ESPN had some awards for sports like things last night, the US Women’s Soccer team is playing for the World Cup, Major League Baseball has passed its halfway point, the NFL is ever closer to a labor agreement and the British Open has started. For an otherwise slow time of year there’s a lot going on. And with that, two sports stories this week stand above everything else, even though they’re only tangentially sports related and for now, hopefully to be overshadowed by a World Cup victory over Japan.
First, Steelers linebacker James Harrison is an idiot, a special kind of idiot who doesn’t exercise any discretion when speaking to journalists. Harrison, speaking with magazine “Men’s Journal” decided to unburden himself in regard to his personal feelings in regard to Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Rashard Mendenhall and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Towards his teammates, Harrison was just a jerk. His statements towards the NFL commissioner were completely outrageous and so hate filled that they leave the reader to question Harrison’s mental health. The worst part is that there have been those who dismiss the statements as ‘just’ his personality and the writer of the piece paints Harrison as brave for stating what is ‘supposedly’ obvious to many NFL players. The statements were so vile that speculation has begun in regard to punishment ranging from fines to even being cut from his team. Freedom of speech doesn’t protect a person from their own poor decisions. Harrison can say whatever stupid thing he wants but an employer doesn’t have to put up with it. Harrison’s continued disrespect warrants punishment, and there is a kind of justice if it results in Harrison is working somewhere other than the NFL this fall.
After the prosecution indirectly, but maybe on purpose, shared disallowed testimony in the beginning of hall of fame worthy major league baseball pitcher Roger Clemens’ kabuki show trial the judge ordered a mistrial. Today was the second day of the trial, our tax dollars at work. Next up is a hearing on September 2nd to determine whether or not the government is allowed a second chance to flush more government funds to try again. Key to the hearing will be the determination of whether or not the prosecution meant to improperly influence the jury by indirectly presenting inadmissible evidence. The prosecution will have to persuade the judge that their actions were inadvertent even though what was shown was very explicitly made inadmissible and the judge mentioned that even a first year law student would not have made the same mistake. Perhaps justice can work in mysterious ways as evidenced by this turn. Roger Clemens could be sentenced to hard time based on an almost impossible to prove notion that he lied when questioned by the US Congress in regard to his use of performance enhancing drugs. Just how many things are wrong with that sentence? Everything. Congress had no business investigating baseball. No one in government knows one way or another beyond a reasonable doubt if Roger Clemens ever did use performance enhancers. And even if he did lie, about something that can’t be proven either way, Clemens did no harm to anyone but himself. The trial is a depressing example of government waste and overreaching grandstanding. It is in the best interests of everyone involved that the mistrial leads to a ruling disallowing retrial.
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