Daily Archives: January 8, 2008

New Hampshire

Wow. How wrong can the polls and pundits be? In the average of all recent polling in New Hampshire, Barack Obama was leading by eight points. Some polls had Obama up by as many as 13 points. It was fun to watch.

In what can only be described as a major upset, the Associated Press declared Hillary Clinton the winner of the New Hampshire primary at 8:30 p.m. Montana time. I think Hillary actually speaking from the heart and letting people see her emotions showed voters a different side of her that was very seldom revealed in the past.

It was a fun to see so many predictions go down in flames.

On the Republican side, John McCain is alive and well! He took an early lead and the race was called in his favor a few minutes after the polls closed. Mitt Romney finished second. So far Romney finished second in Iowa and New Hampshire and won Wyoming. Mike Huckabee finished third, after winning Iowa.

John Edwards vowed to stay in the race. One has to wonder why. Richardson is probably done and will wait for a call for a VP slot.

Mitt Romney is hurting, but he says he is in it for the long haul. Maybe that trip is from New Hampshire to Michigan because he needs to win Michigan or his “long haul” may be over. Romney may need to shake up some campaign people. Something is not catching on with the Romney message.

Giuliani needs to make a move soon, as does Thompson or the tidal wave may take them under.

Up next is Michigan (Jan 15). Nevada comes up January 19. The Republicans go at it in South Carolina on January 19, too. The Democrats go at it in South Carolina January 26.

I would share some polling numbers, but with tonight’s upset, they are probably not accurate.

The Rocket

Like many folks, I was shocked when I heard that Roger Clemens’ name was in the Mitchell Report.

I’ve also been shocked by the reaction of many sportswriters since then. It seems that all we really need in this country is somebody saying someone did something wrong, and as quickly as Tony Soprano can say, “bada bing,” that person is guilty – just send them to jail, write negative things about them in the media, and pull no punches because they are guilty. Someone said it, so it must be true. Let’s pile on!

How can anyone who is innocent ever get their good name back after all that?

Maybe my “older” age has somewhat made me apprehensive to judge someone on what someone else said, and take it to the bank as many sportswriters have with Clemens. I have personally known folks who have been accused in the media of being guilty, and it’s no fun to watch them, their family and friends suffer.

Clemens went on 60 Minutes to try and clear this up. Yesterday Clemens held a press conference. He was pissed. I don’t blame him. I would have liked to see him throw a fastball at some of those sportswriters – high and inside.

Luckily for Clemens, he has the resources and the name to mount a fight to clear his name. If it was me or some other Joe, we’d just have to sit back and take it. We could not call Mike Wallace and get a story on 60 Minutes.

I think the bottom line on all this is Major League Baseball (MLB) screwed up many years ago. When we had the home run fiesta, MLB was there promoting it. Someone in the leadership of MLB must have wondered, “Are these guys juiced up on something?” They failed to have drug tests for steroids until only a few years ago. From what I understand, they still do not have an effective test for Human Growth Hormone (HGH).

MLB must develop performance enhancing drug tests. They must keep on top of the folks who are trying to cheat. The players and their union must agree to these tests. They have the money to combat cheaters. They just need to do it.

Those folks who have fallen into the zone called the steroid era must be convicted on more than one person’s word, or some leaked grand jury testimony like in the case of Barry Bonds.

I agree with Clemens when he said something like after 25 years in baseball, he thought he would get more respect when the Mitchell Report was released. Clemens still has my respect, unless someone has more substantial proof that he really cheated. Until then, he’s still the Rocket to me.