Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Stumblin'...Bumblin'...Whoa Nellie!

-I watched some of the Roger Clemens/House steroids-HGH hearing on TV. I give the guy credit for showing up, but I can't help but think when he stumbles and bumbles around trying to express himself that he's not really helping his cause. The big question in my mind is why would McNamee and Petitte lie? I don't think they had any overriding reason to...in fact, if they were under oath they had every reason NOT to. There certainly was no financial or legal motivation to lie. If anything, you'd think if they were good buddies that they might fib in order to protect The Rocket. Clemens is in a position where it appears he's being less than forthcoming to save what would have been his legacy...and he's willing to risk jail time to do it.

-Will the Blues be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline? It's less than two weeks away. While I don't pretend to know anything that JD and LP might be thinking, I would expect that the pair is seeking the best return on current assets they can find. If that means selling players that are about to become free agents, we know that they've been willing to do that before with great results. The defense is a strong point on the current roster. I would expect one or two current d-men won't be wearing The Note in March. The bigger question is...how much will we get in return? We don't have the big rent-a-player names to offer up that we did the last few years.

-Up 'til now, I've stayed away from making comment on the Kirkwood mass murder of last week. As they bury the last of the victims and the perpetrator, I offer these observations--

  • Considering the racial problems of Kirkwood in the recent past, it's interesting that none of the local television outlets covering the breaking story was willing to identify Cookie Thornton as an African-American until the day after the shootings.. even though they knew he was the shooter just a few minutes after the massacre.
  • Will public meetings need to be held at armed fortresses where we have airport-like security? Seems like everyone is talking about metal detectors and more policemen with weapons at the ready. Why not consider having anyone who wants to attend a public meeting pre-register in order to gain admittance? Yes, they are still public meetings with everyone invited...you will just know in advance who's coming and why. If they don't pre-register...Sorry, come back next time. Too bad... because public meetings are anything but.
  • What a shame that Thornton's brother allowed himself to be interviewed in the aftermath. The man did no good for the memory of his brother...or anyone else...and certainly made a fool of himself with the "going to war" comments. If he thought he was furthering the cause of those in Meacham Park, he was sadly mistaken on that count too.
  • The woman who was the press liason for the County police...Ms Panus? (and why wasn't there a Kirkwood authority figure doing that?) apparently thought she was talking to a pack of dogs when she addressed the members of the media. She was short and impolite every time I saw her appear on TV. It was a tough job sure...but she wasn't up to it either.
  • Generally speaking, I thought most of the coverage by the TV outlets was good. Although I must say that Deanne Lane's thinly-veiled attempts to take ownership of the story because she's a Kirkwood resident came off as more than a bit tacky to me.

-Normally at this time of year I begin to get fired up for March Madness. This year...Yawn. The Illini are having their worst year in many. Mizzou...well you know. The Rick Majerus dynasty hasn't quite kicked in yet. And SIU is way down from recent teams. None will likely be in the tournament without a major upset run in a conference tournament. Looks like I'll have to root for some out-of-area squad and make the best of it.

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