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Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Tiger, TV rule the PGA these days
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: (Not restricted to the pulled hamstring, strained oblique, inflamed tendon and sweatshop class alone, as you shall see.)
• As it must have come to your attention, we now have two PGA Tours: (1) The tournaments Tiger Woods plays in, and (2) the ones he doesn’t, in which television slumbers. In another way TV rules, as when the Tour decided to limit the number of players who can make the cut without strangling weekend telecasts. Players may make the official cut but be cut anyway because of the limit put on the weekend field. At the AT&T Crosby — I’m a stickler for history — J.B. Holmes and D.J. Trahan, winners of two earlier tournaments, made the cut, but were cut. Make sense? Of course not.
• Not to brand the Braves’ Class AAA club in Gwinnett with any bush-league label, but for public-relations and media purposes, would it not be wiser to give the team its own definitive name, such as Gwinnett Crackers? Revive the memory and do honor to the historic Atlanta minor-league franchise, and do away with a lot of headline confusion.
• No mystery why Woods and several other top-rated pros stay away from the Bob Hope Classic and, as it has developed lately, the AT&T Crosby at Pebble Beach. Small wonder that a carload of pros choose not to put up with a collection of amateurs for three or four days and the obnoxious semi-unknowns masquerading as celebrities. One day you saw more shots hit by Dan Marino — no unknown, he — than any of the pros. At Pebble Beach, one so-called celeb was identified as “male model of the year,” another simply as “an entertainer.” Whoopee! In the old days, Crosby’s celebs had names and faces.
• Did any of those celebrated Super Bowl commercials make you want to buy anything? Most of those I noticed should have come with identifying commentary. Tell the truth, two days later I couldn’t remember the name of any of the products that I saw. Yeah, I know, advanced dementia.
• Somehow or another, when reviewing the various talent misjudgments of the Hawks, one of the most glaring of them all is passed over. Pau Gasol was drafted third in the first round in 2001, then traded away (with two other players) for Sharif Abdur-Rahim, long gone from the scene. The tall European, meanwhile, has become an NBA stalwart for whom the Lakers just traded.
• Did you notice that some of the networks are doing away with female sideline football reporters — known to some as “eye candy” — and in some cases, not just the females? Their hasty interviews have been mainly a distraction, rather than enlightenment. Joe Paterno once turned one aside and said, “I’ve got to get to the locker room and talk to my team.” Now, if they can do away with those dugout “interviews” with major-league managers while the game is in progress. Cheers for Bobby Cox, who declined.
• How many times have you heard errant golf shots described as “unforced errors”? Sorry, but aren’t all wild shots “unforced”?
• Is it true that ESPN is talking about retooling its “Monday Night Football” cast again? Seems they can’t get it right, and Mike Tirico, Tony Kornheiser and Ron Jaworski don’t come off well. They’ll never have it as right as they did when the booth was manned by Frank Gifford, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell. It wasn’t a combination that liked each other very much, and that probably added to the atmosphere.
• When Cecil Travis retired from baseball, after a long career with the Washington Senators, what did the ballclub present him as a farewell gift? A milk cow. Try that on some of these self-exalted stiffs these days. Oh, and did you notice that Craig Biggio was rewarded by the Astros with a job as “assistant to the general manager”? Some teams have as many as of three of these, and I’ve often wondered: What does an assistant to the GM do? Go for the coffee?
• Did you pick up the hot tip delivered by one of the tour caddies the other day? How he shines shoes: Peel a banana, rub the inside on the shoe just as you would use wax. Presto! Shoes shined.
• Probably sounds a little retarded, but I’m probably the only person in the country who has a dial phone (two of ‘em), a typewriter and a pencil trimmer. And still using them all, now and then. (But no paste pot, once an old newspaper standard.) … Selah.
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Spending government time on steroids justified
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
It started as a sports icon having his legacy soiled by a drug investigation, something we’ve almost become immune to. Then this thing mushroomed and mutated, as if somebody fed the Roger Clemens novella, well, performance-enhancers.
Days of odd silence were followed by almost maniacal denials, choreographed press conferences and secretly taped phone conversations. The trainer says he also injected Clemens’ wife with HGH before a sexy swimsuit photo shoot. An old box of used syringes and gauze pads, presumably stored in the attic next to Norman Bates’ mother, is turned over as evidence.
So far, no blue dress.
On Wednesday, Clemens has his day in court, or at least Congress, when the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigating the illegal use of steroids in baseball congregates in Washington. The central figures will be Clemens, seven-time Cy Young Award winner and lock Hall of Famer, and Brian McNamee, the trainer who says he helped him attain that status by injecting him at least 16 times with steroids and human growth hormone.
It’s doubtful the hearing can match the buildup for theatrics. But if every member of Congress seems to be wearing a new suit and a manicure, there’s a reason.
“I will withhold judgment on whether this hearing is useful and appropriate until I see how it plays out,” Georgia congressman Lynn Westmoreland, who spoke with Clemens last Thursday in the congressman’s office, wrote in an e-mail to the Journal-Constitution. “For the past year, the committee has held a lot of high-profile hearings that attract cameras. I don’t think we’re doing anybody, including the committee, any favors if this turns into a circus. This isn’t SportsCenter. The country would be better served if we focused on widespread use in baseball as opposed to potential wrongdoing by individuals.”
As far as this being circus, we’re way past that. Confirmation came when Clemens visited House members last Thursday and Friday and several asked for autographs and posed for pictures. Westmoreland said he was not among them, commenting: “This wasn’t a Fantasy Baseball Camp. For me personally, I didn’t think it was appropriate to ask for a picture or an autograph. Besides, I’m a Braves fan.”
They might as well sell popcorn in the Rayburn Office Building today. But as to whether this is worth it: absolutely.
Many believe Congress and sports shouldn’t mix. The problem with that position is it’s based largely on some idealistic notion that Major League Baseball is some rec league. Sports leagues today are billion-dollar entities. They have television contacts, collective bargaining agreements, corporate partnerships, licensing agreements, drug issues and, yes, even anti-trust exemptions. Teams aren’t in this for participation trophies.
MLB and the Players Association ignored the use of performance-enhancing drugs for years. Why? Because they made money. If hitters and pitchers were illegally juiced, guess what: They made money illegally. Because regardless of when rules were passed and when testing began, it was never legal to obtain and ingest performance-enhancing drugs without a prescription.
Owners and players only feigned concern and only when it became a public issue. But testing grew teeth only after congressional involvement. To do nothing could be viewed as tacit approval. Also, while athletes like Clemens, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire are scrambling to protect their legacies, this isn’t about outing anybody. It’s about putting an end to the illegal distribution and use of PEDs, and diminishing their use among youths.
Do members of Congress see these hearings as chances to mug for cameras? Sure. But that doesn’t make them wrong. Similarly, many assumed Jose Canseco was lying about everything, merely because he was out of the game and wanted to sell his book. But most information in recent investigations has come from obscurities or relative lowlifes: Canseco, McNamee, Kirk Radomski, Greg Anderson, Kimberly Bell — and now John Rocker.
Did anybody expect revelations to come from foreign ambassadors and heads of state?
McNamee says he not only injected Clemens, he also injected the pitcher’s wife, Debbie Clemens, before a Sports Illustrated swimsuit photo shoot in 2003. I understand that liars, cheaters and thieves often have creative minds. But how do you make that up?
When the Mitchell report came out two months ago, it listed 85 players as having been connected to PEDs. Logic dictates that number represents a fraction of reality. Bonds was included only because of grand-jury testimony in the BALCO investigation. McGwire wasn’t even listed. Clemens wasn’t so lucky. McNamee says he did it. Clemens says he didn’t. Somebody’s lying. History tells us it’s probably the athlete.
We’ve seen others finally fess up. Some, like Marion Jones, had meltdowns during public confession. Others, like McGwire, went mute. Rafael Palmeiro just crawled back under a rock.
Maybe you don’t like it. But it’s justified. And if it means a room filled with clowns, elephants and a pitcher being shot out of a cannon, so be it.
Permalink | Comments (44) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Jeff Schultz
Swimsuit Issue has legs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
THE TUESDAY COUNTDOWN…
10: Sports Illustrated’s annual soft-porn swimsuit issue hits the newsstands today with lingerie model Marisa Miller on the cover. Given that we’re all about “hits” here at blog central, I’ve included a link to her image page. As far as Google recommendations, you’re on your own.
9: Now, you might ask: What does Marisa Miller have to do with sports? Well, nothing. But it hasn’t stopped Sports Illustrated from putting out this issue since 1964. (I was 5 at the time. My mother bought me “Highlights.” And she’s French!) But I did read Miller’s Wikipedia bio, and it turns out she enjoys surfing, football, muscle cars and boxing. So that more than qualifies for a spot in the Tuesday Countdown, if not a Congressional investigation into HGH.
8: The most telling comment/no-comment on our Sekou Smith’s Hawks trade/no-trade analysis came from Joe Johnson, who said: “Right now, so many teams are making so many big moves. I don’t know what anybody is waiting on. I’m sure there is stuff out there for every team, but I’m done pressing the issue.”
7: It was Johnson who probably caught some heat just before the season, suggesting the Hawks were too young and management didn’t do enough to bring in some veteran help for the roster. Of course, what he said was the truth, and it’s now being borne out (record: 21-26 going into tonight’s Detroit game). The NBA trading deadline is in nine days. But please hold it down. Billy Knight’s trying to sleep.
6: I know a lot of people are upset about Congressional involvement in sports. (Not me. More on that later in a Roger Clemens column. Oooh, cross-promotion.) Personally, I have a much bigger problem with Georgia politicians having a conniption over the state offering Florida Gator license plates and trying to mandate that Florida reciprocate. I mean, can you forget about the barking for a minute and just fix the water problem and the potholes? If you want to know why so many laugh at Southern states, here’s Exhibit A.
5: I think it’s great that Georgia is proposing to name a sports complex for Vince Dooley. Just one question: Will there be a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and, if so, does Michael Adams allow Vince to hold the scissors?
4: A stat to chew on while the Thrashers scramble to try to make the playoffs: Washington fired its coach after a 6-14-1 start. The Capitals named long-time minor-league coach Bruce Boudreau as the replacement, and they’ve gone 21-11-4 since. The Thrashers fired Bob Hartley after a 0-6 start. Don Waddell, rather than promote assistant Brad McCrimmon or name another replacement, decided to coach the team himself, and has gone 27-21-4 (including 16-17-4 since an 11-4 start).
3: John Rocker says he used steroids. OK, that explains at least some of the psychotic episodes.
2: Has there ever been a lower-profile series of coaching hires in the NFL? Consider: Mike Smith (Falcons), Jim Zorn (Washington), John Harbaugh (Baltimore) and Tony Sparano (Miami). Oh, and Jim Mora for the Seattle job in waiting.
1: Victoria’s Secret should be out with its NFL preview issue by next month.
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