tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Nonsense Reigns In Sports World

Many years ago, sports news was all about the game.  There wasn't talk of arrests, court cases and the constant second guessing of every move that every player, coach and general manager makes.  You didn't here about what these guys were doing in the off season or how they spent their time after hours.  But its all different now which leads to stories that just won't go away.

The Roger Clemens saga continues with the trial beginning next week.  It's gotten to the point for me that I really don't give a damn whether Clemens lied to Congress or not.  Has there never been a politician who's lied before Congress???  Seems to me we had a President say there was weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  How did we make out with that??

Yet, the Clemens trial will drag on and sports media outlets will cover it like its big news when in reality it means nothing.  Do I believe Roger Clemens did performance enhancing drugs??  Yes.  Does it matter to me?? No it does not because Major League Baseball under the auspices of that high-brow, know-nothing, look the other way Commissioner Bud Selig allowed it to happen.  If you really want to do something they should put MLB and the MLBPA on trial because they knew what was going on and allowed it to happen because of the long green.

Up in Toronto, there has been continual debate over the fact that Toronto Maple Leafs President and General Manager Brian Burke was visiting Canadian troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 1st, the first day of free agency.  Steve Simmons, columnist for the Toronto Sun, wrote an article calling Burke out for being in Afghanistan thus reducing the likelihood of the Laefs signing Brad Richards.  Simmons says its his duty as a sports writer to bring out issues that are on sports fans minds.  Really???

Simmons response illustrates what's wrong with the media these days.  While I'm certainly not saying that the media should just take everything that their given as being the absolute truth.  Nor am I saying that they shouldn't question anything. But what I am saying is that there is some responsibility attached to being a part of the media.  If people are thinking that they would like to see Erin Andrews of ESPN in a Playboy centerfold would Simmons report that??  If Toronto Maple Leaf fans tweeted to Simmons that they would like to see Daniel Alfredsson get a severe knee injury ending his career would he report that???  The answer to both questions is no he wouldn't and that's why his response is a bunch of crap.  He wrote the column because he wanted to start a controversy and what better way to do it than to go after Brian Burke.  By the way, in this day and age Burke was accessible to Dave Nonis and Company.  Oh and by the way, it was a given that Richards was going to the Rangers.

I have no problem talking about trades, player moves or game strategies.  But I'm fed up with the made up controversies.  Oh well, such is life in 2011.