Tag Archives: Rodger Clemens

The Story that Never Ends

Rodger Clemens and his never fading star is back in the spotlight. Just like the Barry Bonds trial, barely anyone cares from a fan standpoint. Our verdict was in years ago, and we could care less what his excuses were for doing steroids, but for some reason I care about this trial a little more than Barry’s trial. Maybe it’s because there’s two lockouts going, but I think it’s more because he called that original hearing at our (the tax payers) expense after being mentioned in the Mitchell Report. Rodger Clemens was probably one of the least important things we could’ve been worrying about during the 2009 financial crisis, but he forced his way into a hearing as he tried to deny a mountain of evidence brought against him. It was a completely unnecessary hearing that in the end made him look all the more foolish and more guilty. He could’ve sent out a statement or talked through his lawyer like his friend Andy Petite did when the Mitchell Report came out or even given up on his denials like President Clinton did with Lewinsky, but Clemens went the extra step to stay in the spotlight. Or maybe he just wanted to waste some of the tax payers money both of which are a travesty.

Now Clemens goes back to trial under different charges and not under his own will. ESPN unfortunately has picked up it’s coverage as the trial started. When the legal analyst comes on, I throw up in my mouth a little. This current trial is all because of his unnecessary hearing, that made the government realize he lied to them. If there’s one thing our law doesn’t take kindly to, it’s lying. He’s facing two counts of perjury,  three counts of false statements, and one count of obstruction of Congress, which adds up to six felonies. Strangely it’s the same amount of felonies Barry was charged with and dismissed from.

Do I care that Clemens took roids and had ass abscesses? No, and like all the other cheaters of the era I still think they should be in the HOF, but I hope the courts penalize him for wasting the courts time and money. This trial isn’t about his legacy, it’s about his arrogance, and his inability to live in a world where he isn’t a god among men. He wears his lies worse than Pinocchio, and was in a no win situation back in 2009, and looks to be in another un-winnable situation in 2011. I don’t see how he can win this trial, but just a day after Casey Anthony was acquitted, who’s to say it can’t happen for Clemens, but I hope this ruling makes more sense to everyone. Brian McNamee is no saint, but I hope the players testify that he made them aware of what they were getting injecting with by him…


Go For Broke!


In these tough economic times, when it feels like your money isn’t going all that far, just remember that there are plenty of people that are worse off than you. USA today had a study on athletes, and it found that 78% of retired NFL players are bankrupt within 2 years, and 60% retired NBA players are broke within 5 years. So congratulations to all the rookies out there! They’re usually thrown into the glamorous filled lifestyle of the rich and famous, but that life is usually abruptly ended, and they end up being just an anecdote in one of my pointless posts! Far too many times we see athletes blow off hundreds of millions of dollars, but there should be no reason to be surprised. They have to realize they just can’t blow through cash like Joey Chestnut powers down hot dogs! Here is a list of things that some players didn’t realize weren’t within their means.

Taking the Lil Wayne approach. This guy already has two kids and is about to have two more with two different ladies on very close due dates.

Travis and six of his eleven kids

Travis and six of his eleven kids

I’m not saying don’t have kids, but he could easily go broke down the line just like Travis Henry who has 11 kids with 10 different women. In March of this year he was pulled over and arrested for failing to pay $16,600 in child support. He is currently in jail for trafficking cocaine. Shawn Kemp ran into similar problems having at least 7 kids with 6 different women.

Buy cars, actually buy many many cars! Jack “the Ripper” Clark owned 18 cars at the time he filed for bankruptcy, and 17 were not paid for in full including a 1990 Ferrari that he owed $300K on. In 1992 he owed $11,459,305, and had only $4,781,780 in assets. He was still in the second year of a three year $8.7 million contract from the Red Sox while filing for bankruptcy.

Buy a private jet. Burn money like it’s going out of style! Scottie Pippen borrowed $4.375 million to get himself a personal jet. Did you know that it costs about $50K to fix a windshield on one of those!?! I’m sure that insurance, fuel, and a personal pilor are good investments to ride in style to the next stop on the road trip. Apparently, he still owes the airplane company $5 million. Latrell SpreewellYou could go by sea if you don’t like flying. Latrell Sprewell tried to hide his 70 foot yacht in storage, until the bank foreclosed on his house and yacht. He famously turned down a 3 year $30 million contract stating “I’ve got a family to feed”.

Ballin out of control. Most players fall into this trap. They don’t drive their own cars. They don’t write their own checks.  They don’t raise their own kids. They just play their sport and let others pick off their carcass like vultures. Just look at how Vick turned out, as his friends ran his life outside football helping lead to his dog fighting ring.  For some reason most athletes set up a large support system behind them, and because they are the only ones supporting it they go broke! LaTroy Hawkins offers his advice to teammates “When I was a young buck, I was trying to spend all my money. Now I try to preach to young guys in the clubhouse who are like that. I’ve got all this stuff from 10 years ago — jewelry, rims — that I think, Why the f— did I even buy this?”

Screw up, deny everything, and fight it with all the lawyers and cash you have. Rodger Clemens sold his Bentley last year to none other than Bret Michaels. The sale of the car was reportedly to pay for legal fees. KareemKareem signed over his power of attorney, and then let an agent named Tom Collins have his power of attorney. It cost Kareem about $9 million before he figured it out. Mark Jackson was taken by one of his business managers who forged about $2.6 million worth of his checks to get his gambling fix. Barry Bonds seems like he’s well on his way to this dilemma.

So in the end, athletes are just like many of our own friends and people we know. Maybe our friends aren’t going bankrupt or quite as extravagant as these athletes, but we all know people living out of their means. A recent study suggests that if you make $35K a year you will never retire. I myself think I could contain my own spending if I hit the lotto, but then again I am a sucker for a friend in need and I can think of a lot of them that would probably hit me up.

Doin Work E-mail debate: Who Else is on the list of 100+ that used PED’s?

Manny Ramierez & David Ortiz

In the wake of the leaked positive test results of Manny Ramierez and David Ortiz back in 2003, there has been unrest on what exactly should happen, and what should happen with the rest of the names on the list. We debated all morning in an e-mail chain that you can decide for yourself what the MLB should do.

Brian: It’s so lame they don’t just release all of the positive test names. The big ones are out there, so why don’t they release the rest of them…

Andre: Apparently Clemens wasn’t on the list, but we all know that Barry Bonds is crapping in his pants every time he hears more names have been leaked.

Tony:If they released, the MLB would be sued immediately by people as well as the players union. Legally they can’t just release because of privacy.

Brian: So who’s getting sued for all of these leaks then? If I was the players union, I’d be going after someone…

Nelson:MLB has not been the ones to officially leak anything, hence why they cannot say, “Here’s the whole list”…. like Tony said, a mess of lawsuits and headaches would come from it.  These names will just continue to trickle out.

Andy:MLB has the rights to this information for they were the ones conducting the test, for the good of baseball they should concede both the players union and MLB with a stipulation that no action will be taken against them.

Tony: The players Union exists for the exactly the opposite to happen. They are there to protect the player across every possible spectrum including players privacy. If a players name on that list isn’t public yet, they will fight to keep it that way.

I do agree it’s pretty much BS at this point however.

Nelson:You guys are all living in a fantasy land….the tests were CONFIDENTIAL.  MLB will never just release the whole list.  It may all get leaked, but you will never see MLB publicize it.

Andy:Nelson your missing the point I am saying what would be best for the game not that this will magically happen.  MLB is just like every other business which at this point is filled with lies, cheats and people covering them up. 

Nelson:What point am I missing?  You guys keep saying what MLB and the players union should be doing.  I’m just saying why it shouldn’t and won’t happen.  It might be best for you to enjoy the game, but it is not best for the business of baseball.

Andy: See I disagree 100% I don’t think bleeding out a list of the course of the next 5 years and constant wondering if your favorite star player took steroids is “best for business”.  Ownership needs to be taken on topic because as the onion slowly get peeled back fans will become more and more discouraged.  Especially in a economic downturn, I mean 1994 people got fed up with high salaries in a recession and it took years to get the fan base back.

Nelson: What I am saying is that opening up the flood gates and saying, “Here’s the whole list, wonder no more” which then opens up the lawsuits that was previously mentioned is not best for business.  I don’t buy the John Q. Public wondering about who did (is?) take steroids is hurting business all that much.  Baseball is hotter than ever right now.  Have you honestly stopped watching any games or buying merchandise because of this?  No you haven’t so why would anyone else?

The fan base went away in 1994 because of the strike.  Baseball is still being played despite these news items, so it’s not the same thing.  There is still something to watch, and since this test was years ago, it really is somewhat irrelevant at this point in time.

Andre: It’s funny, the conversation went from what’s right and wrong in terms of morality, fairness and legality to those names already leaked, to what’s god and bad for the game of baseball financially.

What happened there?  Talk about missing the point, it’s not about how baseball will be affected financially, it’s about gaining the respect and trust of the fans back.  Baseball needs to prove itself worthy of their fans after looking the other way for way too long and hiding information from the public who are the only victims here.  We have watched the entire situation turn into a gigantic circus of smoke and mirrors, sample tests with hidden results,  and privacy contracts that aren’t even really being enforced because they can’t.  The MLB Players Union is not a victim, they are the culprit and shouldn’t be able to hide behind the false pretense of secrecy from sample testing.  MLB Owners and MLB Front Office were enablers willing to put profit ahead of the truth the fans deserved.  NO ONE in baseball should expect any sympathy, the fans are the ones who deserve this way before the millionaires walking around on egg shells waiting for their name to be dropped next.

Matt: Did you guys catch “More to Love” last night?….