I am amazed at the whole Roger Clemens deal the last couple of years. Why is this dude the only guy in sports who gets to do what he wants, when he wants and where he wants and he names his price for all this. How does he get away with all this crap that nobody else even try to pull off? If teams are willing to give him all this, of course I don't blame him for taking it, but where's the media here? The same media thats quick to criticize every little mis-step in sports. Why is ESPN covering this guy like he is Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi rolled into one? I don't get it. I am sick of people like Chris Burman just sucking him like a hoover vacuum cleaner for basically making 28 million a year for pitching once in 5 days and not even showing up the other 4 days. He stays with his family in Houston even on game days, travels in private jets to games and nobody says anything. But how dare Barry Bonds has a leather recliner in his locker room? Just for the record, Clemens has enjoyed all of this the last 3 years though I am not sure what exact deal he is getting this year.
Race is an integral part of our lives here in America and often times I feel like we are just way too sensitive when it comes to race. We over-react when something even slightly offensive is said about blacks sometimes. Everybody jumps on it if the issue is something sensational like the Imus issue or the Rush Limbaugh issue couple of years back with Donovan McNabb. I hate Rush Limbaugh, but I thought he got a raw deal there though I do think Imus deserved to be fired. But my point is, there are a lot of subtle instances in our lives, sports or politics that are more symptomatic of racism in our society than these sensational issues. To me Clemens issue is one of them. I can't imagine a black athlete ever getting this kind of a deal in any sports. Only some white guys can get away with this. There's some talk about how Barry can't get away with it but Clemens can and thats all about race. I totally agree, though there's a message here for Barry too. I hate Barry and if he was not such an A-Hole to media and fans, may be he can get away with a a little bit more. Still, black athletes can't do what Roger is doing here.
Also there are talks about how Clemens might be on HGH or steroids and he retires, stays away from the game for 2 months extra and un-retires to basically cycle these drugs through his body while avoiding the MLB drug tests. There was also some talk last year about how he probably tested positive and got suspended for 50 games without the league telling us anything. I wouldn't put anything past either Clemens or this sham of a league. Any and all of these stories could be true.
Talking about race, here's another instance of sub-conscious racism. This is some reader's e-mail to Bill Simmons I couldn't agree with him more. He talks about sports, but just replace it with "race".
"Does the coverage of the Josh Hancock accident perfectly illustrate the double standard we have with different sports? If a tattooed, cornrowed NBA player had been been in a fatal, single-car accident with a BAC level twice the legal limit, allegedly on the phone with a woman arranging a hookup and with a stash of weed in the car -- he'd be posterized as everything that's wrong with the NBA. Since it's a clean-cut white guy, he's being treated like Barbaro."
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