Bob Raissman, NY Times media critic and often times uninformed blowhard [with less credible contributions than Phil Mushnick's "Equal Time" column], accused Phil Hughes of sounding complicit in some capacity - and/or rebellious toward the Mitchell Report's findings. This accusation came after Hughes applauded Roger Clemens for his work ethic and ability to dominate at the major league level during a piece aired on YES Netork's "Yankees Hot Stove."
So, Bob, was Hughes supposed to bombard Clemens with righteous indignation, even though any proof has yet to surface? Anyone who reads this blog once in a while understands my stance on Clemens, but how does Rocket's alleged transgressions become the fault of Hughes or anyone else who's complimentary of a pitcher once regarded as the best of his generation?
Read from the article and see how you feel about Raissman's absurdity assessment:
Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network suits have already cast aspersions on George Mitchell's report on steroids in baseball.
After watching YES' "Hot Stove" feature on Phil Hughes, it appears, according to YES, certain allegations made about Roger Clemens don't really exist. They are imaginary - just like the Tooth Fairy.
Much of the Hughes piece shows the pitcher going through his daily offseason workout regimen (lifting weights, etc.) at the Yankees' Tampa facility.
At one point in the story, Hughes says: "God-given ability can only get you so far, then it's up to you to maximize that. Even if I can just take a little bit of what Roger did for us last year, (to) see the way he works out ... see the way he goes about his business, it kind of gives you an idea of what you need to do to stay in this game as long as he did."
It seems the "idea" of what Clemens needed to do "to stay in this game as long as he did" is contained in Mitchell's report. Or, at least, allegations of what Clemens did. In the report, Clemens' former trainer, Brian McNamee, alleges that the seven-time Cy Young Award winner had been juicing since 1998.
If the Hughes feature was shot before the Mitchell Report came out, it would have been a good idea for YES - perhaps through "Hot Stove" host Bob Lorenz - to mention that fact. And if the Hughes interview was shot after the report was released, well, YES made the young pitcher look like a fool.
Someone should have edited the Clemens line out of the story. Unless, of course, it was left in on purpose to further discredit Mitchell's report.
"Grasping at straws" would be an accurate description of the Raissman column. Well, that or "jumping the shark."
1 comment:
Raissman sounds totally uneducated on this one. I enjoy his columns on some occasions and throw up in my mouth on others. I heard some people have asked for a retraction on this particular column b/c the Hughes thing was taped before Clemens even appeared in the Mitchell report.
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