Notorious W.E.S.:

Let us remember amongst the back and forth that if the Memphis men played the Tennessee gals, the boys could make it any score they wanted to. It might be possible for them to hold them to zero points or damn near it in a 40 minute game-- full court press for all 40 minutes of the best 7 or 8 players. And they could score 200 themselves.</>

And the Detroit Pistons would demolish the Memphis men's team.

But that's not the point, is it?

This issue has become about Roger Clemens because Roger Clemens has made it about him. Instead of keeping his mouth shut when McNamee went public with his allegations, Clemens made a big deal out of angrily denying that he had ever used any illegal substances.

I would think that Clemens' rationale for indignantly coming forward like he did was that it would be his word against McNamee's.....the word of a seven-time Cy Young Award winner against the word of a lowly trainer, and people would believe him and his status as baseball demigod would be preserved.

But the more Clemens has made an issue out of this, the more apparent it's become that he is lying. The testimony of McNamee, plus the statements made by Andy Pettite, make it pretty clear, I think, that Clemens in lying. Neither McNamee nor Pettite has any reason to lie about Roger's involvement in this business.

And this offends me. If Roger has just let it go and accepted the fact that the public now knows that he's not Superman (didn't you ever marvel at how a 40+ guy could blow his fastball past the best hiters in baseball and win another Cy Young?), if he had just accepted that it would have been much better for him. His achievements would have been tainted, but at least people would have retained a modicum of respect for him, i.e., "Well, he's still one of the best who ever played the game."

But now......he's not only a cheater, he's also a goddamned liar. Clemens' indignant denials of any drug use remind me of Spiro Agnew's angry denials of wrongdoing (remember Spiro Agnew? Nixon's VP who resigned in disgrace when it was proven that he accepted cash kickbacks while Governor of Maryland?).

As a baseball fan, Clemens' attempt to deceive me in order to maintain his Superman persona has the effect of pissing me off.

Roger Clemens probably won't be indicted for perjury, because there isn't conclusive evidence that he lied under oath.

But he has been discredited as a sports hero, and his Superman costume is showing stains.

Roger is now in the same category as Barry Bonds. How's it feel, dude?

Doesn't all this make Babe Ruth look awfully good by comparison? The only substances he was known to abuse were hot dogs and beer.

And what about Petey Rose? Ol' Charley Hustle got 4,256 hits, none of which were aided by steroids or HGH. So he made bets on his team. So what? He always bet his team to win.

GW

How do you know Rose always bet on his team to win? Cause he told you?

Man, if anybody had evidence that Pete Rose bet on his team to lose, you can bet it would have come out by now.

We have not heard anything to that effect, not even unsubstantiated allegations from a bookie.

Naw, Charley Hustle was a big-time gambler, just like Michael Jordan was/is. It seems to go with that superstar mindset. But Rose never bet on his team to lose.

Personally, I could care less that Rose bet on his team while he was managing it. What do you want in the dugout, ballplayers, or priests?

King Kaufman: I'm continually impressed by your insights into the sports world and the individuals who populate it. Reading your columns is an education that you can't get from reading the sports section of the newspaper.

I lament the coarsening of baseball in recent years. The abuse of steroids and HGH is a natural concomitant of the emphasis on home runs. People like Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa made themselves artificially big with steroids and God-knows-what-else so they could hit more home runs and keep the fans happy.

But the home run has never been the essence of baseball, or even its most exciting feature. Nothing can compare with a well-executed bunt that attempts to move one or more baserunners over, or just a bunt in order to get on base. It calls for timing, skill and daring by the team at bat and the team in the field. Home runs, by comparison, are a matter of muscle and brute force. (Okay, there's timing and skill involved, too.)

I went to see There Will Be Blood because it was nominated for Best Picture.

It was.....the slowest motion picture I have ever sat through. This film was so slow in its development that toward the end I was crying out for someone to put this film (and me) out of our misery. It took a considerable act of will to sit through this tedious movie.

This film was somewhere over two hours long (2 hours and 38 minutes, actually) and it should have been no more than an hour and 30 minutes, maybe an hour and 45 minutes. Who were the editors on this film, and what were they drinking? Where was the producer who allowed this to happen?

This may have been a good film at an hour and a half, but right now I just have very bad feelings toward the film and everyone connected with it.

Best Picture nominee? Not hardly.