Hello friends,

I'm having a bit of a moral sports dilemma and I hope you can help me figure it out. A couple of years ago in August 2006 I was lucky enough to go to Houston and see Roger Clemens pitch against my hometown Milwaukee Brewers and it was the first time I had seen the Brewers play on the road in person.

But the story of that night and today is Roger Clemens and was I lucky to see him pitch. In the past it would have been a resounding yes. He won over 350 games into what was sure to be a Hall of Fame caliber career. In fact as my wife and I looked at the predominately Astros and Clemens crowd we thought it would be neat to get a couple of Clemens shirts as well.

The song Rocket Man blared in the background and we took pictures thinking this might be one of the final performances of Clemens career. Clemens pitched brilliantly giving 7 shutout innings in a game the Astros would ultimately win 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Things were great and it was definetely an honor to see Roger Clemens pitch one more time. Then he made another grand return to pitch for the New York Yankees in 2007.

But then in December 2007 the long awaited Mitchell Report came out proving the allegations of the players who were suspected of steroids and HGH use. Roger Clemens because of his age and apparent size of body shape/ muscles increase was one of the biggest suspects.

He denied it on 60 Minutes which led to a hearing on Capitol Hill with Brian McNamee the trainer who had helped supply him with HGH and steroids use. In the hearing he continued to deny his steroids HGH use and the hearing tuned into kind of a circus with both parties looking guilty but nothing definite really solved.

Ok now this past Monday reports came out that Clemens had had an 10 year affair of sorts or relationship/friendship with then with then 15 year old country singer Mindy McCready which brings some other questions because she was a minor then. Clemens claims it was just a family friendship and that his wife Debbie knew about it. McCready and her party also affirm the allegations of the friendship and it was also said she was a bit unstable so who knows where that truth will lead. Clemens said none of his actions were inappropriate in a way eerily similar to the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal during his presidency.

So what should we make of Roger Clemens friends? Is he the Great Hall of Fame pitcher if he gets there. Or will we remember him for his steroids/HGH allegations and now a possible affair'frienship relationship?.

Only time will tell when the facts come out and the allegations are proved or disproved if ever that happens. But in the meantime Clemens is another tarnshed sports star along with Pete Rose, OJ Simpson and Barry Bonds among others and all for different reasons of course.

As for my time at the ballpark that night and before it was a great thrill if not honor to see him pitch. But I must say as more goes on with him, the less of an honor it becomes. Let me know your thoughts and feelings friends on this subject and we'll talk soon. Best wishes and have a great and productive day. fenfan.

Hello friends and Happy New Years to you a couple days late. I hope you had a safe and enjoyable one and if your team won or played in a college bowl game or is yet to play in one I hope you enjoyed it and the bowl system. Remember even if there is no true playoff system in the BCS a lot of teams get to play in postseason bowls so remember how teams like Northwestern Notre Dame this year and Duke football and other college programs feel sitting home before we start dismissing or putting down the bowl system or a college postseason tounnament like the NIT in basketball. Besides I don't really go for the crystal ball trophy that the winner of the upcoming LSU Ohio State game gets without a true playoff. Just ask USC, West Virginia, Kansas or even Missouri or Georgia how they feel about no playoff system at this moment.

Ok that's off my chest. Now the Winter Classic on New Years Day between the Buffalo Sabres and the Pittsburgh Penguins. What a great event to have an outdoor game in the NHL and despite what some other people have said I think it was a great idea to have it on New Years Day when people are watching a lot of sports. Yes it is a day traditionally dominated by college football but it gave United States viewers a diversion if they wanted to flip away from football a little bit or if their favorite teams weren't playing at that moment. It gave the casual fan a great chance to check out hockey in a different enviornment in an outdoor setting taking the game back to it's roots when young hockey players played outdoors growing up. Perhaps the NBA should have an outdoor game on the playgrounds. It turned out to be a great game. A goal was scored in the first minute by Pittsburgh, Buffalo the home team later scored a goal and had their chances and the game was finally won on a goal in a shootout by the game's young and greatest star Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby who has been called the Next One after Wayne Gretztky's the Great One. Overal according to sources the game had a 2.5 rating in the United States on NBC for hockey which is pretty good and better than what they get on obscure and hard to find cable hockey station Versus which isn't seen on every cable channel, but who I think does a really good job promoting hockey and has good coverage in the United States. No it isn't ESPN and unfortunately not everyone get's Versus on their cable system kind of like a smaller version of the NFL Network as an analogy but in some ways I think it's better for hockey to be on a smaller network like this one because it has less viewers than the other sports but also the coverage. ESPN is too crowded and would only have about one hockey game on a week compared to 20 or 30 pro and college basketball games. Those are my thoughts on hockey, the Winter Classic and the hockey network and ratings in general. Please let me know what you think if you care friends.

Finally a couple things to close about this week in sports. First the NFL playoffs this weekend. I'm picking Washington to upset Seattle at home, they're playing really well for Joe Gibbs now after Sean Taylor's tragic death. I'm picking Jacksonville against my heart team by a field goal or less. I hate to do it. Pittsburgh has had a nice year under Mike Tomlin but injuries have occured and weaknesses have been exposed in the offensive line and secondary to mention a few. We'll see what happens there and Go Steelers. As for Sunday's games I'm just not excited about the Giants yet and Tampa is at home so I'll take them there by less than a touchdown and in the final game of the weekend San Diego should beat Tenneseee in San Diego, but we'll see how Vince Young is for the Titans and if they show up and play well and San Diego doesn't we could have an upset there. I'm not the greatest at playoff picks. Once again we'll see and talk about it next week in the divisional round.

The last thing I want to mention today is Roger Clemens and his 60 Minutes interview with his "friend" interwiewer Mike Wallace and his denial of having steroids given to him by his former trainer Brian Macnamee sp?. I'm just tired of hearing about this whole steroids issue. It won't go away or change what happened. All they can do is note the records happened in a steroids era in the record book, clean up the game the best they can which they are and go on. Personally I saw Roger Clemens pitch a few years ago in Houston and it was a great honor as a fan and this steroids allegation no matter how it turns out has not diminished his performance as a great pitcher for me nor will his being accused of steroids, the interview with a fiend Mike Wallace or the possible suing by trainer Brian Macnamee. None of this changes anything for me and I know there are those who have more facts obviously, but I'm trying to tell the way I see it as a fan of baseball and I'm tired of it and just wan't to see the games go on as clean as possible, but of course all tris steroids and Mitchell Report and Roger Clemens/ Barry Bonds stuff gives the media something to talk about. I'm not saying they're right and factual, they are in reporting it to us. I'm just tired of hearing about it as a fan and want the great game of baseball and sports returned to us in the way we enjoy it. Maybe I'm a little naive yes but I want to show the true fan's heart for the game aqnd sports.

Let me know what you think as always friends and we'll chat soon. Best wishes and have a great and productive day always. fenfan

Hello dear friends and also my friends at fox funhouse,

Merry Christmas and I hope you and your families have a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday season. It's been a busy week in sports as always but I guess the two biggest stories are Bill Parcells who has just sined a four year contract to go to Miami to become their new general manager and Roger Clemens and the HGH Scandal and the fallout from the Mitchell Report which came out last week.

First the Bill Parcells move to Miami less than a day after he was mentioned to be going to the same job in Atlanta. Both are rebuilding and difficult job situations for different reasons. Atlanta with Michael Vick and his impending prisonment for dogfighting and their former head coach Bobby Petrino quitting after only 13 games and a 3-10 record to take the head coaching position at Arkansas. In Miami they have made questionable player and coaching decisions over the last several years I guess highlighted the most by Ricky Williams who has been suspended several times for marajuana and drug charges and ther most recent head coach Nick Saban also left to go back to a college coaching position to become head coach at Alabama last year. And his successor Cam Cameron has been only 1-13 so far winning his first game last weekend. Enter Bill Parcells as general manager this time. I think he will be better suited in this role at this stage of his career and he kind of reminds me of what Ron Wolf was with Packers in the 1990s. Time will tell if Parcells has the same kind of success. I think coaching had burned him out especially in his last stop in Dallas with the whole Terrell Owens saga and everything and I think Parcells will be a better general manager and overseer than head coach at this point. Plus he is a better evaluator of talent and is an excellent analyst at ESPN so we'll see how it turns out for him in his new endeavors.

As for Roger Clemens and the HGH scandal and fallout from the Mitchell Report last week in baseball. I'm disappointed but not surprised he denied it. Bonds and a lot of the superstars do and I heard there's even some legal reasoning why Clemens denied it,  but it's still there for us to see and judge and I wish it would all go away but it probably won't for a long time and it will always put a black mark on the game and the suspected players accomplishments in the so called steroid and HGH (Human Growth Hormones) era. I'm glad they are having stricter testing for performance enhancing drugs now and for the future, but we need to try to let the past go. We can't change it. It happened and some records have been tainted or altered because of it. All they can do is make notations of these altered records and say they happened in a steroid era similar in a different respect to when they tried to put an asterik by Roger Maris name for hitting 61 home runs in 162 games compared to Babe Ruth's 60 home runs in only a 154 game season. Life like baseball will never be perfect but we still have to live it and we still love the beautiful game as fans so lets go on and try to start a new future. I'm not naive enough to believe there will never be problems again. There will, they always are just as in life but I still think a lot of these players like Clemens, Bonds McGuire and Sosa and others can be Hall of Famers. We just have to begrugdgingly accept the fact that even though they came from this tainted era, no matter what they did or didn't do they are still great players and they did help to bring the game of baseball back from the last strike in the mid 1990's which ultimately canceled a World Series in 1994. So for all you moralists and purists out there remember that before you turn out baseball and the steroids and HGH era. If you don't like it stop watching baseball and go away. You aren't perfect either so let's not totally judge and reprehend these tainted athletes for their actions either. I think they've been through enough already. I'm not saying they don't deserve what they get, but also as I said don't make them out to be perfect because you aren't either. I just hope someday we can find a way to get back to the innocent and wonderful games we loved as children and why we became fans and love sports in the first place. Well best wishes friends and happy holidays. Have a great and productive day and talk soon friends. As always I welcome your comments and friendship. fenfan

Hello friends,

Today I wanted to talk about a couple of things. The San Antonio Spurs my favorite NBA team are in a tough second round series with the Phoenix Suns and I'd like to talk about their chances for another championship. And the big news of the week in baseball is of course the Rocketman Roger Clemens returning to New York and his "beloved" Yankees.

First the Spurs who are once again involved in another tough playoff series this time with the very talented fast paced Phoenix Suns who if they score 100 points automatically win. Wrong at least Sunday the Spurs showed they could play with the Suns pace and beat them 111-106 in Game 1. Of course they had a little unfortunate help from the Suns when Suns guard Steve Nash collided in a nasty head butt with Spurs guard Tony Parker and Steve Nash got the worst of it with an ugly bloody nose gash, but amazingly his nose wasn't broken and he returned to the game and hit a key three pointer although he lost some valuable time on the clock being out with the nose gash which ultimately cost the Suns although remember the Spurs got 32 points from superstar player Tim Duncan so that helped too in the Spurs win. There's several games left in the series though so we'll see what happens.

As much as I respect the Suns and the rest of the NBA I like the Spurs chances. They have a veteran well balanced team who's been there before. The Dallas Mavericks should take note of that. They also have a couple of intangibles which we'll see if it works for them again this year. It's an odd numbered year 2007 and they won their previous three championships in odd years 2005, 2003 and 1999 so maybe that's in their favor. They're also not trying to repeat as champion this year which for some reason they have trouble doing. Anyway I'd love to see them win again for nothing else they have the coolest championship celebration riding the gondolas down the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio one of the more picturesque places to celebrate.

As for Roger Clemens good luck and congratulations on your decision to return to the Yankees except when he pitches against the Red Sox of course. I think he made the right move for himself and might be a better fit for the Yankees rotation who might need him much more than the Red Sox would. I've "divorced  myself"  from ever thinking he'll come back with the Red Sox because New York is obviously where he wants to be. He's won championships there, he's friends with manager Joe Torre, pitcher Andy Pettite and shortstop Derek Jeter and he even gets along with the Boss George Steinbrenner so yes I think he should retire a Yankee and go into the Hall of Fame with a Yankee cap even though he spent the first 12 years of his career in Boston, had two 20 strikeout games and won 3 or 4 of his 7 Cy Young awards there. So good luck Roger the Red Sox will be just fine without you and by the way you're 45 not 25 years old no matter how good you are. I also enjoyed seeing him pitch in Houston last year so that was a thrill as well.

One last thing I'd like to mention is the media's bias towards wanting big market teams to win. While I understand it's a business and there are more people in the big cities like New York and Los Angeles, it is not fair to the fans in the smaller cities to not be able to equally compete and or get equal coverage in the media's eyes. Otherwise it should be a big market's league. Finally to New England quarterback Tom Brady, it's ok to wear a Yankees cap in New York even though he plays in Boston home of the Red Sox. You see players wearing caps or jerseys of teams they like in other sports all the time so what's the big deal. I've heard Curt Schilling of the Red Sox is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, but I don't hear him being criticized or ridiculed. Well those are my rants and raves today. We'll talk soon friends and have great and productive days always.