Clemens Indicted for Lying to Congress

Former Major league Star Roger Clemens is being indicted for being an ass. Actually he's just an ass for being an ass but is being indicted for lying to Congress about his use of Performance Enhancing Drugs.
I'm glad the federal judicial system has nothing else to do these days. It's not like the taxpayers could use that cash elsewhere.

The Boss No More

Major Sports Media outlets are reporting Yankee Owner, George Steinbrenner has passed away at the age of 80.

The Worst "Decision" in Sports History

I have taken the last 48 hours or so to reflect, understand and contemplate a chain reaction of events that started around 9:30 EST as Lebron made his infamous "Decision" in the most fabricated, narcissistic display we have ever witnessed on the ever deteriorating stage of sports heroes.
To place things in context I am a lifelong Boston Celtics fans, first drawn to the team by the hustle of Havlicek and Cowens, the coolness of Jo Jo White and was lifted to Basketball Euphoria when Larry Legend donned the Shamrock. The "Decision" affected me as a sports fan, not as a Cleveland Cavalier or New York Knick or any other type of fan. It's why the "Decision" was so awful. It pissed of people who weren't fans of any of the teams involved.
I was driving to Upstate NY with my wife, 2 year old daughter and my yet to be disillusioned 8 year old boy- a die hard sports nut, all 54 pounds of him . We were listening to all the hoopla, the commentary, the experts assessments on the Pre Decision shows and everyone was saying he was going to Miami. We knew it, however we were hoping he would go to the Knicks. I was hoping for my kids sake, that he would get to watch this conquering hero, the Knicks version of Mark Messier, the man that would reclaim the greatness of the City's Game to the most famous sports arena. I was also still thinking how in the world is this guy going to devastate his hometown like this on national TV.
You see, as a sports fan I want to see greatness. real Greatness. Not Kobe's 6-24 MVP trophy contrived greatness. Not Peyton Manning's Super Bowl MVP greatness. Not Bonds steroid induced greatness. Real Greatness. I'm talking Tiger at Pebble. Montana and his Super Bowl Perfection. Jeter. Larry Legend and Magic. Messier coming to NY and at his press conference saying he is coming here for one reason. To win a Cup. Anything short and it's a failure. Gretzky. And the greatest Basketball Player ever, Jordan.
Ever since watching Lebron in his first high school game live from Akron on ESPN, we were all convinced we were seeing Jordan 2.0 just like Jordan was Dr. J 2.0. We thought we were watching the NBA's next version of greatness. We watched his in his rookie year and he didn't disappoint. He continued to display his immeasurable and incomparable talents winning his MVP's taking an over matched Cavs team to the NBA Finals and 60 wins in consecutive seasons (you want to see how great Lebron is, watch the Cavs next year win 25 games with that roster). We were convinced he was the Next One. Except he wasn't. He didn't have Jordan's fire. He was more concerned about his "Brand" than his "Legacy". He liked to be the King except he didnt do anything yet to be the King. Imagine where the Yankees would be right now if Jeter thought that way?
As a sports decision, I don't like the move to Miami because it shows us that Lebron isn't cut out to be Jordan or Kobe. As a basketball fan, nothing would have been better than Lebron coming to NY. The leagues best player coming to the leagues best biggest stage to recapture the buzz. The Garden is the most electrifying arena in the world and having James play there with a championship contender would bring back the buzz we heard when Ewing and Oakley were leading the charges and when there was a real King winning scoring titles in NY. No, we would have none of that.
What we also saw was the most classless move ever done by an athlete, especially someone on the level as Lebron. What was the purpose of the show? To show the world what a class A jerk he was? And how can a born and bred Cleveland guy, with all their history, do that to the Cleveland faithful? How could he stab the back of his hometown franchise, embarrassing them on national TV like that.
 I don't blame Lebron for leaving Cleveland. Truth is, we saw what Gilbert the Cleveland owner is truly like. (before that letter, Cleveland couldn't get anyone to go there, now it will be impossible). Who would want to play for a guy like that? yes, i loved his letter but not because it was the right thing to do, but because of its pure entertainment value. The fact is, Lebron made this guy 10's of millions of dollars and he should have acted a little more classy than that. although you cant really blame the guy, especially after seeing how much he bent over backwards for Lebron while he was in Cleveland. Still, he just made Cleveland an even worse play to consider after his rant.
Lebron wants to win and deserves that right. He gave Cleveland 7 great years. Turned their franchise around from nothing to NBA elite. They weren't going to win with that squad and had no salary maneuverability to get Lebron someone legit to play with. However, he could have done it so differently. He could have held a normal press conference and thank the Cleveland fans for 7 great years and how he will never forget them, ala Gretzky when he was traded to LA. He could have even used the Decision as a saying goodbye party for Cleveand. He didn't need to have this phony build up with his paid for announcer on the fake stage of a Boys and Girls Club to make him look good. It was all so contrived. He went from the worlds most famous and liked athlete to the worlds most hated athlete. He turned me from a life long card carrying member of the I hate Kobe Fan Club to a someone who cant wait to see Kobe tear him apart on the court.
I am not upset that he went with Wade and Bosh to Miami because I think it's bad for the game, it makes Miami like the Yankees, etc. (it says here that this experiment will not go that well, especially if they don't win right away and the 3 Kings start getting pissy that they sacrificed all this money to play together- somewhere on the $15M range). I'm upset because once again as a sports fan, we were let down. Once again as a father of a sports fan, I have to once again explain to my son why these guys are not special people, just very not special people with very special talent- and it's getting very tiring. The kid is only 8 and I've had to explain why Barry Bonds might go to jail, why Arod is apologizing for doing steroids, Tiger being Tiger and how Lebron decided to rip the hearts out his hometown on national TV for no apparent reason but to feed his giant ego. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of sports doing this to you when it's supposed to be captivating and inspiring. Supposed to give you chills and dream of the possibilities. Instead I have some more explaining to do.

TPC's Post Super Bowl Thoughts

 An amazing game all around. Exciting from start to finish, an all time great performance (Brees), gutsy coaching as well as some very questionable coaching. In the end, this game created or sealed a lot of history for many involved.

1. Drew Brees enters the discussion of All Time Great QB's. His regular season statistics have always been superb (including his 65% all time completion percentage) and he now has a Super Bowl MVP and a career 103.7 QB rating with 13 TD's and 2 INT's in 6 career playoff games. He has now solidified his spot in the current Top 3, along with Manning and Brady and being the youngest of the 3, he has the most upside. He's obviously still behind the Montana, Brady and Unitas class, but he should now feel very comfortable in any argument to be in the top 20.

2. Peyton Manning, for all his regular season greatness- and he is the greatest NFL QB of All Time IN THE REGULAR SEASON, has once again showed his chink of armor in the Postseason. Consider Brees' numbers above, here is Manning's all time Postseason marks: 9-9 87.6 QB rating (as opposed to 96 for the regular season) 28TD's and 19 INT's. His QB ratings in AFC Championships and Super Bowls are in order:
35.5, 79.1, 81.8, 123.6, and last nights 88.5. Hardly the stuff of legends. With all that said, with a Colt loss last night, provided Manning was able to get them in the end zone and tie the game at 24, the arguments could still be made. However, notwithstanding Wayne's huge drop, Manning threw the game breaking INT, that Montana or Brady would have never thrown. You know how we know that? Because given the same situation with both QB's in numerous occasions, they always came through. Always. Manning doesn't. And for that reason alone, he stays in the class (albeit a great class) with Favre, Marino, etc.

3. I dont remember two huge consecutive coaching blunders than what we saw at the end of the first half last night. First, the Saints trying to claw back into a game in which they were totally outplayed early on, on 3rd and 4th down, try to run the ball when you have Drew Brees and all those weapons along side him. You see it so many times where coaches get too cute and try to do something different than what got them to that point. this was a classic case in point. The Saints are a pass first offense with an incredible Field General in Brees. let him win the game for you (which they finally did). So, of course the Colts stop them, and now with Manning who to that point was flawless, had the ball with 2 minutes left in the half, a 10-3 lead, and a chance to bury the Saints- especially considering they were getting the ball back to start the second half. So what does Caldwell do? He freakin runs it 3 times and gives the Saints back the ball. Brees drives them down the field, they get the field goal, erase the memory of the failed goal line attempts and gives Payton a reason to go for the onside kick. You have to let Manning bury the Saints there. You have to. Forgetting what happened at the end of the game, you have to assume Manning will at worst case, move the ball a little and get you better field position. Instead, they went 3 and out and gave the Saints back the ball at midfield.

4. Great job by the Saints kicker, Hartley. We all saw in the playoffs how costly missing field goals are, both in terms of not getting the 3 points and giving the other team great field position. All Hartley did was knock down 3 over 40+ yard jobs which has never been done before in the Super Bowl. On the contrary, up 17-16 the Colts try a 51 yarder, which missed and gave the Saints the ball back at the 41. Brees led them down the field for the score and the rest is history.

5. Back to Brees. Here is a guy who was one of the top QB's in the AFC for a few years, was getting run out of San Diego by their QB of the future in Rivers, on the last day before he becomes a Free Agent tears apart his throwing shoulder, possibly ending his career. Two teams show interest. The Dolphins and Saints. Miami passes, the Saints take him. Katrina happens. Brees gets down and dirty helping both physically and emotionally in the rebuilding of the city, the city embraces him, and now he delivers what may have been the best game ever played by an NFL QB (only Simms SB win could compare, but Simms had a much better running game to lean on). Great stuff for a truly good guy.

McGwire comes clean, admits steroids use

Too little too late? If Big Mac went this route a few years ago he might be in the Hall of Fame today. Instead he just looks like some guy who had to fess up to the Principal because he doesn't want to miss recess.

McGwire comes clean, admits steroids use

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