A Magnifying Glass on Sports

Life During Wartime

Lately, we've seen a tidal wave of "off-the-field" issues coming to surface and the jockeying for public perception has been intense. For example: Congress and professional sports are now doing battle; high profile athletes are being forced to "come clean"; the Patriots and NFL are being forced to answer annoying yet probing questions; and fast forward to this summer, there will be more political fallout from the 2008 Olympic Games in China. What's amazing about this is that these issues are being aired on the 24/7 news cycle so we all get to follow what's happening from our lap-tops. In other words, it’s a pretty cool time to be a sports fan.

SpyGate & Congress

We can start with SpyGate, the sports saga that never seems to end despite New England and the NFL's best efforts. (By the way, does anyone agree with me that ESPN is doing some awesome reporting on these issues lately?) No matter what they say or do, Congress appears to be dead-set on investigating this issue to the extent they did steroids in baseball.

Here is a good example of that attitude in action: Congress now wants to finance an investigation into the leagues handling of the infamous videotapes. From the ESPN article linked above, Senator Leahy said he is, "prepared to have the committee pay for people who travel and investigate" this mess. If I were Roger Goddel, I would be crapping my pants if I heard that one. Better yet: "I'm determined to go forward," said Sen Specter who is, by the way, a former prosecutor.

So now the NFL wants to know about internal, league policies and how they were implemented in response to the allegation that the Pats cheated. Meddling a bit? Overstepping their boundaries? I bet you that Mangini would have never said anything had he known Specter and Congress would be investigating this mess. And is it wrong to question Congress's role here? I thought Goddell acted pretty well when he punished the Pats but apparently Congress thinks he messed up…badly.

What Congress is saying, however, may have some merit in this situation; I’ve found that it’s best to hear them out at the very least. The ESPN article did an excellent job of explaining these issues, and it's worth reading and then rereading the article to figure out what they're saying or even implying here:

1. Why did the NFL punish the Pats before reviewing the evidence submitted to the NFL? Could the evidence have proved more wide scale or far reaching cheating done by the Pats or the league?

2. Why did the NFL / Pats destroy the evidence after the league reviewed it? Would having the public view these tapes lead to different conclusions about the extent and affect of the Pats cheating?

3. Why hasn't the league definitively shut down the possibility of Walsh (the video man) getting sued? In other words, Specter is referencing the idea that the league may be intimidating this guy and forcing him to stay silent on the issue.

Now I know the answers to these questions are extremely complex and probably have a million legal complexities surrounding them. You can also argue that the league was smart to burn the evidence and pretend this whole mess never happened. But in all fairness, can you make the argument that the NFL isn't covering something up here? Another interesting tidbit from the ESPN article is the quote from the Steelers:

"We consider the tapes of our coaching staff during our games against the New England Patriots to be a nonissue. In our opinion, they had no impact on the results of those games. The Steelers fully support the manner in which commissioner Goodell handled the situation and the discipline that he levied against those who violated league rules. We are confident that the commissioner has taken appropriate action in his investigation of this matter, and will do so again if new information arises which requires further investigation and/or discipline."

This is a brilliant piece of PR and it shows that the league is getting together to present a unified front on the issue to Congress. Bob Kraft probably sent Mr. Rooney a nice valentine present because of this quote, and I think its timing and substance goes a long way towards proving that the evidence destroyed by the league may be worse than they’re admitting.

You and I can only speculate how the chips will fall in this debacle. But I can assure you that the NFL will be working overtime to rehab their image and do whatever it takes to win back their fans and positive image. And as a fan of the NFL, I sincerely hope they do this. Goddell's legacy will be determined by how well he handles this SpyGate, which is far from over (sorry New England fans).

Another quick note: Goddell is like Ben Bernanke right now – presiding over a league (the economy) given to him by a well respected predecessor (Taglibue / Greenspan) who knew about bad stuff going on, but left before he has to deal with it (housing crisis, teams cheating). Think about it: neither Greenspan nor Taglibue had to deal with this crap and they probably knew about it before it came to the surface. Realizing disaster was ahead, they quickly retired and left their prodigies to deal with it...not a bad move

More Clemens

Surprise: Clemens was caught stretching the truth again. Documents released by the government show that Clemens did know about being included in the Mitchell report and this revelation somewhat contradicts his statement that:

"I was never told by my baseball agent-slash attorney that we were asked to come down to see Sen. Mitchell. If I knew the lies Brian McNamee was telling about me, I would have been down to talk to Sen. Mitchell in a heartbeat, in a New York minute if you will. I was never told about that. The players' association, from my understanding, reached out to a lot of the players. I don't believe any player went down, other than from what I understand Jason Giambi."

Well maybe your lawyers didn't tell you about this, but McNamee did…on the phone, twice, before the report was released. Things keep getting worse for this guy and it’s hard to feel bad for him.

DC Sports Update

The Skins hired a guy named “Stump,” fired the legend Earnest Byner, and may release Rock Cartwright who is a vastly underrated player and one of the best reasons to watch the Skins; not cool. The Post is also reporting that the Skins have interest in Chad Johnson aka “Ocho Cinco.” Has anyone ever wondered why:

1. Drew Rosenhaus has a lot of player signed to the Skins (maybe more than any other team, but I haven’t double checked this fact).
2. His players almost always make more than everyone else on the team
3. None of them have proven to be consistently good or generally worth their salaries (minus a few exceptions)
4. Now Chad Johnson may come here thanks to Rosenhaus

The sad reality is that Synder is willing to fork over obscene amounts of money to Agent Drew and his stable of mediocre talent. That reality begs the question: why do we keep doing business with him? It also sounds like this guy is an awesome agent and good at convincing the Skins to give his players top dollar(s). Maybe I can hire Rosenhaus to help me find my next job since I’m definitely an overrated and mediocre employee.

Onto the Wizards. Congrats to Butler (I know Nick loves him) and Jamison. They deserve their all-star votes and play with heart every time they’re on the court. More on the Wizards later, but Coach Jordan is doing an excellent job under the circumstances he’s been dealt and when Arenas comes back, maybe he’ll pass the ball more. Better yet, maybe he’ll play some defense and take higher percentage shots while not shooting it 100 times a game.

Here is an awesome article about Caron from the Post this morning. Well worth the read if you are a Butler fan (Nick). I had no idea this guy did jail time, then almost got arrested two years late. He owes that cop a ton of money for not arresting him.