Mickey Mantle's Liver

I am pretty sure one of Clemens' advisors is George Costanza...

I watched today's congressional hearing with Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee with a lot of interest, because it was evident that someone was going to perjure himself today.  As an attorney, I have a hard time believing that lying under oath is ever worth the punishment that comes with perjury.  So I guess in the back of my mind I somewhat expected either McNamee or Clemens to scream "Uncle!" at the last minute and confess they were perpetuating a lie.

And then the hearing started, and the bombshell was dropped on Clemens that his pitching buddy Andy Petitte confirmed that Roger Clemens spoke with him on at least one occasion about using performance enhancing drugs - steroids and HGH.  Then it came out that Chuck Knoblauch had a similar conversation with Clemens.

When asked to explain, Clemens answered affirmatively that he thought Petitte was an honest, upstanding guy, who would never lie about such things.  Then Clemens said Petitte "Misremembered" or "misheard".

Then Congressman Elijah Cummings from Maryland laid out the case against Roger Clemens beautifully - so far everyone that McNamee has said he injected with performance enhancing drugs has admitted so, confirming that McNamee was telling the truth.  Corroborating evidence had been gathered that seems to support McNamee's claims and refutes Clemens' story.  How, Congressman Cummings asked, are we supposed to believe that McNamee was telling the truth when it came to everyone else, but he is not telling the truth when it comes to Clemens.

Clemens' response: McNamee is lying.

Clemens response reminded me of an old episode of Seinfeld.  In the episode, Jerry is dating  a cop, who accuses Jerry of secretly being a fan of Melrose Place.  When Jerry denies the accusation, the cop challenges Jerry to take a lie detector test.  Panicking, Jerry asks George how to beat a lie detector.  George offers the following sage advice to Jerry: "Remember, it is not a lie if you believe it!" (despite the advice, Jerry failed the lie detector test).

I am pretty sure that Costanza also advised Clemens, because it sounded like Clemens had repeated the same lie often enough that he (Clemens) actually believes he never used steroids.  Despite the fact that McNamee's story is far more plausible and reasonable than Clemens', Roger continued the character assault on McNamee.   He repeated the same line over and over that the only conclusion one could reach is that Clemens actually believes what he was saying.  Despite the fact that Clemens' story is just not reasonable.  George would be proud.

Now don't get me wrong, McNamee is not a saint by any means.  But like Canseco when he made steroid allegations nearly four years ago, McNamee's allegations are continuing to be affirmed over and over.  McNamee has his own personal demons, without question, but after today's hearing, unless you are a real Clemens homer, you had to conclude that McNamee was far more believable than Clemens. 

In short, this was a bad day for Clemens.

A couple of other observation about the hearing itself.  Having worked on Capitol Hill, I am familiar with the committee process in addition to committee traditions.  On the positive side, I have to congratulate Chairman Waxman.  I am by no means a fan of Mr. Waxman, but he deserves a lot of credit for the way he has handled this entire affair.  If anyone comes out smelling like a rose, I think it was Chairman Waxman.  He was fair, courteous, yet stern.  Waxman's demeanor was consistent not only with the committee's rules, but also with the longstanding traditions in Congress.

On the flip side, as a Republican, I was embarrassed today by the actions of the minority Republicans on the Committee (with the exception of Mark Souder).  Dan Burton was absolutely idiotic, and Tom Davis wasn't much better.  The Democrats did focus more on Clemens than on McNamee, but by no means were the Democrats easy on McNamee.  But at no point did the Democrats call anyone a liar, the way Congressman Burton did.  While it was clear that someone was lying today, it was impossible for anyone (let alone Burton) to reach a conclusion today.  I understand the Republicans may want to believe Clemens over McNamee, and that is fine, but the committee process in Congress is supposed to have an air of fairness and respect.  Burton and Davis flushed those traditions down the toilet.

Is this an issue Congress should be involved in?  Yes and no.  Yes Congress should be concerned about the proliferation of 'roids and HGH in sports and society.  No, Congress should not be concerned about specific players and accusations against those players.  But it is understandable how Congress may want to make an example of someone who lies about the use of steroids under oath.  Barry Bonds is already being taken care of on the West Coast.  Consider that Clemens was the first - and biggest - name Congress could go after.  And they did.

In my opinion, with the exception of Chairman Waxman, Congressmen Cummings, Shays and Souder, the rest of the actors in today's drama acted in a boorish and inexcusable manner.

However, at the end of the day, I can say without question that George Costanza lost his title as "Lord of the Idiots" to Roger Clemens.

The Beavers Baseball Team Gets No Love - Part Deux!

Remember last year, when I posted here about ESPN the Magazine's annual list of the top 100 sports stories of the year and the Mag conveniently forgot to list the incredible run by the Beavers baseball team - playing five consecutive elimination games AND beating Number 1 overall pick Andrew Miller....TWICE! -- as one of the top 100 sports stories?  Remember that?

Well guess what, ESPN the MAGAZINE did it again!!!!!

This time, the Beavers baseball team won a second consecutive national championship and they get no love from the WorldWide Leader.

And again, just like last year, the Magazine listed as one of its top sports stories something from professional wrestling!  Since when is professional wrestling a sport?  The Mag mentions the death of a cricket coach in Jamaica, the U.S. Track and Field Championships, base jumping in the Grand Canyon and even the Little League World Series....but no love for the College Baseball National Champions?

The Magazine lists the weiner-eating champion as the 99th best sports story.  What?  I realize beating that little Japanese dude in a weiner eating contesting is a big deal and all, but is it really (a) a sport, and (b) more impressive than the Beavers winning a second consecutive National Championship in college baseball.

But what is probably the worst pick of all is #100 - Helio Castroneves  winning "Dancing With the Stars".  Now, I understand that old Helio is a race car driver and all, and that race car driving counts as a sport.  But he is mentioned in the Magazine not for winning a race, but for winnig a DANCING CONTEST!!!!

What makes this last pick especially questionable is the fact that Dancing With the Stars appears on ABC, which is the sibling network of ESPN, which owns and publishes the Magazine.  Suffice it to say, the Magazine's #100 pick is a transparent attempt at shameless self-promotion.

Last year I did nothing, assuming that if the Beavers were to do the unthinkable and win yet another National Championship, ESPN the Magazine would give the Beavers their due.  Now that i know that ESPN the Magazine has no clue, I am going to take action.  Stay tuned......

Baseball Death Watch, Day One: The Day After

exhale.......

Here it is, the day after the release of the Mitchell Report, and wouldn't you know it, the world is still turning, the sun is still shining (except here in Oregon) and baseball is still America's Pastime (although football may have something to say about that).

Those of you who follow the Liver know that I started the Liver because of my outright disgust with the use of performance enhancing drugs by Major League Baseball Players, and in particular, Barroid and McSteroid.  The flagrant use of these substances by Barroid and McSteroid, and others, in my opinion, is and was nothing short of a slap in the face to the rest of baseball, the players and most importantly from my perspective, the fans.

Now we have the Mitchell Report.  I have read the report cover-to-cover now -- twice (my wife says I have no life) -- and I have come to the conclusion that the Report isn't exactly the smoking gun so many of us hoped that it would be.  Sure, the Mitchell Report names names.  But many of the big names in the Report are players that the public already had a good idea about.  And the other players mentioned in the Report are marginally talented big leaguers who used performance enhancing drugs just to stay in the majors.

Like I said in this earlier article posted here on the Liver, most (if not all) of the attention on the Mitchell Report is being focused on the 86 or so names found in the Report.  Even I posted the names I found in the Report immediately after the Report was made public.  But the Report itself is short on real substance, and long on innuendo and unsubstantiated conclusions, which is unfortunate, because the Report had the potential to be so much more.

Aside from the players names found in the Mitchell Report, the most curious aspect of the Report is the obvious disdain Senator Mitchell holds for the Players Association.  Don't get me wrong, the MLBPA certainly deserves much of the credit for baseball's current drug problem, but the Report seems to shift much of the blame onto the MLBPA, I think somewhat unfairly.

Why?  Well, the Report points out that players (and therefore MLBPA) made a considerable amount of money during the offensive explosion that has become known as "the Steroids Era".  The Report infers that the MLBPA resisted serious efforts by Major League Baseball to institute comprehensive drug testing -- testing of all illegal drugs -- for reasons such as "due process" and "right to privacy" concerns.  Apparently Major League Baseball bought into these concerns and never pushed harder until the Congress held Major League Baseball's feet to the fire.

But to shift all the blame for a lax drug screening program on the players' union is revisionist in its own right.  The Mitchell Report includes a lengthy discussion (over 20 pages) of the history of drug testing in baseball.  The Report explains that drug testing was a topic of bargaining in 1994, and the two sides (the MLBPA and MLB) were in serious discussions about a comprehensive drug screening system.

Of course, there were other issues the two sides could not agree on in 1994, and the infamous strike occurred in 1994, canceling the rest of the 1994 season, the World Series, and part of the 1995 season.  Only after MLB and the players were losing money did the two sides reach a tentative agreement in order to start the 1995 season.  Drug testing and/or screening was not a part of that agreement.

The Report tries to place the blame for not having any drug screening provisions in the 1995 agreement upon the players and MLBPA.  But let's be serious here, the owners were losing money as well.  Baseball was on life-support, and something needed to be done in order to revive the sport.  Steroids meant the likelihood of more home runs, more scoring and more excitement - which equates to more money in the owners pockets.  The owners knew this in 1995, which is why drug screening fell off the bargaining table.

The point is this:  the Mitchell Report is lacking in any serious review of Major League Baseball and criticism of the baseball clubs.  While there is harsh language in the Report criticizing Major League Baseball as a whole, that criticism is often tempered by the Report by also pointing out the players unions shortcomings on the issue of performance enhancing drugs.

I agree with Commissioner Selig on this point:  the Mitchell Report is "a call to action".  But not a call to action by MLB or the MLBPA.  It is a call to action to the Congress, to institute its own investigation, where players and baseball officials can be subject to subpoena and compelled to testify truthfully about the problem of drugs in baseball.  That is the only way the public - and millions of baseball fans everywhere -- will get a full and fair report on the prevalence of steroids, HGH, amphetamines and other drugs in America's Pastime.

Schrutebag (aka Colin Cowherd) gets called out by ESPN

The big mouth of ESPN, Colin Cowherd (we call him Schrutebag here  at the Liver) got called out today by the ESPN Ombudsman.  This is nothing new, old Schrutebag should be used to being taken out to the woodshed by the ombudsman at the WorldWide Leader.  Here is what she had to say about Schrutebag's coverage of the Sean Taylor Tragedy:

Until the police could provide perpetrators to hold accountable, the question was: To blame or not to blame the victim?

With the notable exception of ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd, ESPN's commentators did better than many in the mainstream media at reining in the impulse to speculate, pontificate and prematurely assign responsibility for Taylor's death. Cowherd, however, trusted his "gut feeling" to guide him to "the truth." His gut told him that Taylor's "history of really, really bad judgment, really really bad judgment" had caught up with him, and even if the emerging reports that Taylor had "cleaned up his act" were true, "Well, yeah, just because you clean the rug doesn't mean you got everything out. Sometimes you've got stains, stuff so deep it never ever leaves."

Most other ESPN commentators seemed to understand that when it comes to race, crime and sports, the last source to be trusted is one's gut, which tends to be lined with bilious stereotypes and prejudices. Some commentators, including Michael Wilbon of "Pardon The Interruption," admitted to not being surprised by the shooting, of suspecting a link to Taylor's past associates or enemies, but they aired their presumptions tentatively, with sadness or anger at the "senseless death" of yet another young black man, not in the gloating, know-it-all voice that many of Cowherd's listeners called "appalling" and "indecent" in their e-mails to me.

C'mon Schrutebag, this is big boy radio.  You need to act like a big boy, not the whiny little wanna-be that you really are.  Your "gut feeling" is not worth the bile in your stomach, and you shouldn't be exposing your bile on a nationally syndicated radio show.  After all, this is big boy radio.

And that is the difference between adults and Schrutebag.  Those of us who have at least half a brain understand that circumstances like those that claimed the life of Sean Taylor are not a result of "bad judgment".  Taylor was sleeping in his own home, with his fiancee and daughter in the room.  He was asleep for god's sake.  What evidence did Schrutebag have that Taylor was exercising any judgment at all?

The idiocy of Schrutebag's comments is only magnified in light of the arrests of the people alleged to have murdered Taylor.  It turns out that there is no link between them and Taylor at all.  None.  Which means that Schrutebag's "gut feeling" that Taylor's murder was a result of "bad judgment" is simply wrong.  Whether Taylor exercised bad judgment or not in the past was irrelevant.  The people alleged to have murdered Taylor had no connection to Taylor's past - it appears as though the alleged perpetrators were simply trying to rob Taylor.

In fact, at the end of the day, Taylor's death is a result of Taylor good judgment.  Taylor heard a noise, woke up, and told his fiancee to grab their daughter and hide in the bathroom.  In the meantime, Taylor did what any man would do, he stood up to defend his soon-to-be-wife and daughter, and paid the ultimate price.  That is called good judgment.

In fact, the only example of bad judgment that I can think of in this whole escapade is Schrutebag's on-air statements.  Ironic, don't you think?

John Kincade is an idiot, which is why he filled in nicely for Shrutebag today

It must be the time slot on ESPN Radio, but if you heard John Kincade today as he filled in for Shrutebag, he sounded like a complete moron.  He is so desperate to find a "new angle" on the Michael Vick story, Kincade was actually making stuff up.

First, the back story.  Here is a link to the video of Vick's lawyer, Billy Martin, reading a statement allegedly prepared by Michael Vick.  Make sure you watch the entire clip.

Apparently desperate to say anything negative about Michael Vick, Kincade poses a hypothetical to the listening audience: Michael Vick didn't actually write the statement.  Kincade then goes on to conclude that because -- in Kincade's small mind -- Vick didn't actually write the statement, that somehow means that Vick is guilty of the charges brought against him. Kincade is an idiot.  Which is why he filled in nicely for Shrutebag today.

What does Kincade cite as evidence for his hypothesis?  Well, first he claims that Vick's statement calls training camp "Spring Training".  Second, Kincade claims that Martin never read from the statement allegedly prepared by Vick.  These are the two facts that Kincade rests his argument that Vick never prepared the statement read by Martin, therefore, Vick must be guilty.

First, the "Spring Training" comment.  Again, watch the entire video.  The "Spring Training" comment was an error by Vick's lawyer.  Why was it an error, because, contrary to the second point made by Kincade, throughout the statement Billy Martin was READING Vick's statement, until the very end, when Martin was concluding Vick's words.  It was then, when Martin was no longer reading the statement, that Martin called training camp "Spring Training".  In short, those were clearly Martin's words, not Vick's.

Why is all of this newsworthy?  It certainly has nothing to do with Vick's guilt or innocence.  I think Vick is guilty as sin, and deserves to be locked in a cage, but that will come later.

This is newsworthy because it demonstrates two things: (a) ESPN does not necessarily hire the smartest people in the world, and (b) how desperate "reporters" are to get a new angle on a story that they will go to extreme ends to make up facts.

ESPN is getting on my bad side....quit dissin' the Beavers!

OK , it was bad enough when ESPN The Magazine, listing the top 100 sports stories of 2006 failed to mention the Beaver miraculous run through the College World Series - winning five straight elimination games and beating Andrew Miller and the North Carolina Tar Heels (yes, the same Andrew Miller pitching for the Detroit Tigers) - to win the National Championship.

Instead, The Mag picked "sports" stories such as the possibility that David Beckham might come to the United States as a sports story (picked at #47, no less) over events that actually happened!

Now, here come the ESPYs, ESPN's annual awards show acknowledging athletic success.   Overall, the ESPYs are a fun time and do a good job recognizing deserving athletes and teams across a broad spectrum of sports.

And ESPN generally does a good job canvassing all sports, not just the big three, recognizing remarkable achievements in all the various sports people play.

Which is why it is even more inexcusable that ESPN did not even nominate the Oregon State Beavers' baseball team in the category for Best Team, or Pat Casey in the category of Best Coach.

I just don't understand what the hell they are drinking in Bristol.  I suspect the fact that Colon Cowturd works at the WorldWide Leader has something to do with it.  It is well known in Oregon that Cowturd is a big Oregon Duck supporter.  During his tenure here in Oregon, old Cowturd would regularly bash on the Beavers and praise the floundering Ducks.

So I bet old Cowturd told the higher-ups at ESPN not to recognize the amazing accomplishments by the Oregon State Baseball team.

Regardless, ESPN really screwed the pooch on this one.  The fact that the Beavers repeated as College Baseball National Champions is a remarkable achievement.  Think about it.  No team has repeated in 10 years, since the days of Ben McDonald and the LSU Tigers.  Second, the Beavers only had two returning starting position players, and the Beavs lost their two best pitchers.

Now consider the fact that for the first part of the Beavers' 2007 baseball season the Beavers played on the road (given our wonderful "liquid sunshine" in the Pacific Northwest during March and April), which makes the season that much longer and difficult for the defending national champs.

Given all that they lost, and all they had to deal with,  the Beavers still won the national championship.

The Beavers accomplishment is worthy of some recognition by ESPN.  But the Beavers got bubpkah!

I know that ESPN is, in fact, a Mickey Mouse operation, but this time they are taking this  "mickey mouse" analogy a bit too far.  Somebody at ESPN needs to get on the ball and give the Beavers the props they deserve.  I can understand missing the Beavers championship run in 2006, but screwing this up in 2007 makes ESPN look stupid.

Colon Cowherd is making enemies fast.....

From our friends at Awful Announcing.....

Shrutebag Responds To Bill Simmons 

In a way only a douchebag could, Cowherd responded to Simmons' column with a bunch of nonsense and approximately zero facts. Here's the rundown...I was typing as fast as I could, so some of these are paraphrased....

"I’m being attacked and I need help from the Herd"

“Vengeful Missile attack at me, just terrible.”

Reads Bill’s quote.....

“Reaaaaly Bill Simmons. I lazily skim other people’s work. Because you have two factual errors....my show is 4 not 3 hours, and I have 3 breaks per hour not 4."

"I find it mildly ironic that Simmons thinks I’m lazy, but doesn’t take the time to check his facts. He didn't take the 8 seconds to go to the website and see that the show is 4 hours."

"You didn’t listen to the segment Bill"

"We didn’t mock Bill Simmons, we said he’s smart and he gave the trades a great deal of thought. We just said when you take the best trade scenarios, they are just absurd."

"This horrible hurtful attack sent me back this morning, and I would hold off on saying I’m embarrassed when every column you write is about the Celtics."

"We never mocked him we mocked the idea of trading Kobe."

"Bill to you, no offense....we still like you. But Celtic columns....no one cares.

"How would you like to wake up in the morning and have a blog attack you."

"Olbermann is after me, Bill Simmons is after me..."

"There’s a kinship with Bill Simmons much like Al-Jazeera and the NHL. He went out on his own, and tries to be different like us."

So there you have it.....it's just plain laughable at this point. He doesn't back up his claims at all....takes cheap shots about the Celtics stuffs (which I'm not innocent of)....and is smug and a dick about the whole thing.

(Just a quick aside here....Hey Colin.....how did that Missing Link thing work out for you? Okay, just checking.)

RUTS says.... "Simmons isn't perfect, but he knows the NBA. Cowherd's just going to embarrass himself again, similar to when he was cracking jokes on Keith Olbermann. Maybe he's operating under the "any publicity is good publicity" model, but when all you ever get is bad publicity..."

Yep, that about sums it up. He's getting exactly what he wants by attacking The Big Lead, Simmons, and the like. Oh, and if you're interested the ass is going to be on Outside the Lines later today for a segment about the brashness and fair-reporting in the media. That should be interesting....it airs at 3:30 I believe.

Bill Simmons Is Pissed at Shrutebag and a Cleveland Writer I've Never Heard Of (Awful Announcing)

[via AwfulAnnouncing]

Boxing Announcer Arrested

From DeadSpin and AwfulAnnouncing:

Boxing Announcer Arrested

From the L.A. Times.....

Former Los Angeles TV sportscaster and current HBO boxing announcer Jim Lampley was arrested late Wednesday afternoon by San Diego County sheriff's deputies on suspicion of domestic violence and other counts, authorities said.

A brief news release from the Sheriff's Department indicated that Lampley, 57, also was being held on suspicion of violating a restraining order and dissuading a witness.

Whoa...dissuading a witness? I don't even know what it is to dissuade. I assume that he was either paying someone off or threatening....TMZ has more.....

TMZ has learned that veteran sportscaster Jim Lampley was arrested this evening outside of San Diego, CA on felony charges of domestic abuse.

Sources say that because of previous complaints, Lampley was arrested by an investigative team at his girlfriend's home in Encinitas, CA. Lampley was once married to anchorwoman Bree Walker.

Lampley has been a favorite of mine for quite some time now, and I wonder how this will affect his attendence of the January 20th Ricky Hatton fight?

Side Note: I'm not sure if he was stalking Bree Walker or another unlucky lass, but Bree Walker is the anchorwoman you see on all those plastic surgery pieces. Seriously, Jimbo....if it is Bree....come on, look at her.....just leave it alone. It's not worth it.

L.A. Times (LA Times)
Jim Lampley is Arrested (TMZ)
HBO Sports

[via AwfulAnnouncing]

Harold Reynolds out at ESPN

Corvallis native Harold Reynolds, a long time baseball analyst with ESPN, is suddenly no longer with ESPN.  The network did not provide further comment.

The speculation is that Reynolds, a 12-year major league veteran, faced charges of sexual harassment at the network.  ESPN will not confirm or deny these reports.  Head on over to Deadspin for more on the sexual harassment charges.

Rumors are also flying that Reynolds also had a disagreement with the direction Baseball Tonight was taking.  See more here at BaseballMusings.

One thing is for sure, this is a major blow to the team over at ESPN's Baseball Tonight given the fact that Peter Gammons is also on the DL.

Stay tuned for more info.......

UPDATE - JULY 26th, 8:10 A.M.

Sources tell me that Reynolds' sexual harassment issues at ESPN might not be a one-time occurrence.  Reynolds is a native of Corvallis, Oregon, home of Oregon State University.  As this article in the Corvallis Gazette-Times points out, Reynolds is a fixture at Oregon State University athletic events.

I have been told by a reliable source that Reynolds was asked by the Oregon State University Athletic Department in 1994 to stop attending Oregon State football games and standing on the sidelines during the game.  Apparently complaints were made that Reynolds was making inappropriate comments to women working for the OSU athletic department during the football game.

Here is a report from the New York Daily News on the firing of Reynolds.....

Stay tuned as we learn more about Reynolds' early departure from the Network.....