Hearing Is One Thing, Seeing It Is Another

By George Solomon
Sunday, February 17, 2008

Unless a Washington-based team beats the odds and wins a championship, the year in sports for us will be best defined by a hearing this past week on Capitol Hill.

Whereas we were once characterized by legends such as Sammy Baugh, Walter Johnson, Wes Unseld, Red Auerbach, John Thompson, Frank Howard, Sonny Jurgensen, Morgan Wootten, Darrell Green and John Riggins, the face of Washington sports in 2008 belongs to Rep. Henry A. Waxman.

Henry Waxman?

Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, whose zany group held a 4 1/2 -hour hearing on Wednesday that pitted Roger Clemens against Brian McNamee, his former trainer.

The hearing seemed to line up in some kind of batting order that set Republican committee members against McNamee and Democrats against Clemens -- with ESPN polling the country for winners and losers and some newspaper columnists who have trouble reading a traffic ticket deciding the guilt or innocence of two men supposedly not on trial.

All to learn whether McNamee injected Clemens -- one of the great pitchers of all time -- with steroids and HGH as Andy Pettitte, Clemens's friend and former teammate, said in a recent deposition.

But here was Virginia Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, the ranking Republican on the committee, announcing before Wednesday's first pitch "this is not a court of law; we're here to save lives and not ruin careers." And Waxman telling the New York Times in its Friday editions, "I'm sorry we had the hearing, I regret that we had the hearing."

To borrow a phrase often used by my friend Tony Kornheiser, "What are you talking about?"

Henry, sweetheart, you and Davis called the hearing and now you tell the Times you did it because Clemens's "lawyers told us he wanted the opportunity to make his case in public."

Henry, you hold these hearings because, while the subject is important to sports wonks like me, you know you'll get hours of face time on ESPN, all the news shows and C-SPAN. Just like last month when you brought Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig and MLB Players Association chief Donald Fehr to whack them around. Again.

Good theater.

It's the reason Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) brought NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to town on Wednesday (was that playing the small lounge, or what?) to discuss Patriots Coach Bill Belichick taping opponents since 2002 and legitimately asking why Goodell trashed those tapes. (I have two questions for Belichick: Was David Tyree on any tape you ever saw? How come Bud Greenspan was never one of your coordinators?)

Again, good theater is the reason the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection will have its own hearing Feb. 27 featuring many of the sports poobahs, regarding a bill that would establish testing for steroids in all sports.

I'm for drug testing, throwing out the cheats, punishing the perjurers and cleaning up sports sufficiently so that a parent might even suggest to a child that participation might be a worthy activity.

But I also agree with NFL players' union chief Gene Upshaw when he says of the upcoming hearing: "What can I say that I haven't said before? We have a testing policy in place. If you take steroids, you'll likely be caught and punished."

Of Spygate, Upshaw said: "If you tape an opponent at practice it gives you no edge. The games are won and lost on the field by throwing, catching, running and tackling. If tapes were so important, how come you're required to send the last three games to your opponent? Everyone knows everything about everyone else. Teams pick up players all the time and players talk about their former teams. The integrity of the game is on the field; it's where you play the game."

Or on Capitol Hill.

A 'Beautiful' Beginning

Clemens and McNamee have you down? A 15-minute telephone conversation with Washington Nationals Manager Manny Acta can fix that as he prepares for his second season, full of optimism over his team and game.

"Life is beautiful," boomed Acta, sounding like actor Roberto Benigni, who starred in the 1997 movie of that title. Acta was excited about the prospect of welcoming his pitchers and catchers this weekend for the start of spring training in Viera, Fla.

"There [is] a dark cloud overhead, but we've still got a beautiful game with so many great athletes and wonderful players who do it right."

Acta said he's enjoying "more peace of mind" as he surveys his pitching staff and views a team many believed improved in the offseason as it moves into a new ballpark next month.

Frightening Scene

By all accounts, Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik is fortunate to be alive after a major artery in his neck was nearly severed last Sunday in a game at Buffalo.

Zednik, 32, who played six seasons for the Washington Capitals, is recovering nicely after surgery to repair his carotid artery after teammate Olli Jokinen accidentally cut him with his skate in the third period.

The scary incident reminded me of a second-round playoff game in 1988 when Washington's all-star defenseman, Rod Langway, was severely cut by a skate and was forced to miss the rest of the series.

"I almost severed my Achilles' tendon," Langway recalled. "But it was still connected and they operated on me that night. I drove home by myself afterwards."

Capitals General Manager George McPhee, who was playing for the Devils that night, said a facial cut to former Capitals defender Jamie Heward last year against Dallas "was the worst cut I've ever seen."

Tough sport, played by tough guys.

Testing for Candidates

With hours and hours of interviews, you would have thought Redskins owner-fan-historian Daniel Snyder might have come up with a test for head coaching applicants -- including Jim Zorn -- similar to the Baltimore Colts quiz Eddie Simmons gave his financee in the Barry Levinson movie "Diner."

Such as:

¿ Team colors?

¿ Alma mater of Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh?

¿ Dolphins CB from whom Riggo broke free in '83 Super Bowl TD run?

¿ Name of QB Redskins traded to Eagles for Sonny?

¿ Redskins' kick returner who made team in open tryout (1972)?

¿ Darrell Green's greatest punt return?

¿ Nickname given in 1971 to George Allen's first team?

¿ One-time, one-game position (1990) of kick returner/RB Brian Mitchell?

¿ Two nicknames for Redskins' receiving corps in the 1980s?

¿ Team colors?

Zorn can e-mail me his answers to talkback@washpost.com and make fans forget his news conference gaffe last Sunday. Honor system in place. Fans can play, too.