Remember When Sports Involved Playing Games?

With John McCain on the verge of winning the GOP nomination for the presidency, and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton neck-and-neck for the Democratic Party’s bid, you’d think that Congress would have more important things to worry about. Instead, Brian McNamee and Roger Clemens will face off this morning, with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee playing the part of Judge Judy. Later in the day, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will meet with governor and crazed-theorist Arlen Specter. The topic of Spygate, specifically the league’s role in destroying evidence pertaining to the investigation, will be the focus of the agenda. Of course, they’ll probably also investigate why Goodell is so much better at his job than Bud Selig.

I don’t understand why our government thinks they need to rule over professional sports. Baseball instituted drug testing and has enforced the penalties for two full seasons. Roger Clemens is not an active major league player, so why do we care whether or not he took steroids? The league punished the New England Patriots with a fine and the forfeiture of a draft pick. Bill Belichick has complied with the league’s ruling, so why does the issue need to be revisited? Maybe this is naivety on my part, but it seems like Congress is creating an issue where there is none. I think we’d all be better served if they got back to what they do best: use partisanship as an excuse for their inefficiency.