Aren't there laws to make?

So, like everyone else, I have been fascinated by the whole Clemens thing. As expressed in this blog before I reiterate that I still believe that Clemens took HGH and/or steriods. The words of Pettitte seem to back this up as does many of the things you saw on Capitol Hill earlier this week.

Yes, I believe that Clemens lied to Congress. If you follow my lying breakdown form my prior blog you understand why it makes more sense for Clemens to be lying that McNamee. Clemens has continued to keep his lying simple. He does not say Pettitte lied but rather that he misremembered. This has the beauty of not only allowing him to only tell a small lie but it actually doesn't contradict anything that Pettitte said. By saying that Pettitte "may" have "misremembered" the context of the conversation, he doesn't accuse his friend of lying nor does he tell a complicated lie. It's merely another denial.

McNamee adds details like they are going out of style but they all seem to keep coming back with some truth to them. And Clemens even comes close to backing those new accusations up by throwing his wife under the bus! It's great! I saw a great video of Clemens and he was facing the panel as he spoke but as soon as he got to the actual "I never used drugs" line he broke eye contact and looked at his ever expanding list of notes. For those of you who have ever cheated on a test in high school, you know that you never look at your crib sheet so blatantly if you want to get away with it. And any good poker player will tell you that the inability to maintain eye contact is a great tell when someone is lying. The comedy of this whole thing is great (even the Giggling Russian would have a good chuckle).

This leads to the real question of this piece, doesn't Congress make laws anymore? I know they kept getting called out of the hearing to cast votes but it seems that they are more concerned with baseball players sticking needles in their asses and Coach Hoodie taping opponents then the war and the recession. They need to let it go. I understand that the steroid thing is important because of the illegal nature of many of the activities and the poor example it sets for children and the fact that these substances are harmful, but why is Specter sticking his nose into Spygate?

All you Pats haters out there are enjoying this and thinking that this is going to bring them down. But this is not something that deserves Congressional review. One team got caught violating NFL rules (not federal laws) by taping opponents' signals. Other teams probably do similar things. If they want to investigate, let's investigate the whole league and see who else is cheating and how, don't just concentrate on one practice by the Pats (for which they have been punished by the league already). Congress needs to pay attention to what is important on a national scale and not the inner workings of the NFL disciplinary committee.

I know I'm biased as a Pats fan, but let's be honest (something no one in the whole Clemens thing seems completely capable of), the Pats got caught and won't do it again. Will Belichick find new ways to skirt the rules, you betcha! But that misses the point that every team is trying to find a way to skirt the rules. All you have to do is really look and you'll find it. Lets not forget that the majority of the NFL rulebook is designed because of things that people either have done or thought about doing that would have given them an unfair advantage. As long as there are gray areas, people will find them and exploit them or even downright violate rules to get an edge. Just ask Roger Clemens if you can get him to look you in the eye when he answers.