Thursday, February 14, 2008
What the Hell is Going on Here?
Congress is an easy target so I generally try to avoid piling on, but the last two days have been pretty ridiculous. First, the Clemens-McNamee lie fest went to C-Span and ESPN (an impressive double if it wasn’t so absurd) and Roger Goodell met with Arlen Specter regarding the Pats taping the Eagles walk-though before the Super Bowl, among other Belichick-related indiscretions.
In their own right, both events are significant to sport, as they go to the very notion of fair play. And I had very little problem with Congress holding Major League Baseball accountable for the steroids scandal since MLB showed little inclination to do so itself. But currently Congress is mediating a dispute between two people—which seems like something more appropriate for a court of law. I can’t see that Congress is investigating steroids use—it’s trying to determine who lied, Clemens or McNamee. (And in truth, it’s probably both.)
Meantime, if the Patriots were indeed cheating for seven years and prior to its first Super Bowl win, it seems to me this is the NFL’s dictate to decide punishment (and the punishment should be heavy). I just don’t understand where Specter comes in.
All of this leads me to believe that I’m missing something and I know we have some lawyers in this group. Someone please make this make sense.
In their own right, both events are significant to sport, as they go to the very notion of fair play. And I had very little problem with Congress holding Major League Baseball accountable for the steroids scandal since MLB showed little inclination to do so itself. But currently Congress is mediating a dispute between two people—which seems like something more appropriate for a court of law. I can’t see that Congress is investigating steroids use—it’s trying to determine who lied, Clemens or McNamee. (And in truth, it’s probably both.)
Meantime, if the Patriots were indeed cheating for seven years and prior to its first Super Bowl win, it seems to me this is the NFL’s dictate to decide punishment (and the punishment should be heavy). I just don’t understand where Specter comes in.
All of this leads me to believe that I’m missing something and I know we have some lawyers in this group. Someone please make this make sense.
# posted by EJ @ 11:29 AM 
Comments:
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Simply put, Congress needs to prioritize. If they can figure out immigration, get social security on solid footing, make sure people have access to health care, decrease our dependence on foreign oil, cut greenhouse gas emissions, raise literacy, reduce unemployment, etc., then go ahead -- mess around with baseball and football as much as you want. Subpoena every living player, active or retired. Knock yourselves out.
Or, taking another angle, if Congress had a track record that showed it and it alone could provide clarity on hot-button issues, I'd be supportive. But these things only shrink the focus, turning macro issues into micro ones. Whether Pettite "misremembered" or Clemens' wife shot up to look good in the swimsuit issue tells us nothing about how performance enhancing drugs changed the game over the course of a decade or more.
By the bye, Specter, aka "Not Santorum," is losing his grip on the title of Best Pennsylvania Senator.
Or, taking another angle, if Congress had a track record that showed it and it alone could provide clarity on hot-button issues, I'd be supportive. But these things only shrink the focus, turning macro issues into micro ones. Whether Pettite "misremembered" or Clemens' wife shot up to look good in the swimsuit issue tells us nothing about how performance enhancing drugs changed the game over the course of a decade or more.
By the bye, Specter, aka "Not Santorum," is losing his grip on the title of Best Pennsylvania Senator.
I'll try to not let my Patriots' allegiance shine through here, but the two situations are clearly different. In the steroid investigation, people have clearly broken the law and Congress is trying to determine the extent of the crime. In the spygate investigation, nobody has broken the law which makes it absurd for Congress to get involved. If I recall from grammar school, isn't congress supposed to make the laws, not enforce the laws?
Building on what Snoop said, it's hard to imagine what legislative action could come out of either case. Does the federal government want to get into the business of drug testing athletes? Do Senators want to provide oversight on all NFL disciplinary matters? What's the point of all this, other than TV time?
Does nobody else think our government has better thing to do with their time and our tax dollars? Talk about a waste.
Can anyone be the devil's advocate and develop a reason as to why Congress should intervene in these situations? Hasn't anyone asked Arlen Spector this question?
Not that I think this justifies the cause, but sports are big business and a reasonable piece of the economy. If the integrity of the game is questioned, the economic benefits of sports might be lost.
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Not that I think this justifies the cause, but sports are big business and a reasonable piece of the economy. If the integrity of the game is questioned, the economic benefits of sports might be lost.
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