered. It was the equivalent of the crazy person in your office saying they quit once they realize they are about to get fired and a level of insecurity I didn't think the Zen-master was capable of. Maybe it is time someone gave him a book about self-confidence.

-About three weeks ago I'm sure Jackson was counting on the Miami Heat job being available for him to swoop in and grab another title. But, since the Heat won the title Thursday night coach Erik Spoelstra won't be going anywhere for at least a couple more seasons. Now, I obviously wasn't rooting for the Heat, because where is the fun in that? Still, it was fascinating to watch the after-glow, in which everyone declared that this one title somehow made LeBron James a top-ten all-time great in the game. I'm sorry, but this title has done nothing to change my opinion of the man or his career to this point. Much like Peyton Manning, LeBron James was supposed to deliver heaps of titles, not just one. He now has as many rings as guys like Brian Scalabrine and Eddie House and fewer titles than guys like Adam Morrison or Robert Horry. Anyone not named Charles Barkley or Patrick Ewing can win one. Much like with golf majors, what makes you enter the pantheon is when you have multiple championships on your resume and LeBron still doesn't have that. Sure, it is entirely possible that since he has won his first all the pressure could be off of him and he will play free and loose, leading to another three or four championships. All I know is that if he walks away from this game with only the 2012 title to show for his career, considering the hype he enter the league with, LeBron's career will mostly have to be viewed as a disappointment. His fans may find that unfair, but this is the standard you set when you have "Chosen One" tattooed on your back.

-Well, our long national nightmare is over as college football has announced that it is doing away with the BCS and will finally have a playoff to decide the National Champions. No more computers deciding the fate of teams behind closed doors using some kind of secret formula. Starting in 2014, four teams will play for the Championship during three bowl games. However, because this is being done by the NCAA, even in giving the people everything they want it still feels like they are screwing us. First off, they haven't yet disclosed how the four teams will be picked - it could be four conference champions, three conference champions and a wild-card or four teams based on nothing but rankings (my preference). No matter what system is picked, expect Boise State to get the short end of the straw in some fashion. Also, the have announced that the games will be played in the city with the highest bid. (You can pretty much pencil in Dallas and Jerry Jones' monstrous stadium to win that bid for the next 10 years.) At least that part is kind of refreshing. After years of hiding behind phrases like "student-athletes" and saying a playoff would keep kids out of too many classes, these administrators have come out and essentially admitted that the entire thing is being done for money. We've all known that for years, but it is nice to see these university presidents finally admit it. They didn't give us a new playoff format because the fans have been asking for it for a decade - they did it because they finally figured out how to make the most money off it. But, if they really want to keep pretending this was done in the best interest of students, they can always count the entire thing as one big economics lesson and give the players one credit each.