Roger Clemens, former MLB pitcher, is back in the news and the news isn’t good.

According to a report in the New York Times, Clemens will be indicted by a grand jury in Washington, D.C. for lying under oath in front of Congress during steroid investigations in 2008.

He strutted into Washington, DC, arm and arm with the architect of his strategy, his attorney, Rusty Hardin. With cameras trailing him through the halls of Congress he met individually with some members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Then he testified under oath that he never used performance enhancing drugs, including being injected with Human Growth Hormone.

That performance followed one on CBS’ 60 Minutes during which Clemens did what we have seen from others in his position. He told a network news person that he was clean as a whistle and was shocked that his friend and former trainer Brian McNamee would tell such lies. It’s one thing to lie to the 60 Minutes’ host but it’s another to think you can get away with it under oath.

Many believe that the road show was a way to counter the media storm produced by the publication of MLB’s “Mitchell Report” about the use of steroids and other performance enhancers by baseball players. Clemens was one of those named in the report, based on the tales of his former trainer, Brian McNamee.

During his testimony in 2008, McNamee said that he injected Clemens with HGH and even kept medical waste, including a used syringe to prove that it had come into contact with the pitcher’s DNA. He stood in and took every shot by some Congress members who clearly thought he was trying to defame Clemens who, in their eyes was a national treasure.

Others, however, gave Clemens a good old fashioned grilling and it was then he uttered the words that will be the center piece of an indictment. He came off as so unbelievable that the committee chair suggested that a federal probe be commenced to look into whether he had perjured himself.

McNamee was under investigation by federal prosecutors for procuring and distributing substances that were either illegal or illegal to have without a medical prescription. In exchange for leniency in what they promised would be a tidy sum of years in prison, he went on the record about Clemens.

Rusty Hardin didn’t stop there however. Athletes who refute claims against them are judged by whether they are willing to sue the snitch. Thus, a defamation suit was filed against McNamee, which has twice been gutted by the presiding judge. Hardin used to strut around like a peacock, telling the world that his client would never be indicted. I’d say Clemens got some bad advice, just my opinion of course.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Brett Favre, just hours after being retrieved from his farm in Mississippi by three Minnesota Vikings teammates, practiced with the team today then met with the media. This will be my final season he said. . . . again.

What’s funny about that comment, aside from his repetition concerning retirement, is that he thought the most common reaction would be, “thank goodness”. He mentioned that his wife and family will be happy that he’ll be out of pads and a helmet after his 20^th season and assumes the rest of America will share that same sentiment.

Much has been written about why the 40-year-old slinger finally caved in to veterans Steve Hutchinson, Ryan Longwell and Jared Allen after they appeared on his doorstep this week. Now the question is; is Favre healthy and prepared enough to make a Super Bowl run.

Veterans of twelve-step programs say they are taught that addicts and alcoholics are egomaniacs with inferiority complexes. Both parts of that dichotomy were on display during our third annual “Is He or Isn’t He” summer ritual.

The quarterback is always concerned he’ll disappoint his team of the moment who happens to be the Vikings this season. It’s hard for us to understand that an athlete with Favre’s ability could ever doubt himself. 

He admitted he had to grow to believe his teammates when they said he didn’t need to have the same kind of record-setting year he had in 2009 when he threw for a career-best 33 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions.

According to Favre what got the deal done was when one of the three teammates put their pitch in question form asking for a favor. He realized his fear of failure was only dominating his own mind and not theirs and that one little “yes” from him would make them very happy.

While he’s agonizing he puts his own needs above the rituals of a team, the practices, training, bonding and letting teammates and coaches know who to pencil in for first-team play calling. He’s special enough to ignore the fact that any rehab and workouts he was doing in Mississippi would be just as easy to do at training camp. All under the guise of him being afraid he can’t live up to expectations.

Other than the Packers and their GM Ted Thompson, no other team has told him to stick his ridiculous indecisiveness and put it where the sun doesn’t shine. So it’s back to work for Brett Favre and supposedly only one final try and football glory  Here’s a video clip from the press conference.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Heidi Montag, reality star, let the world know how she felt about the shocking death of celebrity and sport’s plastic surgeon Dr. Frank Ryan when she created this message on her Twitter account:

 “I am devastated to hear the news of Dr. Frank Ryan’s death. He was the most amazing person I have ever known. He was an angel and changed my life and the lives of everyone he met. He was the most brilliant talented surgeon who will ever exist. Dr. Frank Ryan changed the world.”

Dr. Ryan, who died this week from traumatic head injuries he suffered in an automobile accident, was driving along the Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County when his car went off the side of the road at around 4:30 pm.  Police at the scene told media that Ryan’s Jeep landed on rocks and pinned him in the vehicle where he was unable to be reached.

The Ventura County Fire Department responded to the call and tried to hoist him by helicopter but those rescue attempts failed. Ryan was pronounced dead at the scene.

The famous Los Angeles surgeon’s celebrity clients included Montag and Oscar De La Hoya’s boxing empire Golden Boy Promotions.

Ryan attended every fight of De Lay Hoya’s between 2002 until his retirement. After forming Golden Boy Productions, De Lay Hoya invited the doctor to join them ringside for all the fights they promoted in the L.A. area. Golden Boy said Ryan volunteered his time at those events.

De Lay Hoya released a statement concerning the death:

“After any fight in which I was cut or suffered an injury, Dr. Ryan was always there for me, from the time I left the ring until I was fully healed. He was an outstanding physician, a wonderful and charitable person as well as a good friend.”

Richard Schaefer, President and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions said, “It was a comforting feeling to know that Dr. Ryan would be at our events, in case a fighter suffered a facial injury. From the biggest name pay-per-view boxers to four-round fighters, most fans have never heard of, he provided the same level of great care.”

MORE BOXING : Golden Boy screams slander after NY license reinstated

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Frank McCourt and Jamie McCourt continue to see their divorce details make it onto the front page and while the news has revealed loads of gossip, how they live and how they financed their lifestyle. The latest discovery trumps them all.

It’s been discovered that the Dodgers pay rent to…the Dodgers for use of Dodger Stadium, to the tune of $14 million for 2010.

Unusual?

Remember, the McCourts own the Dodgers, the stadium and the land it sits on. For those not familiar with a typical lease arrangement for a baseball team, the Dodgers’ rental payments are 7 to 10 times more than the next most expensive rent in the rest of MLB baseball.

The Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and Milwaukee Brewers were listed in a Los Angeles Times article on the subject and according to the newspaper, not one of those teams pays more than $1.2 million to their municipal landlords.

The Dodgers’ neighbors to the south, the Anaheim Angels don’t pay rent for their field but kick in a percentage of revenue from parking and ticket sales to the city. That is estimated to amount to $2 million in the previous two seasons.

That said, here’s the kicker and juicier piece to this story. There is no other team expense listed in the financial documents submitted to the court that surpasses the stated rent. There are figures being thrown around about $24 million having been taken off the top of team revenues for the rental costs.

According to the court filings, the pool of rental money hasn’t been tapped by the team to better itself. As we know, the McCourts have reduced their total payroll by almost as much as the rental fund. On Opening Day 2008, the costs for the Dodgers roster was $23 million more than in 2010.

David Boies who represents Jamie McCourt wants you to know he’s on the side of the fans who are demanding for the team to open its wallet and get some pitching. “It’s a way of taking money out of the Dodgers and putting it into a place they can access it,” Boies said.

Boies has been in the news a lot lately. He was on the legal team that argued the winning side in the California Proposition 8 court challenge.

Whether anything more is learned about the $24,000,000 sitting out there on a financial ledger remains to be seen. Many analysts question whether the trial will happen at all in light of embarrassing and nasty details that may come to light.

In the meantime, the Dodgers’ hitting has taken a break since All-Star weekend and on the nights they get some timely knocks, the pitching goes south.

Who’s got the popcorn concession if this trial does make it to court? Anyone?

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Brady Quinn may soon find himself in a battle against Tim Tebow for the second-string quarterback position on the Denver Broncos.

Denver ESPN affiliate radio host, Brandon Krisztal, said that choosing Tebow would be related to the multiple things he can do on offense, more so than his pure skill at completing passes and avoiding mistakes when taking snaps on the field.

Krisztal was told that there were no plans to dress three quarterbacks for regular season games. He specifically mentioned the packages being created for wildcat-like offensive plays and said this came in a statement he’d heard from a member of the Broncos coaching staff.

After the pre-season 33-24 loss the Broncos suffered at the hands of the Bengals, Quinn’s performance might just make it all a moot point.

Quinn and Tebow were given their crack at putting on the helmet with the green dot on the back and leading the offense down the field Sunday night and although neither looked great against the Bengals’ reserves, Tebow’s number were better.

The ex-Florida Gator threw for 105 yards on an 8-of-13 performance; that nets out to a passer rating of 61.5. Quinn threw for only 68 yards on 6-of-16 passing and a 37.5 QB rating.

Both men took one sack for a short loss and Quinn was intercepted once, but by watching them operate, they didn’t look all that different. That of course isn’t something Brady Quinn wants to hear. This is his fourth season in the NFL after a successful career at Notre Dame.

Granted, both men are learning a new system. Quinn spent his first three years in the league with the Cleveland Browns, where last season he was given a chance to win the starting role on a permanent basis.

For Tebow it’s not just a new system, it’s an entirely different world. Having operated in a spread offense in college with the green light to scramble or take the ball as the primary running back, he had to start from scratch if he wanted to become an NFL signal-caller.

Add that to a major reconstruction of his throwing motion and what you have is a guy that looked better than Quinn when all things were considered. Tebow is a lightning rod for criticism and effusive praise, Nothing that happened during his first appearance in a pre-season game will do anything to change that.

Meanwhile watching him run seven yards into the end zone while taking out the Bengals’ safety Kyries Hebert reminded us of his power and strength. How it is harnessed is the challenge for the Broncos.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Mike Shanahan’s Washington Redskins jumped on the opportunity to bury the Buffalo Bills last night, thrashing the Bills 42-17 during their first NFL pre-season game.

So the Shanahan era is kicked off and to no surprise, the offense came out looking powerful and balanced, loaded with weapons.

In all honesty, the Redskins’ second team offense looked like it could have whipped the Bills first team defense and Sexy Rexy Chapman is back in a big way, throwing for 140 yards and two touchdowns on a 11-of-16 night.

Donovan McNabb threw three times to TE Chris Cooley, handed off to Clinton Portis who ran for 22 yards on six carries and scampered to a first down to show off his aging but nimble 33 year- old legs. Overall, he threw a touchdown and ended up 5-8 for 58 yards.

The offensive line provided the Redskins QB’s with enough time to work and it certainly helped that McNabb and Chapman are experienced at getting rid of the ball to their check-down receivers. Thanks to the draft picks of Trent Williams and Jamaal Brown, Shanahan looks to have the right guys up front to run his zone blocking scheme

Even the sideline has a new look with Keenan McCardell as the wide receiver coach and Jim Haslett directing the defense as coordinator. It was Haslett who was credited for cajoling Albert Haynesworth into giving nose tackle a try.

Haynesworth played second team nose tackle and lived to speak about it after the game. For a guy who resisted change and was made to look ridiculous in the process, it looks like he’s decided to get with the program.

“I know I’m a good player and eventually I’ll be with the first team” – Albert Haynesworth.

While Haynesworth was in the lineup, he helped cause a couple of false starts by the Bills’ offense while taking up the space a nose tackle should. The guy’s huge and can keep a couple of O line members occupied at the same time.

Even special teams for the Redskins seemed on top of its game. Brandon Banks, an undrafted rookie from Kansas State returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

The Redskins next opponent is the Baltimore Ravens for a game on Saturday August 21.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

The first 2010 NFL pre-season game is in books. The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 16-7. Is it still not kosher to call it an exhibition game? The NFL doesn’t cotton to that designation.

The victories or defeats don’t count a lick in any standings and the first string players are protected from injury by limiting their participation.

If that doesn’t define an exhibition I don’t know what would do it for the NFL. They charge full boat for the tickets and expect fans to swallow it by trying to sell them on the novelty of watching their own version of HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told Mike Florio of profootballtalk.com last week that “The fans have made it incredibly clear that they don’t like preseason games.”

So Commish, does that mean you are encouraging the teams to adjust prices accordingly? Ah…no, not exactly. Goodell thinks they should just flip two of the four exhibitions into regular season games.

“So the idea of staying within the 20-game format and taking two preseason games and converting them to regular season games has a lot of appeal,” Goodell told Florio.

Apparently the players don’t think it has much appeal. At least that is the talk coming out of the NFL Players Association as they bulk up for the coning fight to the death over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

Goodell as you would expect from such a smooth operator, thinks he has that covered too. “But you have to do it in a comprehensive fashion that is going to ensure that the game stays safe for our players,” The game’s the game Mr. Goodell. Players go down without hits to the head or illegal chop blocks.

Sunday night’s Hall of Fame game was interesting in short bursts for those that wanted to see the new Bengals’ receiving corps and if the Cowboy’s Roy Williams would actually catch a pass.

Hard core fans of each team and fantasy football stat heads might have stayed engaged longer if they knew the draft picks and were curious to see if they could predict who might make the 53-man game roster.

Aside from those potential benefits of staying engaged in the action, you got plenty of chances to relive some of the moments from the Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction ceremony the previous evening.

As a football crazy country, it was heartening to realize the real thing kicks off in a bit more than four weeks. But the real thing isn’t what we are fed in August.

If the NFL owners get what they want in the new CBA and earn more of the gross revenue than their current percentage, perhaps they’ll do the right thing. On this point, MLB’s got it right.

Call them exhibitions, play them at the site of the training camps if you can and get us ready for football when the W’s and L’s really count.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Tiger Woods shot a five over par 77 on the final day of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. His four-day total of 18 over par is his worst showing at a PGA 72 hole event, both as a pro and as an amateur.

Playing with Anthony Kim in Sunday’s final round, Woods hit shots that some observers thought were amateurish, not just poor. Kim came in two shots better than Tiger on the day.

Speaking to media after the round, Kim opined that once Tiger’s personal life gets in order, we will all see the return of the king.

Tiger has trouble driving, not off the tee this time

Has he hit bottom yet? Fans can only wonder if even Tiger Woods knows the answer to that question.

His highly anticipated return to the 2010 PGA Tour began with a fourth place at the 2010 Masters. It’s hard to remember after this weekend’s showing that he actually shot 11 under par at Augusta National.

Earl Woods asks hard questions in Nike ad (video)

Tiger watchers thought him a bit rusty and lacking in his short game. What would they give for him to seem that rusty four months into his season?

His game seems to have fallen off a cliff in the last thirty days. At The Open Championship in St. Andrews, he managed a three under par for the tournament. It looks like a respectable showing now in hindsight.

Woods’ embarrassing fall from grace off the golf course has now turned into a full blown downward spiral on the golf course. Some athletes can play themselves through turbulence and scandal. Kobe Bryant is one example of that.

Minister to sex addicts thinks Tiger’s quick comeback means the end to his marriage

Flying in from a full day at a Colorado criminal courthouse, the Lakers star shot the lights out within hours after getting off a plane and arriving at Staples Center.

For Tiger it is different. There are no teammates to encourage him and share the burden of winning. His personal life is completely different than it was only eight short months ago and golfers can be creatures of habit.

What seems more embarrassing now, his robot-like press conference or this weekend’s tournament results? Hard to tell at this point.

Some have derisively suggested that he go back to his womanizing days to find comfort in what seemed to be the only outlet he had when he wasn’t playing golf. Who is to say what will work but one thing is for sure, nothing is working now.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Karen Sypher heard a jury foreman say she was guilty of six felony counts, including extortion, lying to federal prosecutors and retaliation against a witness.

Sypher’s trial ended on Wednesday afternoon and the jury deliberated a bit less than six hours before agreeing on a verdict.

Sypher’s ex-lover says she told him: I shouldn’t have done it

Her attorney, Jim Earhart had chosen not to put his client on the stand in her own defense. In fact he presented no witnesses at all, relying on the jury to find reasonable doubt that the prosecution had proved the case against his client.

Sypher’s attorney rolls the dice, won’t put her on the stand

Unfortunately for Earhart and Sypher, the jury was able to come to a unanimous decision very quickly. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported on a statement of a jury member.

Charles Smith, a mortgage banker told media that a key to their decision were the phone calls made to University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino by an ex-lover of the defendant’s. The calls demanded money in exchange for silence about a six year-old tryst between Sypher and Pitino.

It all began in 2003 when Pitino and Sypher had the briefest of sexual encounters at an Italian restaurant that had already closed for the night.

Within weeks she told Pitino she was pregnant and without health insurance or a clue as to what to do about it. Pitino gave her $3,000 and with that she obtained an abortion.

Ex-husband says claims of rape are “craziness”

When Pitino received the calls demanding money a new element was introduced into the situation. Pitino was told that Karen Sypher was now claiming that the coach raped her. Pitino worked with the FBI who arrested Sypher in April 2009.

Rick Pitino humiliated while telling of sex with Karen Sypher

At that time, Rick Pitino’s personal life got exposed on an international stage. He had to admit his indiscretion and involvement with Karen Sypher’s pregnancy.

The jury verdict came after seven days of testimony from the prosecution including multiple individuals who directly contradicted much of Sypher’s case.

Sypher had multiple sexual partners, including her former lawyer, testify to facts that directly contradicted what Sypher had told the FBI and even the local police.

Sypher was granted her request to remain free on her own recognizance until she is sentenced. Federal sentencing guidelines are expected to reduce her sentence from the up to 26 years provided under the law.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Karen Sypher’s defense counsel chose not to call her to the stand to state her case that she didn’t try and extort money from Rick Pitino, a man she says raped her.

In fact, Jim Earhart, chose to rest his case without calling any witnesses at all. When he informed the court of that on Wednesday morning, closing arguments began immediately.

The prosecution called some twenty witnesses during the first seven days of the trial and rested its own case on Tuesday.

Pitino on the stand: sex with Sypher was brief and unfortunate

There are two reasons a defense counsel decides to roll the dice without presenting a case of its own. The first one usually stems from concern that the defendant is a bad witness.

A bad witness can be a person who the jury will dislike, be inclined not to believe or someone who can’t stand up under cross examination.

The second reason is more of a legal strategy. It is the job of the prosecution in a criminal case to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

If the defense believes it has done a good job discrediting the elements of the case against its client, during cross examination of the government’s witnesses, sometimes it’s better to say nothing else.

The prosecution presented witnesses who testified they heard her say things that directly contradicted her allegations about Pitino – things like her claim that she was raped, not once but twice and that she was forced to have an abortion.

Ex-lover of Sypher says she admitted demand for money was a mistake

They also played a tape in court on Tuesday of her visit to local police in 2009, to report the first rape she claimed happened in 2003 at an Italian restaurant, when she said no one else was present but her and Pitino.

The police officer said on the tape that her story didn’t make sense. We had already heard from Pitino’s driver that he was still in the restaurant when the two had sex, consensual or not.

Ex-husband tells court that rape allegations are just plain crazy

Once a jury hears about a woman who has a lot of sex, some with men she barely knows and in public places, it tends to make the defendant less than sympathetic, even as a rape victim.

Besides Pitino’s testimony about sex with Sypher within hours of them meeting, the jury heard from her former lawyer who spoke of oral sex performed on him in his office and an ex-lover who had an affair with her in 2008 while she was married to her second husband.

Sypher’s counsel chose not to chance her being ripped to shreds on cross examination and apparently will make his last ditch effort in his closing statement.

As a former federal prosecutor, he knows well that a unanimous vote by the jury is necessary to convict and his client gets the benefit of reasonable doubt. Only time will tell if it was the right strategy.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC