Advice To Johny MAC & Some Sports

Politics

Today, we are going to start with politics and work our way back to the candy store of life – sports.

I have some advice for John McCain, who this corner predicted would be the Republican nominee nearly two years ago – although I did get off the bandwagon and rode Rudy Giuliani for a time. Sorry John. Always go with your first instincts - I know.

Here's the advice - pick Condi Rice as your running mate.

Rice, currently President Bush’s Secretary of State, would be an “out of the box” choice in that she doesn’t put a particular state in your column in the general election nor has she ever held an elected post in state (i.e. Governor) or national politics (i.e. Senator).

What Rice brings to the table is obvious – she is African-American and a woman. Those characteristics would partially negate the Democrat’s visual and potentially historical advantage regardless of who wins that primary fight.

No, I’m not suggesting she be placed on the ticket simply because she is a black woman.

Most objective observers admit she has the qualifications to hold the highest office in the land – especially in a time of war. We are at war, remember?

It is common knowledge presidential candidates choose running mates based on two main criteria – what does this person bring to the ticket that helps me gain an edge, and could I envision that person holding the highest office in the land if something happened to me.

In both cases, she passes the test.

Therefore, pick Condi John. She is as qualified as anyone else you will look at, and just as important, she will take some votes away from the opposition candidate based on her race and gender. That may sound cold and callous, but this is about winning an election, and Rice gives you more of a fighting chance in my humble opinion.

And I don’t see her choice as a VP as going for broke, or throwing a bomb, if you will. There are those within the Republican party that actually wanted her to run for President a couple years back. She has the goods to help.

Now, whether she would accept the #2 position is another matter. If published reports are accurate, Colin Powell, an African American and the former Head of the Joined Chiefs under Bush I, and former Secretary of State under Bush II, was offered the Republican VP spot on more than one occasion and turned it down. Rice may do the same.

But you won’t know unless you ask John.

Bleak Picture For The GOP
While we are on this subject, if you are a Republican strategist for the McCain camp, you have to be concerned over the “buzz” the Obama candidacy is creating. He’s turning out record crowds wherever he speaks, and the Democrats are turning out record voters in many of their primaries. That does not bode well for Republicans in the general election.

It is simple math. If the opposition turns out many more voters that you do on election day, you lose. Period.

McCain and company better hope Hillary wins the Democratic primary race – something that appears a less than 50-50 proposition at the moment. That may be the only thing that energizes the Republican base and gets people to the polls in November.

Let’s face it, Obama is an attractive, likeable guy who is offering “change and hope” to the country. He may be the first person ever to win the presidency based on themes rather than policy. At this time, he looks like a stronger candidate than Clinton.

However, anyone that follows politics will tell you that a week is a lifetime in this game. Things change quickly. If Clinton wins Ohio and Texas in early March, she’s back in it. If she doesn’t, she’s toast.

The only thing Republicans have going for them right now is the division within the Democratic party over who to choose to run in the fall – a division that may widen and spell potential disaster at the Democratic Convention in late summer with the party still split four shorts months before the general election in November.

In the meantime, Republicans would do well to rally around their presumptive winner (McCain) and clearly begin to differentiate their candidate and his candidacy from whoever the Democrats eventually choose.

In a sports context, it is like one team (Republicans) getting to start Spring Training or Training Camp before everyone else (Democrats). It’s a clear edge – if you take advantage of it.

There is your politics lesson for the week - whether you wanted it or not.

By the way, I don’t care who you vote for – as long as you take part in the process. It is a privilege many have given the ultimate sacrifice for you to possess. As you have probably figured out by now, I am what some might call a “moderate Republican.”

Regardless what label you have, the right to vote is a special right we have in our democracy. You should take advantage of it. But it's your call. That's what freedom is all about.

Now sports.

NBA Trade Rules
The cap is killing the NBA.

I hate the concept that teams can’t make trades unless the “numbers” match up in terms of players’ contracts. It clearly makes it much more difficult to make deals. That’s not good for the sport when teams have to come up with clever ways to get around the rules – such as trading players that are cut immediately after the deal by their new teams in order to make the package work.

No, I do not have a solution. However, the league needs to tweak the rules so teams have more room to deal without needing several accountants in the room figuring out if the money matches.

Cavaliers
Look for Danny Ferry, who we stated a long time ago was in the federal witness protection program, to make a minor deal before the Thursday deadline. My hunch is he will pick up a point guard - alla Andre Miller. He may need to part with a first round pick in the package to make it happen, but the pressure of doing nothing is a real problem for him now.

Even 23 is complaining. That means it is time to act. Four days and counting Danny.

As usual, we were ahead of the curve on this one riding Ferry for the past two years for non-activity while the team was winning 50+ a season on the back of one player. But that’s why you read this column – because, more often than not, we tell you where things are headed instead of where things are now.

Dizzy Dean said it best - "It ain't bragging if you can do it!"

Patriots
Speaking of being ahead of the curve, we are waiting to see what the Patriots’ former "camera spy" has to say to Congress. The buzz is that he has more video evidence of cheating – cheating that dates back several years he was directed to take part in. What happens if he (Matt Walsh – former Pats’ video assistant) spills his guts, or more importantly – shows the video evidence?

As we stated when this first broke – not only are the Patriots on the hook, but the commissioner and the league is as well, for wrapping this investigation up in one week. It smelled of "cover up" then, and Walsh could put a nail in Roger Goodell's coffin soon.

My guess is the only reason we have not heard more on this matter is that lawyers are hard at work for the two sides (Walsh & Congress) trying to hash out immunity conditions.

Stay tuned.

Roger Clemens
He asked to speak in front of Congress, according to the head of the investigative committee (Henry Waxman), then said through his attorneys he never wanted to appear.

He then threw his WIFE and his former agents under the bus when speaking in front of Congress this past week – describing how she used steroids and how his former agents failed to tell him he was being asked to testify in the Mitchell inquiry.

This guy will either be Duke-LaCrosse II if he is vindicated, or he'll make Bill ("I did not have sexual relations with that woman") Clinton look like an honest man.

At this point, in order to believe Roger Clemens, you have to believe EVERYONE ELSE is lying – including his good buddy, Andy Pettite. This is the height of arrogance on his part.

Clemens may not know it, but the course he has chosen could likely keep him out of the Hall of Fame.

Barry Bonds has denied for years he ever used illegal/banned substances. He (Bonds) has been vilified by the press and fans alike. Bonds has, up to now, been the poster child of the steroids era.

However, he (Bonds) was smart enough NOT to go in front of Congress and potentially commit perjury. He was intelligent enough not to sue is accusers. He had enough sense to do most of his talking through his attorneys, not seek out one public forum after another claiming his innocence.

If Clemens is found to have cheated beyond a reasonable doubt, he will go down perhaps as the most selfish and arrogant pro athlete in the history of sports. I then cannot imagine voters putting him in the Hall.

At minimum, he (Clemens) has somehow done the impossible, taken the spotlight off Bonds – at least for a while. To with, Bonds should send Clemens a thank you letter and some left-over Valentine’s Day flowers.