411 Sports Fact or Fiction 02.13.2008: Roger Clemens, Jason Kidd, Indiana Coaching Scandal & More!

Posted by Dan Owen on 02.14.2008

Roger Clemens finally makes his testimony, so what do Ken Schmidt and Dan Owen think about his guilt? Plus, the University of Indiana's coach gets into some serious trouble, what does the future hold for him?

Welcome to the second edition of 411 Sports Fact or Fiction. Sorry we missed you last week, but there was a little change in schedule that caused us to have to skip a week, but you can now check out our column every Thursday.

Joining us again is 411's Sports Kid, Ken Schmidt.

And facing off against Ken is the one, the only…me! Let's get to it!

1. Roger Clemens used steroids.

Ken Schmidt: Fact

But I am reluctant to say so right now. Things are just adding up here and either both parties are lying or both parties are idiots. Things are just getting weirder and weirder from Clemens' wife getting injected, bloody pants, and stories changing every time you blink. Things aren't adding up here and it seems like Clemens can't get his story straight and I watch enough Law and Order to know when someone flip-flops there story that often, they are generally guilty.

Dan Owen: Fact

I'm not too reluctant to say fact on this one like my compatriot. If you watched Clemens testimony, a few things were obvious. At the start, he was obviously just reciting rehearsed answers, but as we began to move through the questioning, he was not giving definite answers and seemed like he didn't have his story straight. That's the sign of a liar, in both Law and Order and real life. I absolutely agree with Ken, though, that this story just keeps getting weirder and weirder. After hearing the testimony, I'm actually a little more interested in where this story goes.

Score: 1 for 1


2. Major League Baseball needs to reach a conclusion on the steroids scandal, as the controversy has dragged on for far too long.

Ken Schmidt: Fact

Too long does not describe how long this is going on. We've known for a while that a lot of baseball players use steroids. It's like when an entire High School cafeteria gets in a food fight, you can't bust everybody so they just make an example of a few. That is what is going on here, they can't bust everybody so they are making examples of the biggest name players and it really isn't fair to them. They made the new steroid punishments and that should have been it, other than that we are just drawing out what we already know and I am getting bored with it.

Dan Owen: Fact

Am I the only one who finds it funny that baseball, which probably has, overall, the scrawniest athletes of all of the major American sports, is the one that is having the problems with steroids? I know that that question is based largely off of the ignorant person's view of steroids, but nevertheless it makes me chuckle. As for the topic at hand, I absolutely agree with Ken. This story was old about two years ago. Although I will say that, after the Capitol Hill testimony, my interest in the Clemens saga was piqued.

Score: 2 for 2


3. Paying a starting pitcher $20 million+ is far too much money for a player that only sees action once every five games.

Ken Schmidt: Fiction

We aren't talking about any pitcher here, this is a player who fits great for the Mets, because they play against the toughest left handed hitter in the game and one pitcher can end a 2 game losing that could have been a 5 game losing streak. I agree with the money because the market is so inflated that this is the money the top players should make, like Alfonso Soriano last year and A-Rod this year, money has become obsolete because guys who suck are making 12 mil a year.

Dan Owen: Fact

I know we've all heard the saying that pitching wins championships. However, I think that the saying is much more applicable to the bullpen than the starting pitching, and in the end it doesn't matter how good your pitching staff is if you can't make the playoffs. This question is obviously directed towards Johan Santana (I would know, I cam up with it), so I'll use my hometown Minnesota Twins as an example. The Twins have always rested on a stellar pitching staff with a less than stellar lineup. This has worked in years where their offensive players have had good years, but when they have off years, things don't go well. A pitcher like Santana ended up with a record of 15-13 last year, which was in large part due to an offense that gave him no run support. In my opinion, a team is much better off splitting that money and using about $10-12 million on a pitcher and the rest to sign a decent hitter or reliever.

Score: 2 for 3


SWITCH!


4. The rumored trade sending New Jersey Nets' players Jason Kidd and Malik Allen to the Dallas Mavericks for Jerry Stackhouse, Devin Harris, some expiring contracts, $3 million, and two first round draft picks is a good trade for both teams.

Dan Owen: Fact

I like this trade for both teams. Obviously, the Mavericks get a big pickup in Kidd, who will be the best point guard they've had since Steve Nash. It'll make them a much more complete team, and one that can compete with the Lakers team which recently picked up Pau Gasol. As for the Nets, they weren't winning with Kidd around, and there comes a point for some franchises where they have to jettison their best player and move in a new direction. Stackhouse and Harris are both nice players, and next year the Nets are going to have plenty of money to play around with in free agency. Plus, they pick up a pair of first round picks, which is always something nice to have in your back pocket.

Ken Schmidt: Fact

Like most teams in the East, it is time to cut your losses and rebuild for the future. There are plenty of decent young players on this team and you have to get worse to get better in the NBA. Stackhouse I am pretty sure is money that will come off at the end of the year and Devin Harris is an underrated player. The Nets need to think about 4 years from now and not this year, especially because losing Kidd will help this team tank for a better draft choice. As for the Mavs, adding just one player has made them a serious championship contender and puts them even with the Lakers and Suns again.

Score: 3 for 4


5. University of Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson has been cited for five violations of NCAA recruiting rules after being punished for similar violations while coaching at Oklahoma. This is in addition to violations Indiana self-reported in October. With this news, Kelvin Sampson's coaching career is effectively over.

Dan Owen: Fiction

Kelvin Sampson's career as a top tier head coach is over, make no mistake about that. There is no chance that a team would take the risk on a coach with this much baggage and likely sanctions that will be handed down. However, there's always somewhere that will take him. Sampson is a gifted coach and I think, in a couple of years, he will be able to get a coaching offer from a small, D2 school, perhaps. A place where there isn't the high stakes recruiting that takes place in Division 1 basketball.

Ken Schmidt: Fact

At least I hope so. There are coaches out there that do everything by the book to make things an even playing field (like Bob Knight for the 300 years he coached) and people like this ruin the game. When the playing field is lopsided because of shady practices Sampson deserves to be black listed. Dan thinks that he can go to a D2 school but I don't see it happening unless it is some publicity stunt by a small school. I hate when cheaters prosper and I am glad Sampson got busted and is hopefully done.

Score: 3 for 5



6. The Washington Redskins hiring of Jim Zorn is yet another bad coaching move by team owner Daniel Snyder.

Dan Owen: Fact

Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Joe Gibbs. These are the coaches that Snyder can be credited in large part with hiring. And none of them worked out. Schottenheimer was out after one season. Spurrier was gone after two. Gibbs was a good coach way back when, but his return to coaching was less than stellar. I can kind of understand what Snyder might be thinking here. He may be looking to take the same route the Eagles took in hiring Andy Reid, but the two team's situations are very different. The Eagles were coming off of a terrible season and were looking to completely rebuild. The Redskins are coming off of a playoff appearance and are probably hoping to get further into the playoffs this year. With a coach who has no experience whatsoever, this is probably not going to happen. If Snyder hadn't been so stubborn about not allowing whoever he hired to find their own assistant coaches, he'd have a team that would probably still at least be in consideration for the playoff picture next year.

Ken Schmidt: Fact

This is most likely a third or fourth pick for Snyder because no one would want a head coach like Jim Zorn. Than again Daniel Snyder has been so bad with head coaches that maybe he wanted to go for the four-bagger. Like Dan said, the Skins want to be good now and be back in the playoffs and they need a coach to do that and unfortunately they look to be going the same route they did the past years and will have a coach that is a liability

Score: 4 for 6


Well, that's all for us this week. Join us next week on our new day (Thursday) for the next edition of 411 Sports Fact of Fiction!